Oregon has these beautiful campgrounds along the Pacific Ocean. Many have a hike in and bike in campsites. See below photos. But and this is a big But! Even though within the campgrounds are great bike trails the main hwy 101 has only small shoulders for bikers and hikers. We are not the largest vehicle on this road. Huge lumber trucks twice our size and more pass by us and the roads twist and turn. When we pass a biker and one of the trucks is also passing at the same time Pat almost stops the Proud Mary. The lumber trucks whoosh by at the highest speeds possible. We are slow and I compare us everyday to a "lumbering" dinosaur. We fear for the bike riders.
Once on the bike trails in the parks, it is great. The day before yesterday we biked to the South Jetty here at South Beach, saw more sea lions and went to the Oregon Coast Ocean Aquarium. I wish instead we had biked to the Hatfield Marine Center which was nearby. I am one of those individuals that must go to a zoo or an aquarium or a science museum at least once during any journey. LI Aquarium in Riverhead is a better aquarium displaying more species (shark tank wow!) and different aquatic ecosystems (Amazon River, African Lake, East Coast Tide Pool). The only exception is the Pacific tide pool hands-on exhibit, but at low tide you can go below the Yaquina Bay Lighthouse at Yaquina Bay Natural Area and explore tide pools for free. You will also see there harbor seals basking in the sun and it is a seabird haven with auks, guillemots, murres and tiny diving birds we couldn't id. Along the lava made cliff another highlight of the day was a beautiful female peregrine falcon, a nesting pair stay right beside the Interpretative Center.
You could walk your bike over the Yaquina Bay Bridge to explore the rest of the Historic Newport Bayfront and Nye Beach , but we didn't. Most of the towns remind us of Montauk, but Newport is a little more built up with a Ripley's Believe It Or Not and other tourist "traps". South Beach Park is not as nice as Cape Lookout Park mainly because it is a beach campground and an annoying fog horn beacon at the end of the jetty which is loudest when the sky is blue. The hiking trail is a dunes trail of sugar sand very hard to walk in while Cape Lookout had a wonderful Rainforest trail. (I am writing a ghost story about Cape Lookout that involves a raven, rocks and a little boy. When it is done I will tell you more and give you more photos.)
The bridge is the highest spot and so important to know in case of a Tsunami. All up and down the coast are warnings about tsunamis and what to do in case there is an earthquake which is find the highest spot available or say goodbye. It is a little anxiety causing seeing all these signs.
Of course, the thrill of the last 3 days is the spotting of the gray whales at Boiler and Rock Creek Viepoints. They don't stay up long enough for a good photo. But we could watch them for hours. The trick is to find the blow spout. Fun! Fun! Fun!
 |
| Lighthouse at Yaquina Bay Harbor Seals, Sea Bird Paradise and Tide Pool Exploration |
 |
| Best exhibit at Aquarium, the Jellyfish |
 |
| 10 inch Banana slug, photo for Dottie at the farm, they don't eat vegetables and are native here, good food for crows and shrews. |
 |
| Hiker/Biker Campsite at Cape Lookout |
No comments:
Post a Comment