Cape Perpetua

It can be hard to find good internet on the road.  That is why I am going to try to do a post today about our adventure yesterday.  Or, if the junkie wifi at today's park doesn't let this happen, then it was an adventure from a couple of days ago.  Yeah, I'm looking at you Blue Ox RV park in Albany, OR and Woodland Shores RV park in Woodland, WA.  Your internet is substandard, feel my wrath.

Whatever.

Cape Perpetua is a large prominence on the Oregon coast.  It is reported to be the highest viewpoint on the Oregon coast.  It is also beautiful.

We drove out west and then south through Yachats.  While we were pulling off the road onto a small turnout to take a picture and another car pulled in behind us.

Tiny little shack there.

The guy got out and approached.  "I know this is probably weird."  Always a great conversation starter.  "But, I noticed your license plate is from Texas.  I saw you pull out to get a look and I wanted to tell you guys about a road that takes you up to the top of the cape for the best view on the coast."  So, a local guy saw some out of towner types stop for a picture and drove up to tell them about a better spot.

How cool is that?

So, we drove up.

At the top was a parking lot, bathrooms, trailheads and more. 

Let's go take a look.

It certainly is up there.

Somebody found a cool spot.

Yep, beautiful view.

Michael, not quite a brooding teenager.

The view from up top was nice, really nice, but that isn't what drew me to this place.  I like taking pictures and I'm an internet addict.  Yeah, I needed to get a picture of Thor's Well.

Me and all these other people.

But first, some rest.

And maybe enough time for another picture or two.

It's out there somewhere.

And there it is, Thor's Well. 

 I know, it's nothing big, right.  It really is just a blowhole.  The wave crashes under a rock shelf and then shoots out the top when it reaches the hole.  But...

Every once in a while...

It does this (<---click and="" camera="" catch="" down="" for="" i="" in="" just="" link="" managed="" nbsp="" p="" shut="" switch="" the="" this.="" time="" to="" video="">

I couldn't believe it.  Right after I got set up, I got the picture I wanted.  I figured I would hang around and get some more great shots, but it tamed right down for a while after that.  You see, it isn't safe to be out there at high tide when the water is furious, but when it is low tide, the blowhole doesn't erupt all that much.  So, most of the pictures look like this...

Water level goes up.

Water level goes doooown.

 So, I shifted position to attempt to get a better angle of the water draining back down.

Just as I get set up, this happens.

I giggled like a schoolgirl as I backed away.  Too little, too late.  I managed to get a picture of the water rushing back in though.  You can see the drops of spray on the lens in the pictures after this.

About this time, I ran into a woman standing behind me watching all of this.  We chatted for a moment between waves while Michael made his way down to us.  Her name is Anna and she was from Seattle.  You meet cool people in cool places.

Michael making his way across the moonscape

Another angle.  Going in for a closer look.

Water level goes dooooown.

Anna going in for a look. 

Michael the Conqueror.

We wandered about the area looking at some tide pools and checking out the other rock formations.  It was really pretty cool.

Love the lime green guys. 

I wish I could have captured the sound the waves made when they crashed below this shelf.  You could feel it.

Some drift wood on the rocks.

Then we hiked back to the car and went to the visitor's center.  Closed.  Oh well, more time for hiking about the area.  Got to wash my lens filter off in the sink though.  Whew.

The opening of the Devil's Churn.  We didn't have time for seeing it in depth.

We were busy on trails

And finding secret little spots.

Sarah and Michael went off searching tide pools for more wonderful nature.

Max and I wandered around and checked out the scenery. 

Looking back toward Thor's Well.

Whooosh.

It was a beautiful day outside.   We tried to make the most of it.  If you ever get the chance, it is worth the drive out to see.  We could have driven a few miles further and seen the sea lion caves, but we were running short on time.  Almost to Washington.  We drove the next day to Woodland to re-visit some cool places from our Vancouver contract, but that will be a post for another day.