The Central Coast: Lincoln City and Oceanside, OR

The day after we got back from Crater Lake and Bend, we headed out for the coast. This was our plan since we had trouble deciding what to do for our vacation, so we went with the mountains and the coast, and split them right in half. It worked out well since it meant we got a night at home to recuperate, do our laundry, and replenish our food supply!

So, Thursday the 4th we got up and started the drive to Lincoln City. I had done a lot of research on a ton of coastal towns, and came to the conclusion that most of them offer the same things- ocean views, storm watching (in the winter), potentially whale watching, good pubs, some crabbing/ fishing/ clam digging,  and nice hotels/inns. So, it didn't really matter where we went! But, I had found a neat hike I wanted to do near Lincoln City, so we decided to start there, then work our way up the coast to Astoria (we ended up sticking much more south than that due to many things, so Astoria will have to be another trip).

Portland is only 1.5 hours from the cost, at it's most direct route. But we were going slightly south as well, so we had about a 2 hour drive. This seemed daunting as we started (we were pretty tired of driving considering the last two days included ~10 hours of it), but we were quickly cheered up as we started the drive. Not only was there no rain, but on top of that the country was beautiful! The whole drive was vineyards and groves and such green land! We also came across the Evergreen Air Museum, it was literally right off the highway. I googled it as we passed and found out that the original Spruce Goose is there? I definitely had no idea what in the world that was, but I knew as I read the name aloud that Nick would know, and that he would be really excited about it...I was totally right! He told me all about it being a flying boat developed for WWII but never used, etc. and we spent the rest of the drive learning about Howard Hughes, the Spruce Goose, and how in the world it ended up in the middle of Oregon. We hope we can make it back to the museum sometime!

Lincoln City and God's Thumb Hike

So we arrived north of Lincoln City on the coast, and the rain still hadn't started. We were planning to hike so that was extremely ideal. We quickly started on our short 1.5 mile hike up a hill called God's Thumb. It had a really steep climb at the end but was an easy hike otherwise. The top of the ridge was pretty windy, but it was a beautiful view and so worth it. As soon as we hiked to the top, it started pouring rain! That on top of the wind made it slightly scary, so we started making our way down quickly. It was muddy but beautiful, even with the gray clouds.

This doesn't look very steep or high, but it definitely was!

Mud mud mud....we are just used to it now.

Roads End State Park and Cape Kiwanda

We were thoroughly soaked, so we changed into some dry clothes and went to eat our lunch while watching the big waves the storm was causing at Roads End State Park (literally just a parking lot). After that, we hopped on the 101 and headed up the coast towards Oceanside. Along the way we stopped at Cape Kiwanda, the first of three capes to explore on the northern coast. It was a beautiful beach, and we arrived as the rain stopped! So we walked the beach a bit, while we watched the crazy surfers trying to catch some waves in the choppy and cold water! Nick may have gotten a little wet as we explored the edge of the beach, but then we got caught in the rain anyway so it didn't matter too much.

Cape Kiwanda

I couldn't believe these surfers! There were half a dozen of them out there! Look at the wind blowing off the waves though, and you'll know how choppy the water must have been. 

We hopped back in the car- wet for the second time that day- and finished the drive north to our AirBnb in Oceanside. It was great! A cute bed and breakfast, it was on a hill with an awesome ocean view we didn't even appreciate until the next morning, when the clouds cleared. We settled in and started to look for a place for dinner- there were only two options! But, we think we chose right because we had a really delicious meal which was nice after a cold day. Then we hurried back to the BnB where they had the fixings for smores, which we made over the stove. (FYI the square marshmallows actually aren't that great, way too much marshmallow!). 

We met the host briefly which was fun because she ended up being the Relief Society president of her ward! We knew they were Mormon because they had Book of Mormon videos on their shelf, haha. We watched The Aviator, which just happens to be the story of the Spruce Goose creator, Howard Hughes, so that was perfect for our education about him earlier in the day. Halfway through the movie, the host came down and brought us some popcorn with their homemade rosemary oil on it (totally a Relief Society president right?)! It was so nice of her, and really made our night. 

Cape Lookout

The next morning, she made us an awesome breakfast (this was a real BnB) and it was German Pancakes, Nick's favorite! Which was fun. It was a beautiful home and place to stay with a great view of the ocean. It wasn't raining, for just a minute, so we tried to hurry out onto the hike we were looking to do, called Cape Lookout. After going the wrong way for a few minutes, grabbing some gas, and turning around, we made it to the hike and made it most of the way there and back without any rain. That's always a treat in Oregon! 

There were a few parts of the hike with this boardwalk, but then we saw a bunch of the boards in a pile. Looked like they had been washed out from the rain!

It was so neat to see the rain on the coast, when it wasn't raining where we were!  

It's hard to tell, but we were way the heck out there on a little cape. It was extremely windy at the point, and the hikes along the edges were a little scary! Only because it's a straight cliff down to the ocean, which meant Nick was constantly looking over the side....

It was a beautiful hike, even though it was a little muddy. It took us all the way out on the cape, which you can't drive out to. It was very windy, but the view of the ocean was amazing and so beautiful with all the rain clouds and the sun poking through. It was just the right length, but it made us tired by the end of it! So we ran back to the AirBnb (we had borrowed their binoculars hoping for some whale sightings! so we had to return them) took a shower since we had gotten all wet and muddy and had a few hours in the car still, then made our way to the Cape Meares Lighthouse! 

Cape Meares Lighthouse

The wind was so strong that we only walked around the lighthouse for a few minutes, but it was pretty neat to see it up close! This lighthouse's light used prisms and mirrors to project the light far out into the ocean. It talked about how only 3 lights like that one exist in the world. It was huge! And neat to see. 

Nick's not a punk with the hood, it was just extremely windy! We parked our car and then could feel it being pushed by the wind.

This was the view of Three Arch Rocks (literally the name) from Cape Lookout, the hike we did. See the picture below to see them from the other side!

This was the view of Three Arch Rocks from the Cape Meares lighthouse, later in the day!

This was so random, but it was an interesting tree at the lighthouse.

Tillamook 

Then, we headed towards home, with a stop in Tillamook. That was the closest place for lunch, and we found a great restaurant called Pacific Restaurant. It was good prices, but some of the best clam chowder I've ever had! I'd go back there just for that. After we ate, we made a quick stop at the Tillamook Factory, a mile out of town. A new visitors center is currently under construction, so we just walked through the little temporary exhibit they had up. We still got to taste different cheeses and grab some ice cream, so it was definitely worth it! We discovered that Tillamook chocolate is the best ice cream in the world. 

Then, we drove an hour home in the rain, through the mountains, and arrived home! We were exhausted, even though our trip was extremely low key. It was perfect, and we were very glad we did it. Next time we make it to the coast we hope to explore Astoria, as that's one of the more popular towns! But, we really enjoyed the Central Coast a lot. It's just a different kind of beautiful than you might expect.

Crater Lake and Bend, Oregon

On Tuesday 1/2/18, we woke up early to start the drive to Crater Lake National Park. We left Portland at 6 am and made it the park around 11, so it was quite the drive! We were worried the whole time about the weather at the lake, as there's only visibility 50% of the time during the winter. The day before had been beautiful and sunny, but the forecast was mostly cloudy for Tuesday. We kept checking the webcam on the NPS site, and once the sun rose, we could see that it was going to be a great day! But the drive was long, since the north entrance to the park is closed during the winter, so we had to go around to the west entrance. 

When we made it to the park, we stopped at the first visitors center accidentally, then went the rest of the way up to Rim Village, where the second visitors center is. We were planning to rent snow shoes, but once we talked with the rangers there they suggested we didn't need them! There hadn't been new snow in days and so many people had been walking the trails that the snow was packed down for most of it. We were glad to save some money (since we had forgotten our national parks pass and had to pay to get into the park :/ ). 

We added a few layers, ate our Subway sandwiches and started our hike along the the rim of the crater. It was a sunny, beautiful day, and so warm, around 45 the whole time. The snow was tough to hike in, as it would seem steady for a few steps and then all of a sudden, you would fall through down to your knee! It was a battle making it up the rim, but we were able to go three miles to Watchman overlook. We were planning to hike up Watchman Peak, but the trail was completely covered in snow! So instead we just enjoyed the view and turned around (of course, not until Nick slipped and literally almost fell off the edge. It was hands down the scariest moment of my life, probably his too).

This was around noon, you can see the change in light on the lake as time goes on! 

Yes of course Nick needed to walk out onto this point.... I was very cautious!

This was a long stretch of uphill! Just had to photograph it in an attempt to feel better about how hard it was.

Nick videoing a rock he threw down this ledge

Took this while telling him to GET OFF the ledge!

This was looking down where Nick almost died. I couldn't get a good picture of it, but it was basically straight down and very windy. So scary!

So then we made the three mile hike back to the visitor center. It was really nice because it was all downhill! And the snow was a little bit better since it had been in the sun. By the time we got back to the visitor center we were pretty exhausted! But it was great timing for the sunset, and just enough time to ask the rangers for directions to Bend, where we were staying for the night. We didn't have service anywhere near the park, so this was sort of important!

Beautiful Wizard Island and Crater Lake at sunset

Nick and his antics...he built this so he could throw a snow ball at it and record it with the GoPro, haha! 

Then we made a 2 hour drive (Crater Lake is really out of the way) to Sunriver, a little resort town outside of Bend. We made it to our Airbnb after we grabbed some dinner at the nearby Pub and brewhouse. It was actually our first time choosing a pub for dinner, but we were so glad we did! We weren't sure we were dressed well enough to go anywhere else (coming straight from our 3.5 hour hike), but our airbnb host later suggested we eat there. Our airbnb was the BEST! We were so tired and just needed a good shower and a good nights rest (I'd caught a cold by this point), and it was exactly what we needed. We felt very blessed for such an amazing day!

The next day, we slept in and then explored the town of Bend. I had planned to either snow shoe or cross country ski for the day, but both Nick and I were exhausted and didn't feel up for either. It didn't help that the sun didn't shine at all and it was below 30 all day! We had also planned to do a few hikes in the area, but we just totally pooped out! So we went and walked around the awesome REI at the Old Mill mall, since it's in an old mill building and was really neat! Then, we went and looked around McMennigans, a random hotel/pub/restaurant/soaking pool/ movie theater that we always get told about when we ask for recommendations for things to do in Oregon. We had lunch there- delicious, tried fondue for the first time and loved it- and looked around at their soaking tubs. Such a randomly eclectic place! But still fun. Then, we walked down to Drake park and walked along the Deschuetes River. It was really too cold to be out for very long, but it was absolutely beautiful! Our airbnb host had told us there hadn't been any snow in Bend for 2 weeks, which was unheard of for the area. But since it was so cold, there was incredible frost on all the trees! Even the drive home was beautiful!

Even though it was so cold, the frost on the trees made it worth it! So beautiful!

So then we started the 3 hour drive home, through the mountains and some neat towns (note to self: visit Sisters in the summer). Fortunately, the weather was still clear, so we had no snow or rain or ice to worry about. My only worry was Nicholas' comments about being first in the long line of cars driving down the mountain! I kept reminding him it wasn't snake, or Mario cart... but we got home safely and without any problems. It was a great trip! We hope we can make it back to Bend in the summer!