Cape Perpetua, Oregon
July 26-27, 2020
The Covid-19 pandemic has increased the popularity of camping so much that finding a reservation is nearly impossible. We were able to get one Sunday night at the coast, and we grabbed the opporunity to get our of a valley heat wave.
Jesse and Julia came with us, and they surprised us with a Sweet Life cake to celebrate Kate's birthday a little early.
Many of the sites at this campground are not good for teardrop camping, but we lucked out with a good one (site 6), which was right next to where we'd been seven years earlier.
We spent some time on chilly Neptune Beach and at Thor's Well. On Monday, after checkout, we had a picnic and lots of rock-hunting time along the 804 Trail north of Yachats.
It was a perfect short get-away!
July 12-14, 2013
This trip was planned by our friends Kathy and Robin. And when Kathy made the reservations, she didn't realize she'd booked their anniversary date. Eighteen years ago, they were married exactly on this spot. And we were their "best women." So it was very fitting that we came here on this weekend.
I usually avoid the coast in the summer, because the warmer it is inland, the foggier and cold it is on the beach. It was definitely cooler, but bright and sunny.
We were joined by Kathy and Robin's son, Josh, who just finished his first year at Gunnison University in Colorado, and by our mutual friend's daughter, Hannah, who is getting ready to start her freshman year at Emmerson College in Boston. We all used to camp together when the kids were young, so it felt like a family reunion.
Although Cape Perpetua Point is on a high overlook, the campground is down below, along a flat road between a steep rise and a rushing stream. We found it to be a nice quiet place. Mostly tent campers and only a couple RVs.
We had sites 7 and 8, which were quite spacious with a nice lawn in between, but the site next to us was literally a few feet from our teardrop. We waited anxiously to see who our intimate neighbors would be. A noisy or rude group could ruin our experience.
We were delighted to see two nice-looking young women put up a small tent next to us. After a day of pleasant exchanges, we invited them to join our campfire and really enjoyed getting to know them. Ginger is from California, and Caroline is from France. They were having a road trip together before they went off to Paris and Boston for grad school. They joined us again for breakfast and were so glad to have met them.
One of the great things about this campground is its proximity to great spots on the coast. On Saturday, we took a short hike to tidepools, Spouting Horn, and Devil's Churn. Below Devil's Churn was a beautiful beach we had all to ourselves.
After lunch, we took a 10-minute drive to Heceta Head Beach and toured the newly renovated lighthouse. It had just opened up again after nearly a year of being repaired.
