Driving and Camping Along the Oregon Coast
September 3rd, 2008 by natalie
For my final four days in Oregon, Nicole, Andy and I decided to tour the Oregon coast. Aside from a bit of rain, the weather was beautiful and the trip was wonderful. Here are some highlights:
Arrival at the coast!
The lush green backdrop against the ocean water was gorgeous!
Nicole and Andy take a romantic stroll along the beach…
Camp site #1. We didn’t have any reservations or specific agenda for our trip. We just headed North along the coast, stopping at little seaside towns when we felt like it and praying that the Lord would provide a place for us to camp each night.
Nicole cooked some beef the night before we left and we placed it on some foil and Andy cooked it over the fire for some delicious beef sandwiches. Yum!
Day Two. We stopped at Seal Rock State Recreation Site where we had a nice visit with the park ranger and explored some of the sites along the beach…there were dozens of seals frolicking in the waves just beneath the surface.
…hundreds of pelicans lined the ledges of the towering crags.
…and a dead shark graced the beach below. Ugh!
We continued our trek northward with a short stop at the Sea Lion Caves lookout point.
Andy’s brilliant idea of requesting scrap lumber from a lumber yard produced a trunkload of dry wood beams that were perfect for our remaining campfires. Andy bought a hatchet for the purpose and had nice-sized firewood in no time at all!
Camp site #2. We had a much more difficult time finding a vacant camp site the second night (due to the holiday weekend and beautiful weather), but entrusted our need to the Lord and eventually ended up at a nice campground, complete with hot showers!
Leftover chicken fajitas that Andy made earlier in the week served as our meal for the second night once we heated them over the makeshift grill. They were delicious!
It just wouldn’t be a camping trip without s’mores. 
The third day, we stopped in a quaint village for a scrumptious feast at The Pizza Garden. The sun was warm and the views breathtaking as we enjoyed our alfresco lunch.
We stopped in Cannon Beach for a smoothie and to get a view of the famous Haystack Rock.
We rolled into Fort Stevens State Park in late afternoon and were thrilled to learn that they had just had a cancellation and had a spot available for us. The park resembled a small village with the massive amounts of people enjoying their Labor Day weekend at the campground. You know the expression, “they brought everything but the kitchen sink”? Well, these people brought everything including the kitchen sink. It was quite the sight! We enjoyed our relatively quiet corner at the edge of the last loop.
Fort Stevens is at the very tip of the Oregon coast where the Columbia River meets the Pacific Ocean. In the background of this picture, you can just barely make out the 4+ mile Astoria-Megler bridge that spans the Columbia River from Oregon into Washington.
My new house… 
We ended the evening by watching the sunset on the beach and then roasting hotdogs and chasing away raccoons back at our camp site. (Andy discovered a dual purpose for the 2×4s from the lumber yard. I won’t go into details, but I will say that one raccoon went to bed the next morning with a splitting headache…)
We drove through Astoria and across the afore-mentioned bridge into Washington, where we continued our journey along the Oregon coast and into Portland. Nicole and Andy were kind enough to let me visit Powell’s Books - the largest independent bookstore in the world. A booklover’s dream, to be sure! I managed to emerge with only one book in tow and Nicole and Andy survived the ordeal in good spirits.
Books lined shelf after shelf and shelves lined room after room in the multi-story book emporium. We stayed our final night in a hotel just across the river from the airport and I ended my two-week visit with an early morning flight home to rejoin the rest of my family. I had a marvelous time and am so grateful for Nicole and Andy’s hospitality and friendship. What a great end to the summer!
Upon arriving at the house, I was greeted by this cleverly designed scrabble-style message. It’s good to be back home and I look forward to jumping back into the swing of things this fall.
As usual, love the pics and comments, Natalie! I think you should use the pic of you at the table for a profile pic, maybe.
It all looks great!
Wow! what gorgeous country! Looks like you had a fabulous time
Those pictures of your camping trip were BEAUTIFUL!
I still think I should have been first but oh well, think the pictures look great.
Thanks all! Yes, I did have a wonderful time and the place is gorgeous!
I guss I’m kind of rude when I comment on your blog… ): …sorry