The Oregon Coast is magnificent! There are so many stunningly beautiful stops along the way that it's impossible to list them all. And the transition from the often harrowing drives along CA-1 and US 101 in California to the far more sedate Oregon roads made arriving at the border very welcome.
I was reveling in the peaceful Oregon Hwy 101 until we started actually stopping and visiting places. I knew "Portlandia" was fairly representative of Oregonites, but being in Oregon (at least, the places we visited) is like being on an entirely different Covid planet. Dining indoors? Traffic jams? Where are we?
Most of the state parks/attractions seemed to either be closed or packed with tourists (and with no hope of social distancing). The wide open parks where social distancing would be easy were mostly closed, yet whale watching cruises were packed with people as they headed out to the ocean. Rest areas along the highway were closed, but there had to be 50+ people in line to visit the Sea Lion caves.
So... for much of our stay in Oregon, we opted to avoid tourists and instead tour the nearby cities - or, in the case of Yachats, strolling the beach, reading, relaxing and enjoying our most amazing RV site right on the beach - or, in the case of inland Oregon, getting in some golf!
Many of the rural towns we passed through (Coos Bay, Tillamook, Port Orford, Crescent City) appeared fairly beaten down, so we wanted to move on quickly and didn't spend extra time exploring. Highlights along our route are below- we cut over from 101 after Tillamook - intentionally avoiding the northern (and more crowded) Cannon Beach/Seaside areas.
Yachats
Good for: R&R, beach walks and the most amazing pizza!
Not only does Yachats have one of the the most amazing restaurants (The Drift Inn & Cafe), but also one of the most amazing RV spots - Sea Perch RV Resort - it's definitely the #1 spot that we've stayed so far, and one that we'd highly recommend to everyone who is looking for some R&R! We have asked a few folks along the way about their favorite RV stops and Sea Perch has always come up (and we have also randomly heard others promote it as well).
Netarts Bay
Good for: biking, walking, kayaking, boating and crabbing.
Netarts Bay appears to be all about crabbing. Unfortunately, we only stayed two days and didn't have time to plan for the boat rental/crab gear, but our RV location in Netarts Bay was right across the street from the bay and was very bike/walk friendly and also a convenient 1/4 mile from a restaurant that had killer cocktails!!
Netarts is only 3-4 miles from Tillamook, Oregon, so we had to visit the factory as we are avid eaters of Tillamook cheese! The Tillamook factory was jam packed with people and, unfortunately, the burgers were no better than what I was served in high school (yuck!). The ice cream is probably amazing, but we were so disappointed that we spent $40 on two terrible burgers that we didn't want to wait in another long line and spend anymore money, so we headed back to Netarts and amazing cocktails!
We also visited Cape Meares while along the Oregon coast - a very short hike from the parking lot, with spectacular views of the ocean.
Lake Oswego
Good for: small town great for strolling/shopping, farmer's market, boating on Lake Oswego.
If Tom and I were to ever move to Oregon (no - I don't think this would ever happen), Lake Oswego would be my #1 pick of where I'd want to live. It reminds me of the area where we lived in Washington (Clyde Hill) before it became over-crowded. Great shops and farmer's market and surrounded by Lake Oswego!
Next up, our home state of Washington!
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