Monday, July 12, 2021

Pacific Northwest 2021: Seal Rock, Cape Perpetua, Darlingtonia, Oregon Dunes

 We headed to Seal Rock State Recreation Area after breakfast. It was a great place to go at low tide as it was somewhat protected from the surf and there were lots of tidepools. Here are a few pictures of the area.




Orange and purple algae growing on the rocks.

So many sea stars!

Sarah, Megan and Matthew walking along Seal Rock.

An orange and purple sea star plus a couple of purple sea stars. In Cannon Beach, the sea stars had been either orange or purple so it was interesting to see the hybrid ones here.

Velella velella

More sea stars, with multiple eating mussels.

Matthew liked these orange sea stars.

Ripples in the sand

Matthew with the sand Matthew that his sisters drew in the sand.

Matthew and Megan drawing some sand people with Sarah in the background.

I wonder what made the pattern in the sand.

Sarah, Matthew, Me and Megan.

We stopped at Devils Churn in Cape Perpetua and went on a short hike. Megan and Matthew got the Junior Ranger badge.
Matthew and Me

Me, Megan, Sarah and Matthew

Me

It is a lovely area.

We drove to the top of Cape Perpetua for some nice views.
Megan and Sarah


Pretty foxglove flowers around Cape Perpetua

An impressive bridge around Heceta Head Lighthouse.

Heceta Head Lighthouse

We stopped at Darlingtonia State Natural Site to see the carnivorous Darlingtonia californica, also known as the cobra lily.

U feeding Matthew to the Darlingtonia californica.

U

We then went on a sandrail ride in the Oregon Dunes. We went fast. The girls said we topped out at 65-70 mph. We went up and down some steep inclines. The kids all really enjoyed it and wanted to go on another ride right away.
Matthew, Sarah and Megan with their helmets on.

Sarah and Megan were super excited to sit in the very front.

Sarah, Megan, Me, Matthew and U

Some of the area we drove through. Yes, even that area in the background.

Our vehicle

We went back to Cape Perpetua to see some of the sites around high tide. This picture shows Spouting Horn.

Three sequential pictures showing the water coming into Thor's Well.



U and Me really enjoyed watching the water.

See the crash!

Little fish in the tidepools

We wore the kids out!

U and Me went on a walk on the beach.
Our hotel from the beach. Do you see Megan waving at us?

On the beach, you could see the way the constant wind was etching things away.


Yaquina Bay Lighthouse

It was quite windy!

Yaquina Bay Lighthouse and Bridge

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