This last week, I had the opportunity of traveling to the Oregon Coast with some friends. This was my very first trip to the Pacific Northwest and can I say, this area of the country is amazing! It’s one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen.
We drove to the Oregon Coast along I-84 which is actually the old Oregon Trail. This route has other historical significance in that it was the path followed by Lewis and Clark as they explored the Louisiana Purchase. Driving in the rain forest along the Columbia River through the Cascades was one of my most favorite parts of the trip. This jungle landscape included massive mountains blanketed in emerald green foliage that were carved by cascading waterfalls rushing towards the river below them. As I drove along this route, I could envision Lewis and Clark paddling along the misty waters in their canoes on their journey westward. Later in the trip, we even drove all the way to the tip of the Oregon Coast (Astoria) where the Columbia River empties into the Pacific Ocean to see where Lewis and Clark first saw this grand body of water.
We picked a perfect time to visit the Oregon Coast since the rhododendrons were in bloom. These trees are covered in a bouquets of flowers in a rainbow of colors. These flowers were a beautiful contrast to the dark green pines, ferns, and moss of the coastal forest. The weather was cold (which is what we expected) and just about every morning it rained. We were fortunate to have several days of blue sky weather towards the end of our trip which is quite a rarity for this part of the country. It made for amazing photographs.
Not only was the forest beautiful, but so was the ocean life. We saw seals and their babies sunning on the beaches. We also woke up early to visit the tidal pools during low tide so we could see the orange and purple starfish, the sea urchins, sea lettuce, and sea anemones.
I took hundreds of pictures during my trip and this slideshow highlights some of my favorites.
Enjoy 🙂
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