We spent a quiet Easter in Coos Bay. Randy baked a chicken and made a scrumptious carrot cake with cream cheese frosting, while I researched where and how to go from here. In the afternoon we took another drive out to the bay. The wind and rain was still going strong, but we could hear the sea lions out on the rocks in the middle of the bay. They were too far out for my camera but binoculars helped; Randy was able to confirm that there were elephant seals out there. I saw them too, and heard them. Their call is different from the others – it’s a very deep sound. It’s a shame the rain doesn’t let up – this looks like a cute town that would be fun to explore. It’s obviously a working fishing town; we passed several stacks of empty oyster shells that were over 5 feet tall.
Monday we keft Coos Bay to continue north again. Originally we planned to stay in Coos Bay a couple more days, but the cold rain continued and it hardly seemed worth it. When Randy came in from unhooking the RV, there were small hailstones caught in his hair. No sense in sticking around in that! He stayed on Highway 101 north to Tillamook. Highway 101 is an older road that runs right on the coastline most of the way. This is the first road we’ve been on with “Tsunami zone warning” signs. The coastal view is beautiful but the road curves like a snake. When you add steep grades and driving rain to the mix, the view is less enticing.
We decided to stay at Big Spruce RV Park in Tillamook for a couple of nights. It only costs $12.12 a night, which is their off-season plus a discount for Travel America. We don’t belong to Travel America, but they gave us the discount anyway. They have full hook-up with 50 amps and cable TV, but the gravel sites are drowning in the rain and there are a lot of older rigs that have obviously been here a very long time. Hopefully it will be OK as a base for some sight-seeing.
For a start, we took the Jeep up the coast for a quick look at the local bays. One of them had a couple of waterfalls that fell from a cliff straight down into the bay, but it was so windy that the water just blew back up as spray and never reached the ocean. A bit further down the road is a small lighthouse. We were able to walk around it and I was surprised how small it was, but it was located high on the cliff so it didn't need a tall structure to do its job. And the Octopus tree is nearby – it’s really unusual. It looks like several trees joined together at the base.
It's still raining...the guy at the RV Park said that the weather should get better tomorrow, but we noticed that all the trees are covered in moss; so this might be their normal weather. Hope not - some sunny weather would be welcome.
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