Multnomah Falls
Multnomah Falls in the Columbia River Gorge

Exploring Oregon

We have made a few trips to Oregon, mostly along the coast. We've planned additional trips, but the current Covid 19 situation has put all our plans on hold. So for the moment, this season will be limited to sights along the Columbia River Gorge and the Oregon Coast. There's more to see and we hope to see some more when things settle down.

When I was in graduate school in Seattle, we made a few trips to Oregon visited some of towns on the coast. But that was long ago.

Our first experience with non-coastal areas of Oregon, was in 1971 when we left Seattle, Washington for my job in Durham, NC. We didn't see much because we followed snow plows all the way from Portland to the state line. The snow was so heavy that we didn't know that we were following the Columbia River and passing through the Columbia River Gorge. We've sort of made up for that oversight.

The Oregon Coast

Sunset on Oregon Coast
Sunset on the Oregon coast

When we lived in Seattle, Washington, we always enjoyed visiting the Oregon Coast. The Oregon coast is very different from what we have here in North Carolina. There are sandy beaches.But many of them end at the base of high cliffs. However, the biggest difference between the beaches in NC and Oregon is that the water in Oregon is cold. There is no Gulf Stream to warm things up.

Beach on Oregon Coast
Beach Oregon coast

In general, it appears that the Oregon coast is much less developed than is the NC and most Southeastern US coasts. There are lots of small towns separated by open areas.

There are several Oregon State Parks on the coast. When we lived in Seattle in my grad school days, we admired and envied the number of Oregon State Parks and the facilities at the parks.

Beach
Oregon coast

Pick a spot from the menu and visit the places we've been. I hope you'll be inspired to visit there yourself.