Day Trip North Up 101: Tillamook, Garibaldi, Three Capes Scenic Drive

Monday, August 26, we packed the jeep with all the Paws and their Friends for a day trip north, first stop, breakfast at the  Creamery Cafe in the Tillamook Cheese Factory! Oregon has several brands of cheese available, but Tillamook is by far the largest, and in our humble opinion, the very best! This is our first time to visit the Cheese Factory, and we were going all out! Fortunately we had a snack before we left as we had to wait about 25 minutes for road work (night paving 7 pm to 9 am Monday through Thursday, just north of Lincoln City). It didn't hurt our appetite any! We found shade to park the jeep for the Paws, and enjoyed breakfast, then did the tour and a complete visit of all the shops! Of course we purchased a pin for our collection, and a variety of cheeses.

 We decided to get a couple of sandwiches to go (as we had miles to go and places to see--and after all, this was Tillamook CHEESE!) and then of course had to get some of the very delicious Tillamook ice cream before we departed, and oh, I forgot to mention, some of their delicious fudge--made with BUTTER from Tillamook cream!

There is great parking for cars, and a dedicated area for RVs and other large vehicles, so we decided that we would also stop here on our way north in the motorhome!

Our "guide" was "The Original Highway 101 Mile-by-Mile Guide," a free publication available at any visitor's center and commercial location (we picked ours up at the RV Park). The guide goes north to south, so we went backwards, from Lincoln City north. There is much to see in the guide:  we targeted the Cheese Factory and a Myrtlewood Factory Outlet place we noticed on our way down in Garibaldi. Then we let the sights draw us in! South of the city of Tillamook is the Tillamook Air Museum (which by 2015 will probably be moved to Maupin, OR--a dryer climate), but we did not stop there this trip, having spent time in Pensacola visiting that museum with planes from WW II.

Garibaldi is considered by many to be one of the best fishing destinations on the coast. There are marianas, fishing charter services, and the Garibaldi Cannery where you could have your catch vacuum packed, and even shipped!  Of course you could also purchase fresh seafood, should you not wish to go and catch your own! We did neither! Tillamook Bay Boathouse LLC also offers whole fresh local seafood and custom canning and smoking.We did notice a nice RV park, the Port of Garibaldi RV Park and Marina.

We headed back south, this time taking Oregon Hwy 6 west from Tillamook, "The Three Capes Scenic Loop".  Netarts was the first community on the coast, where Lindy's grandmother loved to go on "all-

day excursions" from Colton, and Lindy would drive her. Lindy cannot remember why Netarts was the preferred destination!  Why is it that those specific memories escape us now?!

Here is a shot of Netarts, on the long, shallow Netarts Bay. Oysters from this bay are considered a delicacy. We don't have first hand knowledge--we don't eat oysters!

We drove on south to Cape Lookout State Park, with several hiking trails, campsites, cabins and yurts and Lindy stopped for a few minutes to locate and visit with her brother, one of the hosts at the park. She had a nice visit!

We had great views, and of course each time we searched for whales--no luck! Below is from Anderson's View Point, looking north down on the coast line of Cape Lookout State Park where the RV sites are along the beach.

 We ate our sandwiches from the Creamery Cafe here at Anderson's Viewpoint, and walked the dogs, enjoying the sights and smells of the Oregon Coast!

Just up from this viewpoint is the trail-head for the Cape Lookout Trail, 2.3 moderately challenging miles from the parking lot to the tip of Cape Lookout. The weather was mostly sunny, but we did not take the challenge!

We drove on south to Pacific City and Cape Kiwanda. Two areas we did not explore are Sand Lake Recreation Area and Whalen Island. Sand Lake is a natural estuary opening on the ocean. The U. S. Forest Service operates three places to camp here--East Dunes, West Winds, and Sandbeach. lay Myers State Natural Area at Whalen Island is bounded by the Sand Creek estuary--critically valuable habitat for salmon. It is a virtually untouched coastal estuarine ecosystem,with mixed woodlands, grasslands, fresh and saltwater wetlands, and a rare native dune sedgeland. Tillamook County has a park and campground here. The 34-site campground is closed from October through April except for a few sites close to the boat ramp. Reservations can be made for the summer months.

Pacific City is famous for the dory boats that are launched directly into the surf, celebrated each year
with the Dory Days festivities during the third weekend in July. We drove through an RV park which would be acceptable...but we decided not during the summer months!

We did not explore Cape Kiwanda this trip...! So much to see and do!  We enjoyed the day, and the Paws did as well. Any time they can be with us is a good time!

Roving Riders
Here is the route we took:

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