Trip to Tillamook, Oregon

We headed off to the cloudy, cool coast to explore and meet some friends in Tillamook. When we stopped at Boiler Bay State Scenic Viewpoint, it was mostly inhabited by gulls. They had taken over the picnic tables.

Course I wouldn't have wanted to use one of these filthy things anyway.

The place Tillamook is known for - the Tillamook Cheese Factory.

The Cheese Factory has a self-guided tours that let you see the cheese being cut and packaged. This sign tells you what is happening in the next two photos.

On the other side of the factory we could see the vats where the cheese was made.

We headed out of Tillamook on the Three Capes Scenic Loop. First stop - Cape Meares.

So we took a hike to find the Big Spruce. Some of these are pretty big.

I just had to get in the photo so you could see the size of the tree in relation to a person.

Looks like the top broke off.

Next we headed on to the viewpoint. Lots of puffin, cormorants and murres make this their home.

Gull Rock.

The next five photos show the view from left to right at the viewpoint.

The shortest lighthouse ever built on the Oregon Coast is the Cape Meares Lighthouse at 38'. It is not operational.

Another short walk took us to the Octopus Tree.

Just past the Octopus Tree was a better view of the coast to the south.

We headed south along the scenic loop and went through Oceanside.

Just another pretty spot along the road as we entered Netarts.

We missed the turn to do the rest of the Three Capes Scenic Loop so we headed south on US 101. On the way north through the town of Beaver we had noticed this sign so I had the camera ready on the return trip. It says, "Dave's Beaver Service". LOL

We ran into some road construction and noticed these dogs in the back of the truck ahead of us.

On the way back south, we stopped at a scenic overlook and I decided to call my folks. There was a bird on the stone wall so I tried to see how close I could get to it. When my hand got close, the bird jump on to it. I was surprised but I guess I shouldn't have been. It probably gets fed by a lot of people that stop here.

We stopped at Cape Foulweather for the view.

Some people asked us to take their photo so we decided it was time to have ours taken too.

Next stop was Devil's Punch Bowl. This is looking straight down at the top of the Punch Bowl.

Here's the view to the north where you can see Cape Foulweather.

We walked a little to the south and took a photo back to the north where you can see the opening of the Devil's Punch Bowl.

Just around the corner we could see people surfing. That water must be cold!

Some birds were huddled on the rock where they were protected from the wind.

Checking Out the Back Roads

A guy was in the office the other day and mentioned that he had just taken his grandchildren to a natural water slide that was about 13 miles from us. He also mentioned a waterfall that was an additional 2 miles. Well the temp was 91° yesterday and 86° today so we thought it would be good to go check out the waterslide. We went up Camp Creek Road, which was paved all the way but it was only one lane wide in places.

We looked for the trail to the water slide but didn't find it on the way up the road. We did find the waterfall so we knew we had passed the water slide. It's hard to see the waterfall through the trees. It was lower than the road.

We went back down the road and when we got close to where we thought the water slide should be, we started taking turns walking. I would walk a while and Nolan would drive the car up to a place ahead of me then he would start walking. We leap-frogged like this for about three miles but never found the rock slide. Gonna have to ask some more locals about it. I sure hope we could find it. Cheap entertainment on a hot day.

On the way back down the road we saw a cat walking on the road. No, not a house cat... more like a cougar. We didn't get close enough for a good look or a good photo but you can just make it out on the right side of the road in this photo.

Since we didn't find the rock slide, we decided to check out another road in the area... Buck Creek Road. This one wasn't in as good as shape as Camp Creek Road and it wasn't as wide either.

It went into a heavily logged area. See the road going around the point to the left? That's where we were heading.

We got past that then went up this path. Shortly after this we met a loaded log truck and barely got off the road enough for it to get by so we turned around and headed back down. One encounter like that was enough for us!

There was a turnoff by that point of land to this road that went down the hillside and another road that went up the hillside on the other side of the road.

The truck that had passed us.

We stopped by this National Forest campsite that is about two miles from Loon Lake Lodge. There is a boat dock on the opposite side of the road. Your truck and trailer can't be over 50' long to camp in this area (and I think that is too long) so we couldn't get in here with our truck and trailer since it's 60' long hooked up. Typical of National Forest, National Park and State Park campgrounds.

One of the campsites in the loop. Yes we are headed downhill in the car but the space is level.

Day to Day Miscellaneous

There isn't a playground at the resort we are working at so there are planned activities. One of the things kids can do is look for the Loon Lake Loony sign. This is a 8" round piece of wood with a photo of the Loon Lake Loon. Nolan hid it by this tree on Tuesday night.
Yep it's still there. Look at the base of the tree.

When we go into town we pass the Dean Creek Elk Viewing Area. I was on the phone to family members so Nolan decided to take some photos of the elk.

While we were in town, we picked up a 5 gallon gas can and filled it full of gas to put in the jet skis. That way we don't have to fill at the dock where it is $5.49/gallon. I've been out twice on the jet skis and Nolan has been out once. It's a blast and all we have to do is fill the tank when we are done. Of course we can't have them if customers want them.