Beverly Beach, Oregon

     We said goodbye to Mark and Joyce today and then drove south along Highway 101.  I am surprised  that 101 is such a narrow, winding road which goes through many small towns at 25 mph.  The first part of our trip south was away from the ocean looking at dairy farms.  We also saw a huge hanger which housed blimps during WWII. They were used to patrol the west coast.   This former military hanger is the largest clear-span wooden structure in the world.  There is only one of the two buildings left, but it is HUGE.  It is now an air museum.

     We saw many RV campgrounds on our drive, but they were near the road with very small camping sites.  I am happy that I made reservations well in advance so we are situated at another Oregon State Park - Beverly Beach.  We have a nice site in the sunshine surrounded by trees.  It is very quiet with a short walk to another sandy beach.

    After getting situated in our new home we drove to the "Devil's Punchbowl" which is a round, hollow rock formation that has an entrance for water to rush in.  The tide was low so the waves were not too impressive, but the view up and down the coast was beautiful.  It is much warmer today so we took advantage of an ice cream stand and had a nice afternoon snack.   We sat in a pretty little garden next to a small winery.  Great, weathered buildings in this old beach town.

     Our next stop was Depoe Bay where we saw the world's smallest navigable harbor.  The entrance to the harbor is between two steep rock walls with water rushing in and out of the very narrow entrance.  There was a coast guard station located in the harbor - seems to me that they would be saving themselves as often as other ships in trouble. 

    After dinner at the trailer we walked over to the beach to watch the sun set.  It was a beautiful evening and many kids were in the water, folks were walking their dogs, and many people, like us, just sitting and enjoying the warmer weather.  As the sun set the temperature dropped rapidly so we went back to the trailer to review pictures.  Alas, no photo contest tonight!