Washington, Oregon Coast - July 20-24

Day 53, Tuesday, July 20


We left the campground at 11:15, stopped at Fred Meyers for gas and groceries, got on the interstate at 1:20. We drove down I-5 and I-405 down to Olympia, WA. We arrived at the American Heritage Campground at 4:45. We had driven 166 miles.

Day 54, Wednesday, July 21

We got up at 8:15. It was very overcast. We drove to Astoria, OR, stopped in the visitor’s center, and drove to Fort Steven’s State Park to get a campsite. The campground was very family friendly, with lots of tag-alongs, tenters, and kids. We had driven 178 miles today. Watched the movie “It’s Complicated” and turned in.

Day 55, Thursday, July 22

We were up at 8:15 to rain. We visited the wreck of the Peter Iredale ship and the Battery Russell located at the Fort Steven’s State Park. Interesting note: the Battery Russell was the only site to be fired upon by the enemy on the continental US during WWII. It seems that a Japanese submarine fired 17 rounds at the battery, but no fire was returned to keep secret the location of the battery. We then drove to Astoria and had lunch at the Silver Salmon Café. We returned to Fort Steven’s CG to see if we could stay another night, but there were no sites available. We drove on to Fort Clatsop where Lewis and Clark spent the winter of 1805. We drove on to Bud’s RV CG in Gearhart just north of Seaside, OR.

Day 56, Friday, July 23

When we awakened this morning it was 60 degrees. We left the campground around 10:00 and drove down to Seaside on Rt. 101. Some of the streets are restricted to RVs, so we parked and walked ½ mile to the beach. It was a very cute town. We took pictures of at the end of the street at a roundabout where a bronze sculpture of Lewis and Clark stood, commemorating the end of the Lewis and Clark Trail. We drove on to Ecola State Park. The road was several miles long and very narrow and windy. When we arrived at the gate, the ranger told us that the road is not recommended for RVs, but we didn’t see the sign. We had great views of the Haystack and other rock formations, including the Tillamook Rock Lighthouse, nicknamed “Terrible Tilly”. We drove on to Cannon Beach to get better pictures of the Haystack. We ate lunch at the Wayfarer. The clam chowder was wonderful! We drove on to Tillamook and visited the Tillamook Cheese factory. (Got an ice cream cone, our second of the day.) We got a site at the Pacific Campground in Tillamook, full hook-ups and very nice people (31.00). We drove 65 miles today.

Day 57, Saturday, July 24

We left the campground about 10:15 and visited the Cape Meares Lighthouse 10 miles west of Tillamook on Hwy 101. Too bad some kids had taken a shotgun to the light. It continues to be foggy and cold and very windy. We drove part of the three capes scenic loop. There was lots of traffic in Lincoln City. We don’t know why but it was Saturday so maybe just local traffic. We drove on to the Yaquina Head Lighthouse near Newport and it was completely fogged in at 1:30 pm. The wind was so strong that it rocked the RV so hard that we thought it was going to blow it over…no kidding. We stopped at a few USFS campgrounds but ended up at the Heceta Beach RV Park just north of Florence.