Took a 5-day trip to NW Oregon and SW Washington beaches. We had so much fun on our previous beach trips and the summer weather was hanging on much longer than normal for this time of year in the Pacific Northwest, we decided to go on another 2022 beach adventure. Camped at Manzanita OR and Cape Disappointment WA. Also, this allowed us to escape the bad air around Seattle due to nearby forest fires. Air at the beaches was great.
Travelogue
Day 1 – 10/04/22
Left house at 10:30am
Stopped in Pe Ell and made some sandwiches for lunch. Looked at the old jail and a war memorial that had a cool tank.
Driving into Dismal Nitch we realized we forgot to bring BunBun and Nut! They are going to be pissed. We had been talking about getting a picture of BunBun in front of the Cape Disappointment sign (since she has a disappointed look on her face). Guess we’ll have to do that another time.
Got to Manzanita around 5pm.
While driving thru town we came across a herd of elk walking thru a neighborhood.
Set up our campsite. Walked on the beach. Weather was great. Still felt like summer.
The camp host is across from our site and he has 2 dachshunds. They like to bark at a squirrel who likes to taunt them.
Had salad with chicken for dinner. Also had a campfire.
Day 2 – 10/05/22
Ate breakfast at the campsite and we were just hanging around. At 11:30am Mike noticed some deer walking through the campground. They weren’t afraid of people. Saw some other campers feeding them chips. Tracey got really excited, and we walked a few sites over to see them. Tracey fed them trail mix and was able to pet them. It was super cool. We walked back to our site and kept watching them. Decided to feed them again and gave them some more nuts. Went back to our site and kept watching them. They eventually wandered over to our site and I gave them some cornbread. They liked that.
We went for a bike ride around the campground, around the air strip, corals, and eventually to the beach. Biked a couple miles down the beach along the water’s edge. Watched several kite boarders. Went to buy another bundle of firewood. Got back to the campsite and took showers. Around 6pm, the dear came back by our site. This time we gave them some pita chips. They ate a few and then moseyed on.
Dinner was red beans and rice. Had another campfire.
Day 3 – 10/06/22
Had breakfast and was hoping the deer would come back but we didn’t see them. Packed up and left around noon. As we were driving out, we saw one of the deer near the airstrip.
While driving north of Cannon Beach we saw more elk.
Stopped for gas in Seaside.
Got to Cape Disappointment around 5:30. Went to the camp store and bought more firewood and a new lighter.
Set up camp then went to take showers.
Had leftover pizza and tomato soup for dinner. We now want to have campfires every night. Had one tonight. While sitting by the fire we heard a spoon fall off the picnic table. A raccoon was looking for food. Luckily, we had already cleaned up. We put away the dishes in the van and went back to our fire. While sitting there, 3 raccoons came by looking for food. I shined a flashlight on them, and they walked off.
Day 4 – 10/07/22
Had breakfast.
Cell coverage is spotty but we were still able to do our Wordle games.
Went hiking on several trails around the park. Covered some of the paths that Lewis and Clark traveled. Saw 2 light houses, jetties into the Columbia River, beaches, Deadman’s Cove. All cool stuff but it is foggy and windy and not great for photos. Saw lots of tiny little frogs on the hiking trails.
Got back to the campsite around 4pm. Took showers to warm up. Started our campfire at 6:30. Made chicken tortilla soup for dinner. Sat by the campfire and about 30 mins before it burned out, the three raccoons walked right by it. They were only 5 feet away and didn’t seem to care that we were there… until I turned on the flashlight. Then they wandered off and out of sight.
Day 5 – 10/08/22
Skipped breakfast.
It rained a little overnight, so the bug tent was a little wet. Dried it off a bit and packed everything up.
Drove home. Stopped for lunch at a rest stop outside of Olympia.
Got home and it is still quite smokey. Air quality is still in the dangerous zone.
Love your adventures!