Jumbo, ready to hit the road once again...
Our planned stop for the night was the Tillamook Air Museum, and we had a few things to see along the way.
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Passing over the Ten Mile Creek Bridge near Yachats, Oregon.
I had to get gas in Waldport, and while I filled up, or rather, while the gas attendant filled up for me, Larry went over to the Alsea Bridge Interpretive Center. He is not a big lover of bridges, and was not especially looking forward to driving over this one in Jumbo. It was very pretty, though.
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| It was a piece of cake! |
Larry passed the entrance to the Seal Rock Recreation Site, so pulled over to the side of the road in front of this Sushi Restaurant. Duchess was riding with me, and began barking insanely at the large cut-out of the Asian man in front!
We turned around and drove into the Seal Rock parking lot. Larry didn't notice until it was too late that there was a sign saying "No Trailer Turn-Around." He parked Jumbo, thinking that he wouldn't have any trouble getting back out later, since the parking lot was pretty empty. We walked down the trail from the parking lot to the beach, and didn't see any seals, but found lots of interesting creatures to look at in the tide pools.
When we made our way back to the parking lot, we discovered that it was no longer nearly empty, and Larry was concerned about turning around enough to maneuver his way out. And to make matters worse, a school bus pulled up, letting a load of middle school kids out. The driver had the same problem, and when she saw that Larry was trying to get Jumbo out, backed up to give him some room, and took his vacated parking space. All was good!
On to the Yaquina Bay Bridge, one of the many beautiful bridges designed by 1930s bridge-designer Conde McCullough. The lady at the Alsea Bay Bridge Interpretive Center told me that this bridge that spans Newport's harbor is even more intimidating than the one at Alsea Bay, but Larry and Jumbo did fine!
We drove down to the Yaquina Bay Recreation Site to view the lighthouse.
Larry walked up the winding stairs that led to the light itself, but was disappointed to find that they were blocked off.
I loved this little window on the stairway wall...
We drove on about three miles north to the Yaquina Head Lighthouse. Now, this was my idea of a lighthouse, jutting as it does out into the sea! Its 93-foot-high tower soars upward, the tallest on the Oregon coast. It was first illuminated in 1873.
We left the sea for awhile and headed towards Tillamook. We passed through a very pastoral region, full of dairy farms. It reminded me of Snohomish, both in appearance, with a river running alongside the road much of the way, but also in fragrance! I guess you can't have good milk without pungent cow manure!
We wondered if we would have any trouble locating the Tillamook Air Museum - it was no problem. The hangar in which it is located is HUGE and visible from just about any place in town!
We parked Jumbo in the parking lot and went inside just to verify that it was OK to park overnight, as I had read on their website. Larry told the guy at the counter that he had been wanting to visit the museum for years, but since it was already 4:30 and they were only open until 5, he thought it best to wait until the next morning, because it would likely take him hours! The guy said that staying overnight was no problem, so we headed for the Tillamook Cheese Factory, which was open until 6.
I have to admit, I was more excited about visiting the cheese factory than the air museum. My plan was to stay inside Jumbo and hook up to their free wi-fi the next morning while Larry did his exploring.
It was fascinating to watch the big blocks of cheese being cut and wrapped, moving on down the conveyor belts...
Back to the Air Museum, where we spent a pretty peaceful night, after some drag racers finished going up and down the street in front of us. Oh well, it was a free night's lodging, so we couldn't complain!
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