The Oregon Coast–Cape Meares

 

Friday we decided to go to Cape Meares and check out the lighthouse.  It wasn’t that impressive, but visiting a lighthouse seems light a very Oregon thing to do, and it was somewhere to go.  Too bad it was so foggy.  I’m sure the views are gorgeous on a clear day. 

   

This unique tree is a Sitka Spruce and is known as The Octopus Tree because its branches grow like giant tentacles from its 50-foot base. 

We walked around Cape Meares State Park and came across Oregon’s biggest Sitka Spruce, known as Big Spruce.  This guy is a whopper!  It’s 144 ft tall, 48 ft in circumference, and around 800 years old.  

The Oregon Coast–Hug Point

We wanted a good beach day on Thursday, so we got up early, packed up for the day, and headed out in search of one.  But first we made a quick stop at a fish hatchery just up the road from our house.

Using Foster as a drum . . . . He seemed to be loving it, so the other little boys wanted a turn too.  Until they realized that it kind of hurt to be slapped on the face!  So funny.

So we first stopped at Oswald West State Park, and walked a half mile through the woods to get to Short Sand Beach.  It was a good beach, but we didn’t really want to drag all our stuff down the trail, so we just played here for a little while before continuing on. 

We drove further up the coast to Hug Point and liked what we saw.  So we unloaded here to set up camp for the day, and the kids quickly changed into their swimsuits.  Much better! 

Oregon beaches are perfect for skim boarding. 

   

     

When the tide is out, you can walk around the point and explore more of the beach and tide pools.  It really was so beautiful there.

We walked back to our camp and started a fire for dinner and played some whiffle ball.  We watched the sun go down and stayed long after it was dark, singing songs, and enjoying the night.  What a great day.