Wandering Around America One State at a Time – Oregon

Posted in Lighthouse, Oregon, RVing, State Parks, Wandering around America, WildlifeTagged , , , , , ,

State 34:

Welcome to the next post in my series highlighting states we have visited throughout the years. I hope you will enjoy coming along for the ride!

I will be featuring the states alphabetically. The next state in my series is

Oregon

Oregon became the 33rd state on February 14, 1859. The capital is Salem.

Our visit to Oregon was entirely along the spectacular Pacific coast along Highway 101. In order to have easy access to the scenic overlooks we traveled south from Washington. After crossing the Columbia River bridge our Oregon journey began.

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Crossing the Columbia River into Oregon

We were towing our fifth wheel as we drove south. Lucky for us the overlooks were big enough that we didn’t have any trouble finding parking places.

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Tillimook Rock Lighthouse
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Northern Oregon Coast
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Northern Oregon Coast

We enjoy camping in state parks so before we left home I called the Oregon State Parks to find out if I needed campground reservations. We were traveling in late April and the ranger assured me we would not have a problem finding a campsite that time of year (this was ten years ago and campsites may be harder to get now). Our first two night stay was at Beverly Beach State Park in Newport. With the fifth wheel parked in our campsite we were able to take the truck on several scenic drives.

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Devil’s Punchbowl
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Surfer’s on the beach looking for the right waves
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Bridge at Depoe Bay
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Bridge on Otter Crest Drive

We visited two lighthouses near Newport.

Yaquina Head Lighthouse, OR
Yaquina Bay Lighthouse, OR

After climbing to the top of the Yaquina Head Lighthouse we walked down a series of stairs for a stroll along the beach. We came upon Harbor Seals sunning themselves on the rocks.

Harbor Seals at Quarry Cove
Harbor Seal
Henry and Blondie on the Beach at Yaquina Head Lighthouse

I love the Oregon bridges and this one we saw from the Yaquina Bay Lighthouse was one of my favorites.

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Bridge near Yaquina Bay Lighthouse

Our Oregon adventure continued as we continued south from Newport on Hwy 101. The first stop of the day was at the Sea Lion Caves near Florence. The caves are 250 feet below the visitors center. After a long elevator ride we were down in the caves for a close up view of the Stellar Sea Lions. The waves crashed into the cave while the seals held on to the rocks and barked at each other.

Sea Lion in the Sea Lion Caves
Sea Lions in the Sea Lion Cave
Haceta Head Lighthouse as seen from the Sea Lion Caves

As we continued south we passed the huge Oregon sand dunes and stopped for lunch at the Umqua Lighthouse State Park.

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Umpqua Lighthouse

We settled into our campsite at Humbug Mountain State Park near Port Orford for our next two night stay. Our campsite was a short walk from the beach.

Bridge at Humbug Mountain
View from the beach at Humbug Mountain State Park
View from the beach at Humbug Mountain

The campground was just a short drive to the Port Orford Heads State Park and Lifeboat Stations. The ocean views were breathtaking as we hiked along the trails on top of the cliffs. At the museum we learned the Coast Guardsmen used to go down over 500 steps to launch their lifeboats.

Beach from an overlook at Port Orford
Port Orford Lifeboat Station
Port Orford at Coast Guard Lifeboat Station
Along the nature trail in Port Orford

When we weren’t enjoying the rugged coast, lighthouses, dog friendly beaches, bridges, seals and lifeboat stations in Oregon we took time out to enjoy some amazing fresh seafood in Newport and Port Orford. Our time there was short and we didn’t waste a minute of it.

To read previous posts about the states featured in this series just click on the state name: Alabama      Alaska      Arizona      Arkansas      California      Colorado     Florida      Georgia      Hawaii        Idaho  Illinois      Indiana      Iowa     Kansas     Kentucky     Louisiana     Maine     Maryland     Massachusetts     Michigan     Minnesota    Mississippi     Missouri     Montana     Nebraska     Nevada      New Hampshire     New Mexico      New York     North Carolina    North Dakota      Ohio     Oklahoma

17 thoughts on “Wandering Around America One State at a Time – Oregon”

  1. Looks like beautiful country that I really should visit. Although those gloomy overcast skies don’t look very inviting. Perhaps the weather is something that has held me back from visiting the PNW. However, after my experience this summer, that weather is looking mighty inviting 😁

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  6. WOW, just WOW! What fabulous pictures. This is another state I can’t wait to visit….but this maybe all I’ll see – your beautiful photos! It’s just so far from Virginia….

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    1. Thank you! Oregon was one of the states we visited on a three month west coast trip 10 years ago. We saw so much in so many states on that trip. Yes, a long way from Georgia, too but I’m so glad we did it.

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    1. Brenda, we only spent 4 nights in Oregon and I am amazed at all the things we saw during that short time. I didn’t remember what the weather was like until I started going through the pictures. It didn’t matter, though. We still loved it.

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      1. Me too! Ryan and I have been searching for online jobs for a few weeks now to allow us to be mobile. It’s frustrating and time consuming though. Thank you!

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