Nehalem Bay, Oregon

Wow, after several drippy days the sun finally popped out on Friday. We took a nice walk along the beach, which Mollie loved, and enjoyed the balmy weather. You just can't beat the Oregon coast on a sunny day. The beach here isn't great for "beach combers" - I've never seen so much sand with so few shells and stones. The driftwood is pretty interesting however. There are some massive trees, leading one to speculate about the force of a storm that brought them up to the shore.

We're still at Nehalem Bay* with friends. Saturday was FOOTBALL for the guys - we had the satellite set up so they could take in all the games up to and including the duck game in the evening. The rain had returned, so there wasn't much doing in the hiking department. The ladies opted for a smaller dose of athletics, and instead explored some of the surrounding area.

Further north, only about 10 miles from the campground, is Cannon Beach. This little town is a treasure for great restaurants, art galleries and other shopping opportunities. I headed straight for the Center Diamond quilt shop, with all my buddies in tow. The selection there is great and even non-sewers were so inspired by the gorgeous fabrics to come home with a project - there's something for everyone there, including some gorgeous Asian fabrics. Then we went to the Icefire glass gallery right next door and watched the glassblower at work for awhile - beautiful work they do there!

The drive along the coast was beautiful, fog and all. Haystack rock, a local landmark, stands out clearly in the pearl gray light.

Later in the day we assembled back at camp to cheer on the Ducks! There were a lot of other Duck fans in the campground and by the end of the first quarter many of them were hovering around our TV so we had quite a cheering section - and it worked! The Ducks won again..... Yeah!!! It was our first conference game of the season, so we've got a great record so far! With a camp mascot like our friend Guinness how cold they lose?


The Nehalem Bay campground has nice access to the beach, but we're also protected from the ocean wind by a sand dune, which has been nice since the rain has been pretty heavy at times. It's a good thing we all have awnings of some kind. We arranged a canopy over the picnic table and had plenty of room for chairs and tables so we were comfy in spite of the weather. A nice campfire at night always helps too!

Sunday we went into the nearby town of Nehalem and found a laundromat - the daily chores don't quit just because you're on the road. It seemed like an appropriate activity for a rainy day.

The weather forecast for the area for the next few days looks pretty wet, but we're going to head north toward Astoria and see what we can find.

By the way, if you like the area there's property for sale here......it looks like a quiet neighborhood!

Go to the album for a few more photos.

*  The town of Nehalem, and the state park, are named for the Nehalem Indians - also called the Tillamook. They are a Native American tribe from Oregon of the Salish linguistic group. The name Tillamook is a Chinook term meaning "people of Nekelim (or Nehalem)".