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.