Traveling the Oregon Coast: Great Fun on Highway 101

"A ship on the beach is a lighthouse to the sea." - Dutch proverb

After leaving the fry bread behind at the Nesika Illahee Pow-Wow in Siletz late Saturday afternoon, we raced the sunset as we headed south on Highway 101 from Newport. Golden hour beat us to the Heceta Head Lighthouse viewpoint (which is now unfortunately closed due to construction), but we were able to capture a few images of the lighthouse from a distance, even if the conditions were not ideal.

Heceta Head Lighthouse

There was, however, one photogenic seagull that seemed to be more than happy to have his picture taken, repeatedly, with the quickly fading sunset in the background.

We drove in the dark south past Coos Bay and parked the RV for the night. In the morning we headed for the nearest beach, Seven Devils State Park, a day use area, for a front row view of the ocean to accompany our breakfast. We arrived to find the place our own private playground, with not another soul in sight.

Merchant Beach

After what some might consider “begging” by the girls (okay, honestly, it didn’t take much on their part) we headed down to the sand to play. There are actually three beaches here: Agate (Yes, there is more than one along the Oregon Coast), Merchant, and Whisky. While the girls enjoyed themselves thoroughly, I think the look on my miniature pincher’s face says it all…

My dog Sarah

There is nothing better than a morning spent running and playing on the Oregon Coast!!

Alas, all good things must come to an end eventually, and there was still much to see between our current position and our scheduled destination for the night, my uncle’s house just outside Gold Beach. Once again we headed south on Highway 101.

A camping combination you don't see every day!

Coquille River Lighthouse sits within Bullards Beach State Park, just outside of Bandon, Oregon. Decommissioned in 1939 when a wildfire swept through the area. The first major restoration began in 1976 but the Fresnel lens is no longer in place and has since been replaced with a solar light.

The lighthouse missing the lens.

One could not have asked for Mother Nature to give a better backdrop for photographing the lighthouse that day. Bright blue sky and whispy blue clouds were like a dream come true. I took countless pictures from every angle. Below are a couple of my favorites.

From there, we headed back onto the highway to quite literally have a wild time! Stay tuned!!

Plan your own visit:

Heceta Head Lighthouse 

Bullards Beach State Park

Travel Oregon: Coquille River Lighthouse

Frybread - A Love Story (Nesika Illahee Pow-Wow)

In the Chinook language Nesika Illahee means “our land” or “our country. Every year during the second weekend of August, the Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians celebrate their aptly named Nesika Illahee Pow-Wow on top of Government Hill in Siletz, Oregon.

After a former coworker, who also happens to be an enrolled member of the tribe invited me to attend 10 years ago, this has become an annual event for my family - morphing from a quick day trip my first year to now making an entire weekend of it. Not only does my husband’s family live in the area (which I found out about after I met him and this had already become a tradition for my oldest daughter and I) but I also have roots in the area through my father’s side of my family.

There are many reasons I enjoy this event so much – the beautiful wooded pow-wow grounds, the colorful costumes of the dancers, the rhythm of the drumming and the booths selling so many unique items from handmade creations to a rainbow of beads. However, there is one thing that stands out year after year – frybread!

Frybread is quite simply that – a piece of bread dough fried. Frybread entered the world during the US Government’s removal of the Navajo from their traditional lands in the mid 19^th century. Imprisoned and starving at Fort Sumner, the only provisions supplied by the government to the Navajo were lard and white flour. From these poor rations, frybread was born.

I distinctly remember the first time I ever ate fry bread. It was October, 1998. I had just spent the morning exploring the ruins of Mesa Verde National Park, one of the most incredible places I have ever had the pleasure of visiting, when my friend and I happened upon what seemed like a mirage in the desert. A little gift shop and a small stand selling fry bread. Having never tried either before, I figured what the heck. I’ll give it a shot. I was immediately smitten with the warm, soft yet crispy, pillowy creation, covered in a light dusting of powdered sugar. I feasted on three pieces that day and have been hooked ever since.

Frybread can be served a whole multitude of ways. My favorite – Indian (or also known and Navajo or Native) taco style. It is quite simply exactly what it sounds like – a piece of frybread piled high with beans, seasoned ground beef, lettuce, cheese, fresh tomatoes and salsa, though the ingredients can vary depending on who is making it.

Sweet frybread is another option. My husband calls them elephant ears, which makes me cringe every time he says it. Elephant ears are thin and crispy. Frybread is thicker and more flavorful. It can be tossed with cinnamon sugar, served plain and then slathered in jam, or even strawberry shortcake style. The options are only limited by your imagination.

The Nesika Illahee Pow-Wow in Siletz is a great event. Put it on your calendar for next year and make plans to go down and make a weekend of it. Go to the parade through town on Saturday morning, stick around until Sunday for the tribal salmon feed, and in between watch the dance contests, do a little shopping and the vendor booths, and try some frybread for yourself!! 

Getting there:

The Siletz Nesika Illahee Pow-Wow is held annually the second weekend of August, which also normally coincides with the Perseid Meteor Shower (hint – hint).

Siletz is located approximately 13 miles northeast of Newport, Oregon along the Siletz River. While there is limited camping available on Government Hill, lodging options are plentiful a short drive away in Newport.

Related Links:

Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians

City of Siletz

Stranded Beaver on the Beach

This past Saturday, we decided to head west towards the northern portion of the Oregon Coast, stopping to view Elk at Jewell Meadows Wildlife Sanctuary and a quick hike at Fishhawk Falls along the way, the details of which will be coming to you in a not so distant future blog post. Viewing the elk so close was definitely a highlight of the day, until I had a rare encounter with a beached beaver.

We decided to use the vehicle access point near Gearhart and drive up the beach to see what we could see, expecting nothing more than some shorebirds, a few gulls, and maybe some interesting driftwood. For those of you outside the Pacific Northwest, the past few weeks have seen some unusually heavy rans, along with the associated flooding, so just being at the ocean with the sun shining was a welcome treat, plus you never know what is going to wash ashore after a storm. We happily drove along snapping pictures of the sandpipers and just enjoying the beauty of the day.

Somewhere near Sunset Bay State Park, a gentleman in a white truck flagged us down to stop. We obliged, figuring he had a warning about some sort of danger that may lie further up the coastline.

"Look out. Right up there *pointing to a brown blob in the surf* is a beaver. He's a young guy and pretty tired. He's been there all day being battered by the waves. Wildlife rescue is on the way. Just give him some space, he's having a pretty bad day."

Brown Blob in the Surf

My husband and I both looked at each other and exclaimed "A beaver? What?" This we had to see.
 
Now, I am not a beaver, but I have to imagine that while I rather enjoy a day on the coast, for him, being stuck there was no day at the beach. Now, being as I have never seen a beach beaver, and I am not sure whoever wrote the Marine Mammal protection act meant it to apply to stranded beavers, we were not sure how to handle the situation. However, we respected the beaver's space, kept the same distance we would for a beached seal, and were thankful for the powerful zoom of our camera lens.

The poor little guy was just miserable. He kept trying to swim back out to sea, and back to whatever river or creek he came from, but it looked more like he was making a really bad attempt at body surfing. Then when he would take a moment to rest, a huge glob of sea foam would cover him completely, and he looked like someone took him out of the bathtub and forgot to rinse the shampoo off. We sat and watched over him for quite a while. Lots of other people stopped intermittently to gawk, and we all remarked that we had never heard of, let alone seen a beaver on the beach before.

Finally, the cavalry (Wildlife Center of the North Coast) came to the rescue!! At this point my husband jumped out of the car with the camera to get pictures of the rescue. My youngest child and I waited safely in the car. I don't know about you, but I don't want to be anywhere near an angry beaver should it decide to attack.

Luckily, the whole rescue happened without incident. They corralled him into a huge fishing type net, put him in a crate and were gone in less than 10 minutes. Really, the whole thing was pretty anitclimatic. I was expecting the beaver to put up at least a little bit of a fight, but, in all honesty, I think he was just ready for his day on the beach to come to an end and was happy to comply with anyone that offered him an escape route.

We did talk to the rescuers, and they pretty much confirmed the theory we had been bouncing around since we happened upon him. all the recent flooding had washing him out of whatever stream he had been living in, and right out to see. That must have been on hell of a ride!!

Now, to me, this is a once in a lifetime occurrence. I never expect to go to the beach and see a beaver surfing. Other than the normal sandpipers, seagulls  and starfish, maybe I might see a few other interesting birds such as terns or pelicans. If I am really fortunate, maybe a seal that has come ashore and is also in need of rescue, but never an unlucky beaver. Much to my surprise, the wildlife rescue volunteers said that this actually happens five or six times a year, especially after the rivers and creeks have been flooding.

I guess it just goes to show, you never know what you will find when you go exploring the Oregon Coast.