Day 13- Portland to Coos bay

Kirsty here again- V is having problems with her phone and can't access the internet. So no photos today cos I can't do them on my phone. Hopefully V's phone will be working tomorrow.

This morning we got up and headed out towards the coast. The drive out of portland was quite interesting seeing vinyards and hazelnut groves. Once we got back on highway 101 it was lovely. Seriously. Sorry for using a cliche but words can't describe how spectacular the views were. Today was not a good day for the blog not to have photos!

Our first stop was a coffee and chocolate pretzel stick in lincoln city. This is not really a city, it's 5 towns that joined forces in the past so they could get a sewage system! Our next stop was at otter rock, then cape foulweather! The weather was not foul. We went to the gift shop which had panoramic views over a cliffside, and at the viewpoint we saw a whale! My favourite place we stopped was at the devil's punchbowl- a sort of pool carved out by the ocean into the rocks with water swilling in. There we saw another whale, more clearly this time, and victoria helped some other tourists to spot it.

We had lunch at a nice brewery in newport- the rogue brewery. V had pulled pork sliders and I had a blt. We explored the town and also saw the area around the aquarium which was made up to look like little streets with colourful buildings. We didn't have time to go into the aquarium unfortunately.

Back on the road we saw even more dramatic scenery and stopped at some viewpoints.
At Ona beach we went a walk through the wood, over a wee bridge across the creek and onto the sandy beach.

We stopped to look at the heceta lighthouse and were delighted to also see literally hundreds of seals on the rocks below! There is a sea cave where you can get a lift down to the bottom and see the seals but again we didn't have time. The town of florence had lots of dunes and activities to go with this like sand boarding or going on dune buggies.

After driving through some forest and lake areas (and seeing cranberry bogs!) we arrived at North Bend and Coos Bay which is where we are staying tonight in a motel 6. We went to a lovely italian restaurant for dinner and both got the half and half, i.e. spaghetti and another thing. V had lasagne and I had canneloni. It was nice to be able to try 2 different things on the menu and just have half portions. Also, the meals came with complementary soup, salad and garlic bread- as much as you wanted! I think they seemed surprised when we only had one portion of each- other people were having seconds!

Back at the motel now and v is already asleep! More dramatic coastline tomorrow...