Oregon - June 1, 2002

Oregon - June 1, 2002

Oregon - June 1, 2002

This was my first road trip to Oregon and the coast. I drove up I-5 to Weed, California, then cut over to Klamath Falls, Oregon. Along the way I stopped to check out Tule Lake, California for the migrating birds and bald eagles, as well as Lava Beds National Monument.

I hunted down several covered bridges in California and Oregon before heading to the John Day Fossil Beds National Monument in Oregon. There are a couple of different spots around John Day where you can dig for fossils, and at one of them I was lucky enough to find a fossilized leaf. After that exciting discovery, I headed back to the interstate and made my way to the Oregon coast, starting in Astoria.

I had seen many beautiful images of Oregon beaches with their sea stacks and driftwood. Unlike California, Highway 101 does not run close to the coast, so while I saw plenty of signs for beaches, I did not have the names of the specific ones I had seen in photos. I did not manage to get any beach shots on this trip, but I found it much easier to visit the various lighthouses along the coast.

Tillamook is on the coast, and besides being famous for its cheese, it is home to an air museum housed in an old blimp hangar. For me, the hangar itself was as much of a draw as the Tillamook Air Museum collection. Zeppelins and blimps have been a big interest of mine ever since I saw the movie Zeppelin in the early 70s. The old MCAS El Toro base in Orange County, California had some of these blimp hangars that you could see from the highway on the way to Disneyland, but I could never get close since they were on a Marine base.

Partway down the coast I cut inland for a quick visit to McMinnville and the Evergreen Aviation and Space Museum, home to a remarkable collection of aircraft including the Spruce Goose, Howard Hughes's famous military transport plane. I had seen the Spruce Goose when it was first put on display in Long Beach, California, near the Queen Mary. While in the area, I also visited Salem, Oregon and Silver Falls State Park, where a trail takes you past (and even behind) 10 stunning waterfalls.

From Salem, I hopped back to the coast to continue hunting for lighthouses, following the shoreline until I reached the California state line. From there I continued down Highway 101 to Crescent City, where I stayed a couple of days. Crescent City is a great base for visiting Jedediah Smith Redwoods State Park, Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park, and Redwood National Park. On my way out I headed south on Highway 101 and discovered the Avenue of the Giants, a scenic loop through towering redwoods and small towns on a winding two-lane road. It is slow going, but it is a beautiful drive.