Oregon City, which is now only a suburb of Portland, was the official end of the Oregon Trail for the emigrants who had made the journey across the country. The town is at the confluence of the Clackamas and Willamette Rivers and was a thriving community in the mid 1800’s. Once the pioneers arrived here, they made their land claims, and then dispersed into the surrounding countryside to settle their claims, set up housekeeping, and establish their farms.
According to the guide books, there is a “must see” End of the Trail Interpretive Center in Oregon City - 3 huge buildings set under 50 foot replica covered wagons with displays covering all aspects of the Oregon Trail all the way from Independence, Missouri to here. We found the place with no problem. Big parking lot, plenty of bus and motorhome parking, and hardly anybody there. Well - no wonder! We found out in the Oregon City Visitor’s Center next door that the place closed last year - we figure probably due to some funding issues. We suspected something when we saw the almost empty parking lot, plus the huge replica wagons weren’t covered - just the giant iron frames over the buildings. Oh well, in any case we did make it to the official “end of the Oregon Trail”. It has been a really good trip getting here - we’ve really enjoyed all the history that we’ve been able to see all along the way. Those were some really hardy folks!
We couldn’t just turn around and head back home the same way we came - and, we’ve got see the Oregon Coast again since we’re this close. From Portland we took Hwy 26 west to US 101, the Pacific Highway. Got an RV site in the town of Seaside for a few nights. The small resort town of Cannon Beach is about 5 miles south on US 101 and is where the famous Haystack Rock is located. This rock is just one of many that sit out in the ocean all up and down the coast of Oregon and is the home to tons of sea birds. You can see from some of the pictures what a cloudy 4 days we had on this part of the Oregon Coast - typical I think.
We went out on the beach and walked to Haystack Rock 3 different days - Thursday afternoon, Friday and Saturday mornings. There are birds by the hundreds, and most of them are nesting - Western Gulls , Pigeon Guillemots, Tufted Puffins, Black Oyster Catchers, Pelagic Cormorants, Harlequin Ducks, and Common Murres.
When the tide is out, all of the lower exposed rocks are covered in Star Fish and Crustaceans and the pools are filled with all kinds of interesting critters.
On Friday afternoon we rode up to Astoria - the most northwestern town in Oregon located on the south bank of the Columbia River just before it empties into the Pacific. The river at this point is over 3 miles wide. The Astoria-Megler Bridge crosses the river over into Washington - we drove across it and back just for grins.
We thought it was very interesting on Saturday - as we were walking across the beach headed to Haystack Rock, a wedding was in progress. A full-dress formal affair - long white bridal gown, tuxedo, etc, etc and they were right out there on the sand in the damp cold wind next to the crashing waves! Ah - true love! We’re still wondering if she promised to “obey”.
This afternoon (Sunday) we went to Ecola State Park just north of Cannon Beach where there is a fantastic view of the Oregon Coast both north and south. To the south is Haystack Rock and to the north is Tillamook Head, Tillamook Rock Lighthouse, and Indian Beach. We also had a Western Gull pose for us on a table!
This time of year the local residents pride themselves on flowers - seems like every other yard has all kinds of colorful species. There is a place (The Paradise Suites) in Seaside where the lady really goes all out. It is not as spectacular as it was back in 2006, but still pretty impressive.
We’ve been here for 4 nights - time to move on tomorrow.
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