McCulloughver's Travels: Mountains, Oceans, and Waterfalls

Drive, drive, and drive some more. That’s about all we have done the last 3 days! We have seen some pretty cool things along the way, though.

Otter Point State Park in Oregon

When we left the Redwoods, we headed on up the coast on US Highway 101 to check out the rugged Oregon beaches and coastline. And let me tell you…they are rugged, but oh so beautiful! We got a late start from the Redwoods, and didn’t make it to Oregon until around lunchtime. We stopped at many points along the way, including one state park named Otter Point. Most of the Oregon coast is littered with random rocks jutting out of the ocean, and this park was no exception. However, the rocks here were especially large, and one of them actually created an arch which ocean water flowed through! However, if you are ever in the area and decide you want to go to Otter Point, you should know that it is pretty difficult to find. There are no signs from the main highway, and the path leading to the beach is very narrow and kinda creepy…but it’s worth the payoff at the end :)

Thor's Well...at Low Tide :(

We continued on up the coast, and came to a place called Cape Perpetua. There is a feature here that Cadie found on Pinterest called Thor’s Well, which is a large hole/tunnel in the ground on the beach. During high tide, it spews water out like a geyser and is supposedly quite a sight to see. We weren’t there during high tide…and when it’s not high tide…it’s just a hole in the ground with some water in it.

Foggy View of Mount Hood

We concluded our coast tour by heading on over to Portland, OR to catch some z’s. The next day was full of more driving, but in a different direction. We were headed over to Mount Hood and the Columbia River Gorge! It was a little rainy and cloudy when we left, and we did not see much of Mount Hood. But what we did see was pretty spectacular! An 11,000 foot stunner, full of snow, standing majestically in front of our car upon rounding a bend in the road! Fantastic. (It wasn’t till the next day that I realized you could actually see this mountain from right outside our hotel…clouds really fog things up!)

Columbia River From an Observation Point

After driving around Mount Hood, we headed over to The Dalles, OR to begin our drive back towards Portland along the crystal-clear Columbia River, which divides Washington from Oregon. Side Note…don’t eat at Sahara Pizza (unless you like to see flies and spiders and smell a musty waiter while eating). We began our drive along the Columbia River Gorge, and along the way saw multiple waterfalls, the river from up high, and distant views of Mount St. Helens in Washington. At the end of the drive, we hopped over to Washington and got to spend some quality time with family that we do not get to see very often. They were awesome hosts, and we really appreciated their company and hospitality!

The Chatfield...with Apple Butter :)

We returned back to the hotel for a great night’s rest, and as usual, woke up late the next day…in fact we didn’t check out til after 10:30! This was the day that we would be driving out of Oregon on up to Olympic National Park in northwest Washington. But before we left Oregon, we had to stop at Pine State Biscuits. We had to wait more than 30 minutes before we could get in the door, and we began to question whether we should even eat there, but suffice it to say that it was more than worth waiting! Largest, and probably most delicious, biscuits we have ever eaten!

After breakfast/lunch, we headed out of Oregon for our next adventure…

Next Stop – Olympic National Park!!!