Remember the saying, “April showers bring May flowers?” Well, assuming it is true then the Oregon coast should be covered in wildflowers very soon.

We planned on a 4 night stay in Newport, Oregon but extended it to 5 after the weather forecast was gloomy for our original dates. Having the flexibility to change trip plans on the fly is definitely an advantage of RVing.

If you like beer, check out Rogue Brewery in Newport. I have never liked beer but since the weather was such that it was unpleasant to be outside we decided to go to the brewery. Charlie ordered a beer sampler and it turns out, Rogue beer isn’t all that bad. I won’t go so far as to say that I now like beer, but I didn’t hate our samples. Well, maybe I’d have to admit that the Double Chocolate was good.

We visited the Yaquina Head Lighthouse with hopes of taking a tour, but no tours were available the day we were there. That seems to be a theme with us. As a matter of fact, on our way from Bandon to Newport we stopped by the Heceta Head Lighthouse. They had just lost power due to a blown transformer and therefore, there were no tours available.

Anyway, I digress. Back at the Yaquina Head Lighthouse we did enjoy spending some time in the visitor center. They have a fabulous interactive center and museum.

There are also great tide pools just below the lighthouse. We put on our rain gear and checked them out.

Later, during our stay, we returned to the area near the Heceta Head Lighthouse and noticed that the lights were back working. It is a beautiful lighthouse.

There’s a Lighthouse Bed & Breakfast you can stay at on the peninsula. That would be pretty neat. The views from there are gorgeous.

The Heceta Head Lighthouse resides in a beautiful area on the Oregon coast called Cape Perpetua. I had hoped to get a good photograph of Thor’s Well in Cape Perpetua. Thor’s Well is also known as the drainpipe of the Pacific. The well is actually a hole in the rock that appears to drain water from the ocean. The hole is estimated to be about 20 feet deep. It is an amazing sight to see at high tide. The best photographic opportunity is at sunset though, and between bad weather and tide schedules, we did not get a good opportunity to photograph it. We did visit it though. Standing close by the hole can be a little scary, and dangerous, when a sneaker wave crashes in.

Back in Newport, we discovered a unique shop called The Olde Telephone Company. This little shop has phones from the ages. We enjoyed checking them all out.

About an hour north of Newport is the town of Tillamook, home to Tillamook Cheese. They have a state of the art visitor center and a great restaurant. Of course everything on the menu has cheese on it. They also have a popular Ice Cream stand. I highly recommend visiting.

On the way back from Tillamook we drove over to the Cape Meares Lighthouse. Of course it was closed, but the scenery around it was very pretty, even in the rain.

As we drove along the coastline back to Newport we were blessed with a break in the rain and stopped by a beach area. I just love how the rocks stand out in the ocean.

We tried out a few restaurants in Newport. We had halibut fish and chips at Local Ocean Seafood. It was fairly good. We had dinner at Georgie’s Beachside Grill. We really enjoyed this restaurant. It has great views, great food and a very friendly bar tender. The last place we tried out was a small joint just south of the city called South Beach Fish Market. It is more of a local spot and it was very busy. Their Halibut fish and chips were great and they sell fresh seafood. We picked up a pound of fresh Dungeness crab meat. I made some crab bisque and enjoyed it with a great bottle of Regusci wine from our recent stay in Napa Valley. We also bought fresh Halibut and made a Halibut Crab bake the next day. We ate well in Newport.

We stayed at the Pacific Shores Motorcoach Resort. Our spot had a beautiful view of the ocean and lighthouse.