Seaside Today And Home Sweet Home Tomorrow

Wednesday, at 2pm, we’ll be catching the MV Coho ferry from Port Angeles, WA to Victoria, B.C.  An hour or so later, we should be home in Cowichan Bay.  That will bring an end to another great 3 1/2 month winter holiday in Palm Springs, CA and the Pacific Coast’s of California and Oregon.  Tuesday, however, we spent our last night on the road at a nice KOA park just a bit north of Seaside, OR.  That wasn’t the original plan, but as you all know, plans can change fast.

One of the many little towns that dot the Oregon coastline

After saying goodbye to Gordon and his puppy Abbey, who we ran into at the dog park on Tuesday morning, we pulled out of Lincoln City just before 9am and headed a couple of hours north to Seaside. Gordon and Juanita had recommended an RV park in Seaside called the Circle Creek Park with the disclaimer that it can be a bit muddy if there has been a lot of rain.  That turned out to be the case alright.  Although we had a great weather day again, The Circle Creek park was pretty boggy and not a soul was there. Just a bit too wet it seems as the park has a lot of grass between the sites.

I guess the Amtrak rolls through Wheeler, OR

That was no problem as it wasn’t even 12 noon yet so we just drove a bit further north until we found the Astoria/Warrenton/Seaside KOA.  This is a huge KOA with 311 sites and very well landscaped with lots of trees, full services and flat level sites.  It was a bit pricey but for our last night on the road, what the heck!!  We were registered and all setup by 1pm.

We’ll be driving over the Astoria Bridge spanning the Columbia River

After we got settled in and had lunch, we decided to spend the rest of the afternoon sightseeing around the area. First up was the town of Astoria on the Columbia River. It was a quick 10 minute drive and the biggest attraction there was definitely the Astoria-Megler Bridge. It stretches 4.1 miles from Astoria, Oregon, across the mouth of the Columbia River, to Point Ellice, Washington.  The bridge’s main span is 1,232 feet in length, the longest “continuous truss” in the USA.  When Paulette saw the bridge, she asked “do we have to go over that thing??”  Yes, we do, very early Wednesday morning!!

Freighters lined up at the mouth of the Columbia River waiting for docks

Next up on our tour was the town of Canon Beach which meant we had to drive back south about 20 miles along Hwy. 101.  Canon Beach is probably the nicest little town on the entire Oregon Coast. It is full of rustic shops, restaurants and homes that have somehow managed to maintain a ‘cottage-like’ look even though some of them are huge.

Haystack Rock is Canon Beach’s most famous landmark

The biggest landmark in Canon Beach is called Haystack Rock.  It is a dedicated, protected Marine Garden and rises 235 feet out of the sand at the low tide line.  It’s just a big, huge rock but the way it just sits way out there on the beach makes it look all the more impressive. 

Just love the Pacific Ocean’s waves on the Oregon Coast

We turned around at Canon Beach for the 10 mile drive back north to Seaside.  This town has always reminded me of a carnival for some reason.  The main street down to the beach is just lined with colourful shops and tourist traps.  It’s a family kind of a place with all kinds of amusement places for kids, plus, there is the fantastic sandy beach that goes for miles along the town’s shoreline.

Seaside, OR beach

Once we were through with Seaside, we only had one more place on our list and that was Fort Stevens State Park directly across the street from the KOA.  This is the Oregon Coast’s largest state park and includes miles of ocean beaches, camping, nature trails as well as 7 miles of biking trails.  One of the unique attractions of Fort Stevens is the wreck of the ship Peter Iredale.  This ill-fated English ship ran aground during a storm in 1906 and some of its rusted remains are still present on the beach.

Wreck of the British ship Peter Iredale that ran aground in 1906

By the time we left Fort Stevens, it was 4:30pm and time to get back to the RV Park to settle in for the night and get ready for our trip home in the morning.  We’ve enjoyed every bit of our trip and I’ll have lots more to say about it in the coming days, but for now, we’re both excited to be going home and looking forward to a great spring and summer on beautiful Vancouver Island.

Have a great Wednesday, and thanks again for visiting!