Pacific City Resort, Cloverdale, OR

Thursday, June 21 - Packed up and left the Whalers Rest Resort in Newport, OR on HWY. 101 along the coast at 8:15 am and arrived at Thousand Trails Pacific City Resort in Cloverdale, OR around 10:40 am. The drive took us past or through small towns overlooking the peaceful Pacific Ocean with overcast skies and hills shrouded in clouds. We saw a lot of driftwood at Otter Rocks. There are several turns and twists of the highway where there are canopies of the trees overhead. We saw that many houses have been built right on the edge of the cliffs. With the Tsnami signs everywhere, what are they thinking? We know this is the whale watching coast and a favorite activity for visitors, but we just don’t take the time to watch for whales. Took neat shot of one of the tunnels we passed through.
We left early so we could be sure we got a good site and it was difficult to fine one with cable, sewer, and 50-amp service. We have one without sewer and the satellite does not work due to the high trees around us, but the park has cable so that's just fine. We have to check the weather channel every day. We leave in four days, so the lack of sewer is not an issue. It is a nice preserve, but very hilly with a long road and very tight turns to navigate to get outside the park in the truck to visit the sights. The ocean view was not available to 99% of the sites as there are so many trees. Little black rabbits were everywhere.
Drove into the town of Pacific City to do our grocery shopping. Small town driven by the tourist trade, but their local paper mentioned a major building boom here and we saw the effects of that in a beautiful subdivision across the highway from our park. * This picture is the view from these incredible homes and is the best that we have seen along the coast. The roads in this area are pathetic and full of deep potholes, so the infrastructure needs should be met with the increase of businesses and homes, condos, townhomes, etc. The roads department has 20-year backlog of projects and there is a prediction of layoffs. The town is not incorporated so their needs for law enforcement, fire and rescue are limited.
Monday, June 25 - Since we had no cell or Internet available at our RV Park due to the high hills and trees surrounding us, we drove downtown to Cape Kiwanda at Pacific City to get on-line to pay our bills and make some important phone calls. Since the weather was beautiful, there were several of the famous Dory boats out fishing. These days outboard motors have replaced oar power, enabling the dories to get 50 miles out to sea from the Pacific City shoreline. The picture of the “landing” they make on the only cape that allows a sand approach was awesome, and they are able to drive their trucks on the beach with their trailer to pick up the Dory.
The cape is always crowded with people playing in the sand with their kids, and surfers who enjoy some of the longest waves on the Oregon coast.
Most people will probably be content just to look up the coast from here at the knockout view of Cape Lookout or south at the unique spectacle of American fishing dories being launched into the ocean off the beach. The latter practice has been a tradition since the 1920s after commercial fishermen took these flat-bottomed boats out to sea when gill-netting was banned on the Nestucca River
The sight of Haystack Rock, a 327-foot sea stack a mile offshore in Nestucca Bay greets you after you make your way through tiny Pacific City. Some folks call it Teacup Rock. We were surprised by the sandstone escarpment of Cape Kiwanda just to the north of the beach. In storm-tossed waters, it is said that this cape is the undisputed “king of rock and roll” if you go by coffee-table books and calendar photos. While other north coast sandstone promontories have been reduced to sandy beaches by the pounding surf, it’s been theorized that Kiwanda, which extends a half-mile out to sea, has endured thanks to the buffer of Haystack Rock.
We took advantage of the perfectly beautiful day to see the sights along the coast as well as Tillamook located north of Pacific City.
The drive we took was on the Three Capes Scenic Loop. Big mistake. Although the scenery was great, the roads were not just terrible, they were deplorable! Pot holes, and stretches where they had repaired a portion of the road on one side and it was very uneven and very bumpy in the truck.

One mile west of Tillamook Head, a rock rises from the ocean. In the shape of a sea monster, it is where old Nor'easters go to die. Where Indians believed under ocean tunnels inhabited by spirits came to the surface. Where sheer cliffs drop straight into the sea to depths of 96 to 240 feet. Where clinging to the top, fighting off the gripping hands of the sea, stands a lighthouse. A symbol of the precarious line between human endeavor and the forces of nature. Terrible Tilly shone her light for 77 years. On September 1, 1957, Keeper Oswald Allik turned off the light, and penned the following final logbook entry, today on display at the Columbia River Maritime Museum in Astoria, Oregon:
"Farewell, Tillamook Rock Light Station. An era has ended. With this final entry, and not without sentiment, I return thee to the elements. You, one of the most notorious and yet fascinating of the sea-swept sentinels in the world; long the friend of the tempest-tossed mariner. Through howling gale, thick fog and driving rain your beacon has been a star of hope and your foghorn a voice of encouragement. May the elements of nature be kind to you. For 77 years you have beamed your light across desolate acres of ocean. Keepers have come and gone; men lived and died; but you were faithful to the end. May your sunset years be good years. Your purpose is now only a symbol, but the lives you have saved and the service you have rendered are worthy of the highest respect. A protector of life and property to all, may old-timers, newcomers and travelers along the way pause from the shore in memory of your humanitarian role.
































We stopped at Cape Meares Lighthouse tower, pictured here. The tower is only 38 feet tall, making it the shortest lighthouse on the Pacific Northwest coast. Small gift shop at the top and you can also climb the few stairs to walk around the light.
Since the drive took us a lot longer than expected, we had to curtail our visit to the Tillamook Air Museum which was on my list to see. We were able to stop at the Tillamook Cheese Factory. Purchased several of their cheeses and find the taste so creamy and smooth, we are going back for more before we leave this area. Also had their “peaches n’ cream” ice cream and loved it!
Tillamook Cheese Factory - “Our farmer-owned cooperative was formed back in 1909. It grew out of the desire on the part of a handful of farmers to ensure that the cheese produced in the area was of the absolute highest quality.” In 1894, T.S. Townsend, a successful dairy industry entrepreneur, established the first commercial cheese plant in Tillamook, Or. He took 30 orders for cows from local farmers. Then he traveled to Portland, Or. to purchase the cows and equipment necessary to establish a milk pool and run a cheese plant.
Townsend also hired Peter McIntosh, a Canadian cheesemaker experienced with the cheddaring process, who brought a recipe for cheddar cheese with him. Dairying in Tillamook County actually began long before T.S. Townsend set foot in the county. Back in 1854, several farmers banded together to build a two-masted schooner, dubbed the “Morning Star of Tillamook,” to transport their butter to Portland. “The Morning Star,” which set sail for the first time in 1855, can still be seen on our label today. A replica of that ship can also be seen in front of our Visitor's Center. b:if cond='data:blog.pageType !="item"> >