Neskowin OR - 2019

After our adventure to the Last Frontier, we have a Rally to go to, but it's not until the end of the month, so we decided to head south to the Oregon coast.  More specifically, Neskowin Creek RV Resort in Neskowin OR.  This Coast resort campground is between Tillamook and Newport Beach.  We plan on staying here from 15 - 22 Sep 2019. 
While we were here, we drove over 450 miles around this area checking out the sights.  We went to the Tillamook Cheese Factory, visited a winery, saw a bunch of whales, went to sea lion caves and our dog even had time to get attacked by another dog in the campground's dog park.  So let's get to it.

Tillamook Cheese Factory

Our first stop was the Tillamook Creamery in Tillamook.   We saw this when traveling through town heading to the campground.  This was a pretty large building, but I think most of the size was for the visitors and not necessary for the cheese making area.  While we were there, we did a cheese tasting (like a salad bar, but only with cheese) and had some lunch at their lunch room along with the rest of the Tillamook residents. 

Blue Heron (French Cheese Company)

From there, we headed to a little winery just down the road.  Actually it was a cheese factory, the Blue Heron French Cheese Company that also had wine.  Terry sipped on a few wines and also took some home (with a smile).   After a short walk on the beach, we headed back home for the day. 
The next day, we headed to Newport to get an oil change done and have some lunch.  Later that day, we took the dog to the campgrounds dog park (we did this every day, but this was a special trip).   When we got there, a guy was sitting on a picnic table with his back to the gate.  Once we entered the park, his dog attacked our dog.  He was a pit bull so, he latched on and wouldn't let go.  Of course the guy blamed us for not announcing our presence before coming in.  But he knew his dog was aggressive and should have been more present to the gate.  Anyway, we finally got the dog to let go, just for him to get loose and attack our dog again before we could get him out.  The second time, Terry grabbed the dogs tail and then he let go.  We were able to get our dog out that time.  Terry followed the guy to his trailer and then reported him to the office and of course the office did nothing about it.  What we should have done was call the police, but we didn't.  Not much damage was done to Scout, some bloody spots but that was just about it. 

The next day, (Sep 18th) we drove down the coast checking out the scenery and also checked out the Yaquina Head Lighthouse near Newport.  We didn't know this at the time, but it's one of the most popular lighthouses in the world for FLIES!.  They were everywhere.  Needless to say, we didn't stay long there.  We did get a lot of video of the ocean and sea life.  It will be part of the link below with the pictures.

It's now Thursday and we are heading back to Newport.  When I was a young lad of lets say, 7 years old, my dad took me to a Aquarium that had a humongous octopus in a open tank when you entered the aquarium.  You could reach in and touch it, hold a tentacle and stuff like that.  So 20 years later, my dad and I went back to Newport and I wanted to go back to that aquarium.   After I straightened out my dad and got him to the correct side of the bay, we headed to the aquarium.  The aquarium looked totally different than what I remembered, and when I asked about the Octopus, they didn't know what I was talking about.  So off to my next duty station I go.  Then Terry and I went back to the Oregon coast with 2 1/5 of our kids (Michael wasn't born yet.  He was still stewing.)  We found out that there was another Aquarium just down the road from the one that we went to before. 
This was the Oregon University's Aquatic center.  Again when we went in there (and it's free), there was no Octopus, but when I asked, they did know what I was talking about and stated it passed.  But they planned on getting another one.   So this time when we went in there, they did have another octopus, but it was a small one, and you couldn't touch it, but it was still cool to watch.  The place also had other cool things to check out.  If you're in the area, and you like aquariums, you should hit both of them; the Oregon Coast Aquarium and the Oregon State University Hatfield Visitor Center.    As you can see from the picture on the right, some people are just dying to get in.

Our next stop (other than the beach and parks) was Sea Lion Caves.  I've been here 3 times now.  Only once did I go into the Caves, and this was no exception.  The sea lions were not in the caves, but along the cliffs hanging out.  The caves are kinda cool but like I said, I only been in them once, and there weren't many animals in it then either.  Well that was about it for this location.  Here are the pictures we took at this stop.   Next stop is Astoria where history awaits.  Get your notebook and head on over there.