Chelatchie Prairie Railroad trip

Sunday is our 34th wedding anniversary.  To celebrate, Dave and I took a ride on a steam train.  The train and tracks are over a hundred years old.  We were on the Mother's Day ride, so each woman received a rose.

We left Yacolt, WA at 2:30 pm.  There was no place for the train to turn around from the noon run, so we backed up for the first nine miles of the trip.  Since the train only goes 10 mph, that took almost an hour.  We went forward on the nine miles back and stopped for a half hour at scenic Moulton Falls on the east fork of the Lewis River.

Waiting to board the train.

Everyone that works on the train is a volunteer.  Here, volunteer Jerry punches our tickets.

Below are a few of the sights from the train ride.

Entering the tunnel!

It was a short train, and the track wasn't very curvy, so this is the best I could do---

Lewis River

Steam!

More steam!

Moulton Falls

Unlike modern trains, this train had a caboose.

Video of Molton Falls

We had a fun ride on the historic Chelatchie Prairie Steam Train!

More Oregon Sightseeing

Dave and I are home from our trip to Newport, but before we left that area we visited the Yaquina Head Recreation Area (free with a national pass, Devils Punchbowl, Depoe Bay, and walked on the estuary path between the aquarium and the Hatfield Center.

Yaquina Head Lighthouse

Cobble Beach

This is what is was like walking on Cobble Beach and looking at the tidepools.  Dave had to help me with my footing, just like this couple helped each other. 

Depoe Bay boasts that it has the world's smallest harbor.  I didn't have a good enough angle to get a picture of the mouth of the harbor, but it was small!

Devils Punchbowl was fairly quiet since we were there at low tide.

View of Newport's beach area from the Punchbowl

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) ship

Estuary walk

Bridge through the estuary.

The Port of Newport was having their annual Loyalty Days when we left.  The carnival was in the dry camping area across from where we stayed.  We were amazed that we didn't hear any of the carnival noise.

There's a lot to see and do in Newport.  We plan to come back to this area!

Some of Oregon's Highway 101 State Parks

Lost Creek State Park pictured below.

Ona Beach State Park--this would be a good place for a picnic if the weather cooperates.

Seal Rock State Park.  This park was one of my favorites and I hope to go back again someday and walk along the rest of the trail to the beach.

Alsea Bay Bridge, Waldport

Alsea Bay

Beachside State Park--the only one of these parks that has an overnight camping area.  My following two pictures were taken from the day use area.

Smelt Sands State Park, Yachats--another park with a hiking trail.  Dave wasn't feeling too well this trip and it was cold and windy, so we opted out of the hike.

Yachats State Park

Devil's Churn at Cape Perpetua--this is a national recreation area and therefore free with a national park pass.

Cooks Chasm

This is another path that I would like to hike.

Dave and I were able to park in all of these state park day use areas free of charge and almost all of them were accessible right off Highway 101.  We headed south from Newport and all the parks were located on the west (ocean) side of the highway.  Cape Perpetua is only about thirty miles from Newport, so we didn't have to travel far.  What a fun day!

Newport, Oregon

Dave and I are visiting Newport for a few days.  Each of the Washington and Oregon coastal towns are so different from each other.  Newport's claim to fame is that it is the largest fishing port in Oregon.  Fisheries are abundant along the old bayfront area.  Tourism is mixed in with fishing along the bay, with undersea gardens, a wax museum, and Ripley's Believe It or Not.  On the other side of Yaquina Bay there's a world-class aquarium and the Mark Hatfield Science Research Center.

Low tide!

We are staying at the port's RV park on the south side of the bay near the aquarium.

How's this for a good view of the Yaquina Bay Bridge?

The RV park is just east of the marina and has a wonderful view of the Yaquina Bay Bridge.  The sites were designed backwards for motorhomes, but it's a only a minor problem.

To drive to Newport, we went south on I-5, then west on Hwy 34/20.  It's a windy drive but very scenic.

We've done a lot of sightseeing here since we arrived.  Next blog:  Pictures of some of Oregon's Highway 101 state parks.  Stay tuned!