Tillamook, Lighthouse, Air Museum on a Birthday Day Out

June 24th, 2016

On the road again today to Big Spruce RV Park, near Tillamook.  This is a small campground and we were a little apprehensive about getting in ok.  When we arrived the owner came out to greet us and showed us our site.  We had to unhook Tilly before we could get around a tight corner but then we got in with no problems.  He told us in summer they double up on the sites and got us to park as close to the utilities as we could.

I did not enjoy todays drive as much as, although it was pretty, the roads were narrower and there were a lot of curves.  It is not Bryan's driving, he handles Lily like a champ but rather my backseat nervous disposition kicking in.

They rent boats here so you can go fishing or crabbing.  I asked if they actually did boating trips that you could go crabbing on but they don't.  You have to rent your own boat and I'm not comfortable doing that. We settled in for our 5 day stay.

June 25th, 2016

As today was my birthday and crabbing wasn't an option I decided we would go on a coastal drive.  We are getting near to the end of our drive north along the coast and I wanted to see as much of the ocean as I could.  The Three Capes Scenic Loop sounded interesting and off we went.

First stop was  Cape Mears State Scenic Viewpoint and Cape Meares Lighthouse.
                                     

                                      

Unfortunately the lighthouse was closed due to an electrical problem and would be for another couple of weeks at least.  We still walked down to it.
                            


This was our first view of it, the fresnel lens.

It is the shortest lighthouse in Oregon at 38 feet.

There were awesome trails and views from here.

There is another trail to the Octopus Tree here but we were both feeling a little worn out after our trek down to the lighthouse and back up again so we decided against it.  We will hopefully come back to it another day.

Our next stop was Cape Lookout State Park.  We parked and took a short walk to a viewpoint.  It was beautiful but also very crowded, so we didn't stay long.

We continued the drive along the coast but the other two places we had intended on stopping were extremely crowded and the car parks full.  This reminded us of why we don't usually go out at weekends.  My birthday drive was beginning to get a little frustrating.  There was a waterfall on the inland part of the circular route but we had already discussed that we weren't going to do it as reading reviews told us that the road was only really suited to a four wheel drive and I didn't want to risk taking Tilly on it.

We did stop at a roadside fruit and jam store, hoping to get some more Cherry Butter for Bryan but we were out of luck.  They had some unusual wind chimes though and Bryan bought me one for my birthday.  We also got a couple of scones, yummy!!!

I decided that we should stop at the Tillamook Air Museum today as we had time.  It is a small museum but surprisingly it took us longer to go around than we thought as there were more exhibits than we expected.  The museum is housed in an original wooden hanger built during WWII for airships that were used for anti submarine patrol.

A-7 Corsair

Mig-15

This shows the detail in the inside of the wood hangar.

C-130 Hercules

Glider

Gyrocopter

Cessna 185

An alien in front of the alien spaceship!!!!

Replica Sopwith Camel

Jet Magistar

By the time we finished going around the museum we were both starving and decided to try a small "restaurant".  We found the Old Oregon Smokehouse on TripAdvisor and decided to try it as I wanted seafood for my birthday.  I got the crab melt and Bryan had Fried Shrimp.  We sat outside as the weather was good and enjoyed our meal.  The Tillamook Cheese factory was opposite and there were a lot of people going in there so we will come back another day.

After our dinner we went home.  We had new neighbors and we sat and talked to them for quite a while.  Mike was retired Army and Mary was ex-Air Force so we had a lot in common.

I had a nice birthday out and about exploring but I think in future I will make sure my birthday falls on a weekday so I can avoid the crowds!!!!!  I also received lovely cards from Mom Stewart, Ray & Julie and Bryan, and messages from Ian & Kris, Ryan & Christina and a lot of friends. Thanks everyone.