Our destination was Newport Oregon.
We followed the Santiam Pass Scenic Byway (in the rain).
This route took us past the Sisters Mountains but they were shrouded in low lying clouds. We encountered a large ares that had be destroyed by a forest fire in 2002 that was slowly recovering.
The next Scenic Byway was called "Over the Rivers and Through the Woods". We started from the "Woods" end which is on the western side of the mountains. Dense Douglas Fir, Western Red Cedar and Mountain Hemlock.
We stopped at the Hackleman Old Growth Grove to stretch our legs and look at some of the 500 year old trees. We got about half way around the 1 1/2 mile loop when it started to rain and we hurried back to the car.
We continued on, stopping to look at a covered bridge in Crawfordsville.
The remaining trip to the coast involved another 50 miles of twisty roads ending at Newport Oregon. We decided to stay here for a couple of days to explore this part of the coast and checked into a nice room at the Best Western with a view of the Agate Beach and Pacific Ocean from our room.
We had some time for exploring and went to the Yaquina Head Natural Area to see the lighthouse and tidal pool natural areas. A nice lighthouse....
We were approaching low tide so the tidal pools were full of some interesting creatures.
The cobble beach was covered in smooth black stones of volcanic origin. Really hard to walk on as they acted like a bunch of 2 to 5 inch diameter ball bearings.
After here, we drove to the Historic Bayfront. A working fishing area that also has many bars, shops and restaurants.
Many of the fish processing plants have wall murals depicting the history of the area.
Also a collection of California sea lions...
After our quick tour, we retreated to our room to get ready to go out for supper. We chose Georgie's Beachside Grill which provided a spectacular view of a Pacific sunset.
Great crab cakes and salmon for dinner. Best part was the 50% off bottle of wine special for Tuesdays.
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