Day 7: Depoe Bay, Newport & Gold Beach, Oregon

The soft roar of the ocean made soothing sounds to help us get a good night sleep. This past week, the pups slept mostly through the night except around 5-7 a.m., which is when they'd begin to hear people move about in the rooms around us  and would bark and wake us up (which was frustrating). So I was excited to have some background noise, so we could try to get some real rest. Unfortunately I woke to unpleasant sounds (thinking Klay was in the bathroom), but it was Stretch whose tummy was acting up. So we had to deal with that at 6 a.m. (when we planned to get up later), so the decent sleep we were getting was ruined.

After leaving the hotel, we headed down the Pacific Scenic Byway (Hwy 101) along the 363-mile stunning Oregon Coast. We got to Depoe Bay around 10:30 a.m. and stopped at The Depoe Bay Winery, and yes we did a wine tasting at 10 something in the morning. It definitely woke us up, and we tasted yummy wines from Cranberry, Plum to Peach and Riesling and more--ok, it was a lot more, but it was fun! Depoe Bay was a cute town with some beautiful views and I have to say the wine was pretty amazing!

I've started a glass collection of the places we've been, so I'm stopping at as many places as possible (more wineries to come!).

Along the coast there are 8 or 9 lighthouses (some of them you have to go out of the way to see), but the first one we encountered was Yaquinta Head Lighthouse (the tallest lighthouse in Oregon). We decided to stop and have a look around, where we ended up seeing some starfish! It was slippery on the rocks, and I fell! It wasn't bad though. I wore my 'UGG'-type boots and those aren't the best shoes to wear in wet weather.

They had tours in the lighthouse, and that was pretty cool. We learned a lot and got to walk all the way to the top (which I started to regret when I realized I had to walk back down the swirly staircase). I really don't think I'm a fan of heights anymore! My legs were shaking and I was so happy to get back to the bottom!

Today, we stopped at several beaches and let the dogs walk/run around. They really love the beach and we just wanted to take our time and enjoy our trip toward Gold Beach.

We also stopped at Devil's Churn where we took more pictures (I really think that's all we did; take pictures of the coast, lighthouses, etc.).



We also stopped near Florence, Oregon at the Sea Lion Caves. It was kind of cool because we rode an elevator 240 feet down into the cave to see them. We've seen sea lions before (on a boat/wildlife cruise in Alaska), so the cave thing was cool, but we didn't stay that long.

I think the best part of the day was spent in Gold Beach. We let the dogs run without their leashes on an empty beach with just me and Klay. They really loved running around freely and did really well. It was a blast watching Billie run from the tide as it came in to shore. We also got this super cute cabin to stay in (and it's cheap!). We ate at the Porthole Cafe and saw a couple of seals (a harbor seal sat on the dock next to the restaurant). So, we're really enjoying slowing down and cruising the coast.

This day was sort of mellow (I'm sure you can tell). It was a fun day. Klay said that doing this trip with anyone else wouldn't be as fun and of course it would be different. He was a real sweetheart today, helping me down hills to the beach, etc.

Things are good tonight. Might hit up California tomorrow. Still unsure of where we are going!

P.S. I'm so tired when I do these, so if these don't make sense, I'll fix them later!

Stay tuned for more updates 'From the Road...'

Depoe Bay on Dwellable