Oregon Coast - Brookings

We spent two nights in Brookings on the Southern Oregon coast.  I loved Brookings.  I could have stayed for weeks.  I fantasized about buying a condo and living here part of the year after retirement.  Our full day in Brookings was my favorite day of the trip.  Brookings is over 5 hours from Portland.  I knew it would add a lot of driving to our trip to drive all the way down to Brookings, but everything I read sounded like it was a perfect place for us.  It was perfect for us. 

We stayed in a two bedroom condo in Rainbow Rock Retreat.  Rainbow Rock sits on a cliff with amazing views of the Pacific Ocean and sea stacks.

our condo

 

views at sunset

 It was beautiful. 

It took us about 10 minutes to walk down a path to the beach below.  The path was landscaped and maintained beautifully.  It was covered in spring wildflowers and had views of the ocean.  Our day started off gray, but was sunny by noon.  And it was finally pretty calm.  There was very little wind.  By days end, Matt and Willa were in their suits swimming (and screaming and laughing because it was so cold) in the ocean.

 

 

Down at the beach, we quickly discovered why our condo was called Rainbow Rock.  There was a massive rock that had every color in the rainbow in it.  And at low tide, the kids could crawl through it.

in the Rainbow Rock tunnel

 

 

 

We also quickly discovered that the tidepools here were full of starfish.  That made us all really excited.  And the tidepools were kid friendly because they were surrounded by sand instead of rock.  Oliver loved playing on the beach and in the tide pools.  His pants and shoes were soaking wet almost immediately.

 

We spent hours playing on the beach...

Clark LOVED running from the waves.  He did this at every sandy beach we visited.

 

Matt and the kids climbed to the top of a rock.  Clark is already up there in the picture below.  He's the little bump on the right at the very top.  Matt and Willa are up there also, but they blend in with the rocks unless you zoom in.

 

 

We walked back to the condo for lunch and naps.  Then we visited the Samuel H. Boardman State Park.  It runs along the coast for 12 miles.  There are tons of coves and beaches and iconic sea stacks.  We visited two viewpoints and a beach.  I could have spent several more days exploring and hiking.

 

Arch Rock Viewpoint

 

Natural Bridges Viewpoint

 

We spent maybe 5 minutes at each viewpoint.  They were beautiful, but once you see the iconic rocks, there isn't much more to do.  There were several more viewpoints, but we skipped them.  Maybe another time...

 

We spent the rest of the afternoon at Whaleshead Beach.  We did the same things we did at all of the other beaches we visited and loved doing everything all over again.  Each beach was a little different and we had fun exploring them all.

 

Whaleshead beach is named for the rock formation below.  I guess it looks like a whale coming up for air.  I could see it, but I think it required a little more imagination than some of the other rock formations.

 

This was Oliver's favorite beach.  He pulled his shoes off and played in the sand the whole time we were there.  He was very happy and content.  Oliver had a cold on our trip.  His nose started running the day we flew to Portland.  But he was a trooper.  He slept really well wherever we stuck him (on a mattress on the living room floor, on some blankets in the master closet, and in a pack-n-play in Portland).  I'm sure the wind at the beginning of the trip bothered him even more than it did the rest of us.  The wind made him a little ornery, but overall he did really well.  It made me happy to watch him explore Whaleshead Beach.

Clarky's favorite thing was running from the waves again.  I love the pure joy on his face in these photos.

 

 

And I think the highlight for Willa was swimming with Matt.  The water was cold, way too cold for me or the boys.  Matt never lets the cold stop him.  I have so many memories of Matt swimming in a cold lake or ocean while I watch.  Willa loved joining him.  Clark stood on the edge of the water and shouted - Go Willa Go!  Go Daddy Go!

 

After the beach, we went to dinner at a Mexican restaurant in town.  It was another great meal.  Then we headed back to the condo, did some laundry (since everything we took to the beach was wet and sandy), and called it a night.

Oregon Coast - Newport to Brookings

I started this day warning Matt and our kids that it was all about the journey and not the destination.  We had four hours of driving to do, but there was no rush.  I wanted to stop and see everything along the way.  We were on the road by 10.  I was excited to see more of the coast, and I read that it got prettier the farther south you went.  I think I agree.  The drive was beautiful and our stops were fun. 

Our first stop was Willa Street.  Clark wanted to know where Clark Street was.  And we actually passed one a few hours later, right after Lewis Street in North Bend.  But we kept it a secret because Oliver was napping.  And when a baby is napping in the car, we don't stop.

 

Our first real stop was Cape Perpetua Scenic Area.  This is best seen at high tide when the waves are crashing on the rocks and putting on a show.  We were there at low tide.  We saw a few spouts of water, but mostly we saw more tide pools.  We hiked around a bit, took a few pictures, and then got back in the car because of the wind.

 

 

Next we stopped at Heceta Beach below Heceta Head Lighthouse.  This wasn't a planned stop.  We just realized that we needed to make lunch before Oliver fell asleep.  After Cape Perpetua, we were planning to drive 2 hours without stopping in hopes of Oliver getting in a nap.  It actually worked.  Oliver napped right on schedule.  I loved Heceta Beach.  I wanted to stay longer.  It was so peaceful and beautiful.  But because of the wind, we made sandwiches in the parking lot and ate in the car.

 

 

 Oliver napped, Clark and Willa watched movies, and Matt and I oohed and awed over the scenery.  Our kids were quiet.  Matt and I talked.  It was lovely.

 

We stopped in Bandon for a beach hike and ice cream after Oliver woke up.  Another beautiful but windy stop.  Bandon Beach was covered in sea stacks.  I love sea stacks.  We sure don't have any sea stacks on the beaches in Florida. 

 

Willa loves hiking and was excited to hike.  Every time we got back in the car after walking along a beach or a path on a cliff, she would say - I thought you said we were going hiking.  To her, hiking takes place in the woods, climbing up a mountain.  I learned I had to start calling the beach hikes, walks so Willa wouldn't be disappointed.

 

  

 

 

The kids and Matt climbed on the rocks and jumped off.  We hung out in the shelter of the massive rocks and played in the warm sand.

 

 

We went to Face Rock Creamery after the beach.  This was so fun. Willa wanted dessert at dinner the night before and I told her we'd find a treat on our drive to Brookings.  The creamery sold huge cups of ice cream for $2.  It was yummy.  But the best part was all the free cheese samples.  I love cheese.  I'd choose cheese over ice cream any day. 

 

 

The seating was upstairs in an open loft.  We enjoyed our ice cream and eyed all the cheese samples down below.  I actually threw some of my ice cream away because I was so excited to sample the cheese.  They had all the typical flavors and then unique flavors like pizza, vampire slayer (garlic), in your face (pepper jack), and cranberry walnut cheddar.  There were also cheese curds.  Matt and I had never had cheese curds before.  We really liked them.

 

 

 The drive between Bandon and Brookings was gorgeous.  I remember loving the areas around Humbug Mountain and Port Orford but we didn't stop.  I want to remember that in case we visit the Oregon coast again.

 

We made another quick pull off before Brookings - Cape Sebastian State Park.  It has beautiful panoramic views of the area.

 

We made it to our condo in Brookings in time to see the sunset.  We picked up some to-die-for Thai take-out and called it a night.