On The Meandering Road: August 19, 2016 - Reedsport OR to Tillamook, OR

We did not realize that we slept past 9 am, hurried to get everything ready before checking out of the Salmon Harbor Marina campground at the marina.

There was a long stream of vehicles towing boats to the boat launch when we were ready to leave. We were finally out of the RV Park at 10:15 am.

We went on Highway 101 North and there were so many vehicles towing ATVs.There are lots of sand dunes along the 101 Highway. There is one attraction that you can get on guided ATV ride to go over sand dunes, but we will save it for next year.

Enjoying the view of Pacific Ocean at one pullout on Hwy 101

There were miles and miles of wild blackberry
plants along the highway

We wanted to visit the Sea Lions Cave, was lucky to find a RV parking spot available. The admission fee for adults is $14 and $13 for Seniors. There are steep walkways both to the observation deck and to the cave elevator. We went to the obeservation deck first and there were Stellar sea lions on the rocks down below. We then went to the cave elevator on the other side. The elevator ride going down was smooth. There were no seal lions inside the cave. At the opposite end from the cave is an opening where you can see the Heceta Head Lighthouse. Great view! There were lots of Brandt Comorants on top of the cliff. There was a video about the cave, but it was not captioned. We wrote and left comments with the general manager, but we plan to email and explain how important it is to have close captioned videos for deaf visitors. We checked out the gift shop, and Edith wanted to buy a T-shirt, but the one she wanted comes in a set of 3. No, she did not want 3 t-shirts! We left the store empty-handed.

On way down to the observation deck

The sea lion cave

Riding the elevator down to the cave

If you look carefully you can barely see the lighthouse on the far bluffs on the left.

Heceta Head Lighthouse

Inside the Sea Lion Cave

Taking a plunge

We also left our comments there about
the lack of captions on their video

We had lunch inside our Lil'Home (LH) while at the Sea Lions Cave parking lot. It was fun to watch people commenting about our LH license tag when they walked by.

The coastal views along the 101 Highway were beautiful, but it was impossible to find a good parking spot for motorhomes, even travel trailers, so we bypassed several overlooks. The highway was very twisty, hilly and had sharp turns making it hard for Erwin to maneuver the LH within the lane. Yes, the palms of his hands were sweaty!

We drove through two towns: Yachats and Waldport, but couldn’t find a place to park, not even sides streets, so we bypassed them.

Most campgrounds were full and state park parking lots were crowded. There were lots of people on the beach. The surf was rough!

We drove through Newport, OR, one of the iconic beach town in the state. Lincoln City had lots of beachgoers, lots of driftwoods. The traffic was congested for over 3 miles.

We finally made it to Tillamook, OR at 4 pm, turned left to get on 131 West to Tillamook River RV Park. The campground hostess told us there are sites with no hookups for $25 or sites with hookups for $30. We elected to go with site #15 with hookups. There were not many sites left and two more RVs were coming in after we paid for the site. The campground is by the Tillamook River, which is excellent for fishing. It is a short distance to Tillamook’s famous Cheese Factory and to Cape Mears Lighthouse.

As soon as we got the LH settled in both of us decided to chill out for a couple hours. Edith told Erwin she was little terrified of the Highway 101 because of twisty and hilly roads and Erwin said he did not enjoy it either. He admitted it was very stressful and he did not get much chance to admire the views. Well, Edith said she was scared not because of the road conditions, but because the way Erwin handled the LH. That was the first time she had a far less enjoyable road trip cause her heart was in her throat so many times.

While the appetizer was being baked Edith spent time checking out attractions to visit for tomorrow. Tillamook Cheese Factory, Cape Meares Lighthouse, Cape Lookout State Park, Munson Creek Falls and Bear Creek Artichokes.

We went out for a ride on Cape Meares Loop, but one end was closed due to damaged road. We had to turn around and go back to where we came from.