Monday, October 7, 2024

Our day began at South Bay State Park in Newport, Oregon. Fortunately, the near-constant fog horn stopped around 9:00pm last night, so it was as noisy sleeping in the park as I’d expected. The four of us hung around camp this morning, ate breakfast, and did our morning chores before departing around 10:00am. Before leaving the campground, Aden helped Andi dump the gray and black tanks of the RV.

I can’t believe how foggy it is along Oregon’s coastline. At times, it was hard to see in front of our vehicle as we drove south along Highway 101 from Newport to Yachats. The fog sweeps onto land coming in from the ocean, dispating one moment and then completely clouding over the view a minute later.

We continued listening to the Guide Along audio tour as we drove south along the coast, and Talkie Guy highly recommended we stop at Cape Perpetua near the town of Yachats. Unfortunately, the visitor’s center was closed today; it’s winter hours began October 1. We would have loved to learn more about the unique rock formations and old-growth forest, but continued on to the Spouting Horn viewpoint instead. Parking was a bit of a challenge in the small-sized parking lot near the overlook, but Andi was able to find a place to park near the curb.

The coastal landscape of Cape Perpetua is made up of basalt rock from ancient volcanoes and towering Sitka spruce standing tall amogst the fog. Explosive waves have eroded parts the basalt rock over time leaving behind fissures and cracks. As the ocean waves crash into the rocks, water sprays everywhere and geysers spout through the cracks. It’s quite the show!

We watched from the Spouting Horn lookout for quite a while before making our way down the path along the ocean. There were tidal pools we could have explored, but the water was wild here and the basalt is sharp and hard to walk on.

Most of my photos look out of focus, but it was actually the sun and the fog mixing together in the air. The air was misty and magical. Sun beans shined through the Sitka spruce trees in an awe-inspiring way. There’s no greater place to feel God’s presence than in nature. Cape Perpetua was a beautiful place.

Back in the RV, we continued driving south along Highway 101 from Cape Perpetua to Heceta Head in Florence, Oregon. Heceta Head features one of the nine lighthouses along the Oregon coast and a small sandy beach. A creek flowed along the south side of the beach merging freshwater into the ocean, and immediately begged to play in it. “The water’s cold, but not as cold as some of the rivers I crossed in British Columbia,” Aden said.

There’s also a gorgeous arch bridge here that connects Highway 101 with the Cape Creek Tunnel. On this sunny, misty day, the bridge looked absolutely magical in the distance.

We probably should have taken the time to hike the 1/2 mile trail up to the Heceta Head lighthouse, but we didn’t. Andi washed the kids’ feet using the outdoor shower nozzle attachment on the outside of the RV, and then we continued driving into the town of Florence.

Andi and I planned to take the kids out to lunch in Florence, but there weren’t many offerings. Neither of us felt like sititng down for an hour-long meal as we still had some driving to do this afternoon. Our fast food options were limited to Burger King, McDonalds, and A&W.

“Do you guys want to have lunch at A&W?” Andi shouted to the kids in the back of the RV.

“Yeah!” they excitedly screamed back.

Of all the experiences we’ve had during our travels the past month, why is eating at a fast food restaurant what easily pleases them? Anyway, glad Tory and Aden were excited.

The Florence A&W was actually the real-deal carhop restaurant with drive-in style ordering and rootbear served in glass mugs. Obviously, we didn’t pull under one of the drive-in style awnings in our RV, and opting instead to eat inside the restaurant. Our food was surprisingly decent, and the rootbeer in a frosted glass mug tasted excellent.

After lunch, Andi drove south along Highway 101 to the town of Reedsport, then turned inland on Highway 38. I drove most of the stretch to Diamond Lake located in the southern part of Oregon.

We’d planned to camp at Diamond Lake Campground near Crater Lake National Park, but half the campground was closed for the season and the spots that were open were obstructed by trees. We drove through the campground for 20 minutes or so looking for an acceptable spot to park with our Starlink satellite internet before looking for a different option.

Andi found a sno-park campgrorund using his iOverlander app, so we drove there next. This was nothing more than a campground with flat open spaces (no services), but it worked perfectly for what we needed. Bonus that the sno-park campground was free vs. the $30/per night charge to camp on Diamond Lake.

We settled ourselves in for the night doing our usual routine. Andi grilled pork tenderloin and brusssels sprouts on the Blackstone for dinner, and then the four of us watched a few episodes of Young Sheldon together.

Tomorrow, Andi has to work in the morning and the kids and I will do school, and then we’ll visit Crater Lake National Park. Excited for that!