Trip Report
A small but enthusiastic group of Obsidians left Eugene on Saturday, May 20, bound for the North Coast. We drove to Helmick Park for our rest stop and "Bette"-bars and then on to Hebo where we found the Ranger Station closed. During this time, we had a lecture by Ray Jensen (now Professor) on the Tillamook Burn. The leader discussed lighthouses and hidden treasure at Nehalem left there by Spanish galleons lost at sea. We arrived at the Tillamook County Pioneer Museum about 11:30 and saw some of this treasure, which is beeswax in large chunks which has washed up on the beaches. Its value was for candles in China and the Philippines. We left the museum and drove to Garibaldi where the Fun Run train loads. We ate our lunch there in the picnic facilities and soon the train was ready to board. The next station was Rockaway Beach which was very lively, and we were given about 10 minutes to explore the booths and watch the kites there for the festival. Our next stop was Wheeler, where there was a Saturday market, and again we had about 10 minutes to explore. Our last stop was at the Nehalem Bay Winery where we had about an hour for wine tasting or purchasing. On returning to Garibaldi, our bus met us and we drove back to the Silver Sands at Rockaway Beach for the night.
On Sunday we toured the Tillamook Naval Air Station Museum with Bob Favret as our guide. This is the former blimp hangar and is so big that it covers seven acres and can accommodate six football games at once. It contains the finest aircraft collection in the Pacific Northwest - all the planes are operable. Leaving the museum, we drove to Cape Lookout for lunch, afterwards stopping at Oceanside where the Three Arch Rock National Bird and Sea Lion Refuge is located. We then drove to Cape Meares National Park where the Cape Meares lighthouse and Octopus Tree are located. Everybody walked down to the lighthouse and enjoyed watching the sea life: even a whale showed off for us, frolicking in the ocean. The lighthouse is now a museum and has a gift shop. It has been restored by the Friends of Cape Meares. We drove through the town of Cape Kiwanda and had an ice cream stop at Pacific City, then on to the Shilo at Lincoln City for the night.
On Monday we drove south, stopping at Devil’s Punchbowl State Park and Beverly Beach State Park. We arrived at the Yaquina Head Natural Area for our 11:30 appointment where a ranger met us and talked about the sea life and plans for the area. After some delay, a van took us down to the tide pools as our bus was too big to make the turn. We ate lunch there and left for Waldport and our trip back to Eugene along the Alsea Hwy., stopping at the Thyme Herb Garden close to Alsea. Ray Jensen directed us to a cutoff which took us back to Hwy. 99W and we were home by 5:15. The weather was perfect all three days, with lots of sun and very little wind, and we had a good driver, John Bunker, who could turn the bus around on a dime!
Riders were Ingrid Carmichael, Elizabeth Fox, Elma Doris Havemann, Evelyn Hile, Jean & Ray Jensen, Virginia Kapsa, Dody Leppmann, Mary McLaughlin, Janice Pattison, Clarence & Dorothy Scherer, Kathleen Schlenker, Louise Thurber, Marjorie Townes, and Bette Hack (leader).
