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Tuesday, September 1, 2009

Great American Roadtrips; the Oregon coast

Pacific OceanImage by eastercat via Flickr

The Oregon coast stretches for about 350 miles and makes an ideal road trip. Whether you drive from north to south, or the other way around, you will be cruising along the Pacific Ocean on US Highway 101. Many people think of a Pacific road trip as being one down the California cost, but Oregon’s coastline offers as much a great drive as the southern counterpart. There are plenty of places and vistas to stop at between Brookings in the south and Astoria in the north and the scenery, although different from the California one, is equally amazing.

Here are my top 5 stops along the way, from south to north;

Cape Blanco Lighthouse; Oregon’s coasts most westerly point makes a good stop. The Cape Blanco Lighthouse was first lit in 1870 making it Oregon’s oldest continuously operating light. You can visit the lighthouse between April and through October.

Bandon; this little town makes for a great stop-over. Famous for its great golf courses, Bandon-by-the-sea is becoming known as Oregon’s Golf Coast. Although only 3100 people resides here, it an attractive place to live. Do try the restaurant beside the Best Western Inn, the food and atmosphere is amazing.

Oregon Dunes National Recreation Area; stop over here to see and walk on the mighty dunes. There are plenty of things you can entertain yourself with while here, why not go hiking, fishing, canoeing, horseback riding or camping? It is an amazing area.

Sea Lion Caves; just north of Florence lies this fantastic cave. Sea lions have used it for centuries as a home and if you are in luck, they are there for you to see. If they are not in the cave, they might be on the beach a bit further away. They will tell you before you pay the entrance fee if you will see the sea lions or not, even you aren’t, it is well worth a visit.

Astoria; this is the final town before you head into the state of Washington. It is a sizeable town which has a few places of interest. It is the oldest American settlement west of the Rockies and lies at the mouth of the Colombia River. Make sure that you visit the Flavel house, the Astoria column and Fort Clatsop. You will enter Washington via the 4.1 mile-long Astoria-Megler Bridge, the longest continuous three-span through truss bridge in the world.

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2 comments:

  1. my name ipitoon from indonesia, hear new york city, certainly thought about doing and the city that never sleeps, just like in bandung indonoseia, the city is a busy and never slept well, but new york city is a famous business city in the world. I am pleased to visit your blog, and don't forget to visit my blog too, thank you and keep blogging

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  2. Hi, thanks for stopping by. Bandung seems like an interesting place. I have to check it out. /Travelbug

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