Stop Nine - Wheeler Oregon

We have moved on to Paradise Cove RV Park just outside of Wheeler, Oregon.  The weather has been nice with highs in the 60’s and lows in the 50’s. Paradise Cove looks onto the Nehalem Bay.  We have enjoyed seeing Blue Herons fishing in the bay.

We forgot to mention that Jessica flew in from Phoenix to Portland last Wednesday and drove to Newport to meet up with us for about a week. She was looking forward to seeing the coast again and getting out of the Phoenix heat.

We’re still checking out the various lighthouses and the many beaches.   We took a drive toward Portland on an Oregon Scenic Road which goes through the Tillamook State Forest.  After many years of hiking in New Mexico and Colorado you get a much different feel with the wet and dense forests here.  There are ferns, flowers, and moss everywhere.  Very pretty.

For the Costco shoppers - we took a tour of the Tillamook cheese factory with free samples of cheese and a look into the processing plant.  That same day we stopped by the Latimer Quilt & Textile Museum.  This is a living, working museum whose mission is to preserve, promote, display and facilitate the creation of textile arts.  They had many antique quilts on display that were meticulously hand quilted.  After that we drove to the Cape Lookout State Park.  Jessica and I took a one-way two mile hike on the North Trail.  Gloria drove the to end point and hiked to meet us around the last mile on the trail.  There were beautiful views of the coast along the way. 

The next day, we drove up to Astoria. We drove over the Astoria-Megler Bridge.  The bridge is a steel cantilever through truss bridge that spans the Columbia River between Astoria and Point Ellice, Washington.  We then slowly worked our way back down the coast stopping at various beaches and state parks.  We spent a day at Cannon Beach for some beach and shopping time.  Sorry - no stops for Goonies fans.

We start our move inland and will miss the coast with the nice locations and great temperatures.  Next we are on to the Columbia river area just east of Portland.