Monday 26th September -
Day 7. Portland to Netarts Bay, Pacific Coast.

Rather a frustrating day today it started very early at 4.45 as Chris got up to catch his 6.30am flight to San Diego. Being so close to the airport, we were able to hear an aeroplane take off at exactly 6.30 and imagine Chris flying over our heads. We were sad to wave him off - it has been a magical six days that we have had together and we are looking forward to when our paths cross again later on the holiday, when we reach California.
Bill and I went back to sleep and then set about the mundane business of sorting out the van. We needed new bedding and some kitchen utensils. The water heater had stopped working and one of the shower taps was broken. This necessitated a trip to the local Cruise America depot 30 miles away and several hours sitting around in hot sunshine whilst they fix it. This was rather slow point of the trip....
Still, they were friendly and helpful people, offering us a refund on the awful bedding that they originally supplied and also the cost of half a days rental for our inconvenience. It also allowed us plenty of time to sit and chat and read our guide books and to plan the next 10 days or so of our trip.
Mid afternoon we battled through traffic to Ikea to refurbish our bedding etc and then we were happily back on the road!
After listening to various ‘top tips’ from friends and family, and much discussion and perusal of guidebooks we have planned the next stage of the journey. We have heard great things about coastal Oregon and about the mountains inland, so have decided to return to the coast to visit the section between Cape Meares and the Oregon sand dunes before travelling east back to Smith, Bend and Crater Lake before heading south towards Yosemite and San Francisco.
The drive west to the coast took about two hours, stopping halfway to walk in a small gorge with a scenic footbridge over a small salmon river.
We arrived at Cape Meares Lighthouse just in time to watch a spectacular sunset. After sundown, we explored the peninsula, including a wooded area containing the ‘Octopus Tree’ - a giant Sitka Spruce with huge deformed branches.
We drove on south into the next Small town of Netart Bay and parked in a small RV park right next to the sea. We enjoyed a salmon supper with a glass of wine and snuggled down into our newly re-made bed.