OREGON VACATION DAY 1

We arrived in Portland around 10:15; picked up our rental car; and drove to highway 101- the coastal road. Getting to highway 101 was a trip--mostly 2 lane roads through small towns. We passed through Oregon wine country and there must have been over 100 wineries. We plan on doing a wine tasting trip in the Redmond area--not as many wineries, but still enough to make it tasty and interesting.

Oregon also has a lot of micro-breweries and we sampled a few of their local beers. All were great. We also plan on touring some of the breweries in the area.

We drove to Lincoln, Oregon to pick up highway 101 and to stop for lunch. We had our Garmin with us and looked for restaurants in Lincoln. Mo's, which is a seafood restaurant was on the list. Linda had looked up restaurants in one of our travel books we have and Mo's was highly recommended.

It was on the beach overlooking the bay which was in front and the Pacific Ocean was a little to the right. We were seated next to a couple who were staying in a time share near Lincoln. They were extremely friendly and talked to us throughout lunch. They were from Walla Walla, Washington and must come to their time share about every year. I finally asked the man where he was originally from because he had a slight southern accent. He was from New Orleans and had been in Washington for many hears, however, had not completely lost his accent.

The couple said that they at at Mo's about every time they came to the coast and said the food was great. We ordered fish and chips which were very good, but not the best we have had.

After lunch we started our drive down the coast. The weather was great although a little overcast. However, we still managed to get some good photos. In a lot of the areas, the coast reminded us a little of the Azores. It also looked a lot like the northwest coast of Spain. I think Oregon has made a great effort to attract visitors to the coast. It seemed like there was a state park or scenic overlook every mile. Needless to say, I took a lot of pictures and a few are included in a slide show.

We stopped at many state parks and overlooks. We also stopped at a national park with a light house. While walking to the lighthouse, a park ranger hurried to meet us. She said there were three whales feeding near a large rock a few hundred yards off shore. We rushed to the overlook and saw three whales. We watched them for quiet awhile, then took a tour of the light house which was built in the 1890's. We were fortunate to see it when we did. It is closing for restoration and will be closed for about a year.

We finally made it to Newport around 4 PM and checked into our hotel. Our room faced the Pacific Ocean and we had a great view. Unfortunately, the clouds had moved in and it was a little foggy--still a great view. People were walking their dogs the beach; flying kites; and kids were making sand castles.

We went downtown Newport to a state park with a lighthouse--the one that is a house with the beacon on top. Unfortunately, the lighthouse tours stopped at 5 PM and it was after 5 when we arrived. We then went to the historic Bay front part of Newport. I think every building had a Murial painted on it. This is a quaint little fishing town and well worth a walking tour.

We heard some sea lines barking and followed the sound. There were sea lions on the docks below us. I guess there is always sea lions there.

We finally made it back to our room. We had planned on going back to the lighthouse at the National Park to take pictures at sundown. However we were tired and the clouds had moved in again so we just relaxed at the hotel and went to bed early.