Just a few miles South is Hug Point Beach. This was a great spot to visit, because the path down to the beach was short and easy enough for dad. This is an interesting area; the road used to run right along the ocean at this point, and wagons or early motor vehicles had to "hug" the landward side of the beach to get by. At high tide it was impassible. Around the point was a small waterfall, and the beginning of a hiking trail. This would be a super picnic area. I picked up a couple of Sand Dollars on the beach.
More scenic driving down the coast; this was a nice viewpoint North of the Tillamook Bay Area. This viewpoint had some good displays and info on the really "green" governor in OR history, who kept the coast from falling into evil private hands. We didn't spend much time in the Tillamook area, but according to the tourist propaganda there is a lot of historical stuff and things to see.
In this pic of Hwy 101 you can see how much effort has been put into making things look natural. I found the roads in Western OR to be extremely well-marked, with really nice bright lines on the road. Even rough roads had nice line markings. However, you can drive for miles without a highway marker or a speed limit sign, which can be annoying if you're a little lost. Presumably they are trying to minimize signage.
My dad's into airplanes, so we did visit the Tillamook Air Museum. There was a mish-mash of interesting planes there, but the real attraction is the building itself. It's the largest "free-span" building in the US. It was used to house dirigibles that patrolled the coastal ocean during WWII for enemy submarines.
At this point we'd driven down only about 25% of the Oregon coast, but as our main destination was Crater Lake in south central OR, it was time for us to head inland. There is all kinds of cool stuff further south, including some coastal sand dunes. A trip there could even include visits to the redwood areas in extreme northern CA.
We headed over towards Salem, OR, which btw is NOT the location of the famous witch trials. (OR is a very progressive state and they don't do things like that, especially considering the obvious problem with carbon emissions.) We drove past a casino area, and I noticed that Melissa Etheridge was going to be performing soon. Salem is the state capitol, and I don't think we even stopped on the way thru. It seemed like a nice town, however.
We continued down I-5, which runs north/south thru central OR, on down to Eugene, which is the college town. At that point we left the Interstate to head SE to Oakridge, OR. This area is a higher-altitude forest compared to what we'd been driving thru all day. This is a good point to note that ALL of the driving on this trip was incredibly scenic.
The motel here was fine; there was a pool with a Jacuzzi hot pool area. Good burger place right across the road.
Best Western Oakridge
47433 Hwy 58
Oakridge, OR 97463-9752
541-782-2212
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