Oregon Coast

We completed our trek across Northern California on Monday May 9th and stayed at our last California State Park near Trinidad, CA.... I've gotta say - The California State Parks, by comparison to everywhere else we've been, are a rip-off ...... The state parks have no hook-ups, no showers, and two we stayed in had no RV dump! Their fee was higher than most of the private parks we stayed in who all had full hook-ups including cable TV.... One could argue that the State Parks are more secluded and locations are premier, however - compared to Oregon and other states, they do not have any advantage there - so, bottom line - I would not recommend a plan that included RV'ers staying in California State Parks. Now, that's off my chest.

Oregon is a whole different story. Travelling the Oregon Coast on Highway 101 was gorgeous! We spent 6 days on that part of our trip and each day was as good or better than the next.  The Oregon State Park campgrounds we stayed in all had Electric and Water hook-ups, are in prime locations with beautiful surroundings, nice facilities - shower rooms, clean facilities, trimmed, manicured sites - etc.... What a great state to visit.

May 10 - Brookings, Oregon - A wonderful place on the beach - great view and amenities
May 11 - Cape Blanco State park and Lighthouse - Campground on a bluff overlooking the Pacific..
Lunch on the way in Port Orford, OR at the "Redfish" Seafood restaurant.
May 12 - Eel River Campground near Coos Bay, Oregon - This is a National Park at Oregon Dunes National Recreation Area.  We hiked a couple of the largest Dunes, but didn't walk to the beach which was two miles across the dunes.  A beautiful view though. See the pics below.
May 13 - Beverly Beach State Park, Newport, Oregon - another great park. These Oregon beaches are awsome.  Found a great place in town on the beach for lunch - "Chowder Beach House" restaurant. Temperature today was 60 degrees but sunny.
May 14 - Fort Stevens State Park - Astoria, OR.  Another really neat place.  We toured the actual "Fort Stevens" which is on the Columbia River at the mouth of the Pacific.
May 15 - This morning we drove into Astoria where they have a boardwalk and vendors who set up their tents every Sunday. There was a light rain drizzle all night and this morning, but it drew quite a number of folks regardless. Astoria was once the largest town in Oregon.  There is still a lot of commerce as large ships stop here to deliver and pick up their cargo of various goods.  We had lunch on the boardwalk and counted six sea ships anchored on the river - probably waiting for their turn to load.

We hate to leave Oregon, but as I write this, we're staying in Hoquiam, Washington.  It's still raining and about 50 degrees outside. The forcast is for a couple more days of grey and drizzle, but we're high and dry and warm inside - I know you were concerned.

By the way - gas prices are hanging about $4.00/gallon - "Except" in California where we paid as much as $4.56 on the coast.  We're having a great trip but would have been better had we avoided California.

Here are some pics of the Oregon Coast - Enjoy!