The Oregon Coast

On our way to Tillamook, Oregon (yes, like the cheese), we visited two more lighthouses: Yaquina Head and Yaquina Bay. Yaquina Bay was only in operation for three years in the 1870s because it couldn't be seen well enough and had to be replaced by the Yaquina Head lighthouse a few miles north. But we loved that one because the lighthouse is incorporated into the keeper's house, which is open and decorated as it would have been at the time of its operation. It is a great way to talk about how life was different. Noni especially has grown to love the lighthouses. She asks to see them wherever we go--whether we are near the coast or not!


Once we got to Tillamook, we visited two cheese factories and a sausage company. Such tours are big hits with kids. One of the cheese companies (Blue Heron French Cheese Co.) even has a petting zoo outside the store. We also discovered that Gloria likes brie (and summer sausage!). We visited Cape Meares Lighthouse--the shortest lighthouse in Oregon--and the kids got to climb to the top, right up beside the cut-glass fresnel light. Cape Meares State Park is also home to the Octopus Tree, a sitka spruce that has six trucks spreading from its roots.

We moved on to Ada, Oregon, a tiny town on Siltcoos Lake outside Florence. Siltcoos Lake is the largest lake along the Oregon Coast, and just about all of the shoreline is privately owned, so it is very quiet. We stayed at a fishing camp. The girls got to play with a lot of kids here. They loved catching and playing with salamanders along the dock. Gloria said this was her favorite place on the whole trip--because she had kids to play with.

While we were in Ada, we visited Sea Lion Caves and Heceta Head Lighthouse. We took an elevator down in the large sea cave and saw dozens of sea lions playing, swimming, and calling to one another. Gloria had been warned by her grandfather that it would smell bad in the cave, and she had been very concerned about--even practiced holding her nose. She said it wasn't as bad as she thought it would be. Of course, we weren't there for the largest concentration of sea lions inside the cave. We were told that sometimes hundreds will be in the cave together. Heceta Head Lighthouse is only four miles from the cave and there are nice views of it from there. But we drove on up the road and hiked up to the lighthouse itself. The keepers house is now a bed and breakfast, but it is also open for tours in the afternoons.

From here we head inland to Bend.