Day 6: Memory Lane: Tillamook Cheese, Octopus Tree, Cape Lookout State Park

Looking south from Cape Meares towards Cape Lookout, Oregon. 

In the late 1970's - early 1980's the Loenen family camped along the Oregon coast each summer.  Today was all about memory lane as we drove along the Three Cape Scenic route and toured the Tillamook Cheese Factory. 

Since our drive started out in the rain we did our best drive-by sight seeing. By lunch time the rain had been replaced by sunshine. 

Here are some pictures of our day. 

Pronto Pup, corn dog restaurant in Rockaway Beach. Hmmmm.

How to be a tourist in the rain without leaving your vehicle. . . 

The Whitney Mill Chimney erected by the Hammond Company in 1927.
One source states the tower is 195 feet tall.
Garibaldi, Oregon.  

Oyster shell pile at Pacific Oysters, Bay City, OR.
Now there is an aroma!

Seeing this oddity, we pulled over to have a look.  Apparently, you can part with $20.00 for the opportunity to pedal yourself and one other 6 miles down the line.  At that point someone will cheerfully turned your rail bike around and you can pedal 6 miles back from whence you came. Apparently, a tour was about to begin because all around us cars where pulling in . . . did I mention it was pouring rain?!  Very interesting.  Learn more here. 

It was a slow day to be a seagull. 

Things have changed just a little bit in the last 35 years. . . 

Since it was lunch time, the production line stops, with cheese in all stages of production. 

The Blue Agate Cafe, Oceanside, OR

Our next stop as Cape Meares.  In an effort to avoid getting 'hangry' (angry because you are hungry), we consulted Yelp to find a nice place to eat.  We would have never gone into this unassuming little cafe if it had not been for the positive reviews on Yelp.

Fish Tacos. . . . yum!

Oceanside, OR looking north towards Storm rock, Finely rock, Shag rock and Seal rock.

Driving north from Oceanside on Cape Meares Loop toward the Octopus Tree and the lighthouse at Cape Meares. 

We are convinced that we used to take family pictures on and in this tree. Now there is a really big fence around it.
Find out more about the Octopus Tree here. 

From Cape Meares looking south.  Oceanside where we had a great lunch is just on the other side of the first head land. 

Looking south from Cape Meares. 

The Cape Meares lighthouse. It is very short at only 34 feet high. 

Cape Lookout State Park. We remember thick, tall stands of trees. They are no more and we are not sure why.  There are large, old stumps in the middle of the camp now.  The dunes have been eroded. It was very sad to see. 

The dunes here are almost flat. 

Looking north towards Cape Meares.  The beaches themselves are still majestic. 

Nehalem Bay State Park looking north. What a difference from 24 hours ago when the rain was pelting us and the wind was threatening to pick us up and take us away.

Tomorrow the rain comes again so we made the most of our sunny evening.