Yesterday, as we drove here from Florence, we crossed the 45th parallel which means we are now north of the halfway line between the equator and the North Pole. Although the weather this year is still a bit chilly (nighttime temps in the low 40’s), we are approaching the summer solstice so it does not get dark here until about 10:00 PM. This morning I got up just after 4:00 AM to take care of a personal matter and it was already getting light. This part of the world would probably be a good spot to grow marijuana since there is plenty of sunshine when there is sunshine.
Regardless of the amount of light in the morning, we still got up around 0800 hrs and dawdled away the morning taking showers and having a nifty breakfast. Afterwards, we piled into the truck for some local exploration. Our first destination was BJ’s Quilting in nearby Cloverdale. Peggy popped in for a shopping visit because she likes this kind of store and came out still holding some of her money. I admire her restraint when shopping in stores where they only sell stuff she would happily acquire in dumpster loads if she was not careful.
We also passed through a town which we suspect was called Beaver because they had a shop called Dave’s Beaver Maintenance and another called Beaver Firearms and Grocery. We did not see any beavers there.
We continued north on US-101 to Tillamook. There is an enormous blimp hanger, now an air museum, along the highway south of town. There used to be two hangers but one was re-purposed into a gigantic processing plant where they make compost with the abundant cow poop available in dairy country. Back in the early 1980’s, Tillamook cheese was made here in a small facility where they had a small parking lot for the few visitors who ventured to this remote part of Oregon. When I visited back then, there were two or three others in the small store with me, sampling and purchasing the great cheese. Things have changed. Now the Tillamook cheese factory is enormous with many impressive stainless steel vats, loading docks, huge warehouses and a new, modern facility for the thousands of visitors awaiting their chance to see what happens when milk is mixed with rennet. The parking lot is about the size of Disneyland’s. There were hundreds of people outside, either departing with their loot or waiting in a long line to get in to acquire some. We snapped a few pictures but declined to get in a long line to buy cheese readily available in supermarkets. We did stop not far down the road at a place called Debby D’s Sausage where we picked up some summer sausage and jerky before turning west to head out to Cape Mears.
Cape Mears is the northernmost of three capes along this section of coast. Accordingly, the coast road is called the Three Capes Scenic Route which passes Cape Mears, Cape Lookout and Cape Kiwanda. It used to be a loop but the road inconveniently slid into the sea above Cape Mears and the state has apparently decided to leave it unrepaired. The road is quite serpentine and wanders up and down steep hills. I know why they call the middle section Cape LOOKOUT! The coastline and offshore rocks are stunningly beautiful and home to lots of sea critters, We spotted many types of sea birds that have established nests on the abrupt, vertical basalt cliffs at the edge of the Pacific. There are also lots of sea lions who have hauled their chubby bodies out of the water on long sand spits and set up colonies that look like a bunch of logs or fat joints, pointy on both ends.
We eventually found our way back to our RV spot near Cape Kiwanda where we rewarded ourselves with cocktails. It was a very nice drive today.
Click the link to see pix. https://photos.app.goo.gl/P5jJQb1P8H4y8Ndt7