Three Capes Loop, Oregon

TRAVEL THERE: CAPE MEARES STATE SCENIC POINT ON THREE CAPES LOOP

Welcome to Oregon! Well, sort of. This past summer my husband and I spent twelve days traveling the state and now I’m sharing the experience with you. I’ll tell you about the attractions we visited, the meals we ate and where we stayed. Maybe you’ll decide you want to visit Oregon, too.  Today we’ll take the Three Capes Loop.  That link will lead you to one of the sites about the loop, but just google Three Capes Loop and there’s a plethora of great sites.

Finally, My Lighthouse Picture

Remember how a few weeks ago I was complaining about how hard it was to get lighthouse pictures.  Well, that problem continued.  There were lots of lighthouses, but being there when the sun was right or getting into the best position for a picture just eluded us until we arrived at Cape Meares State Scenic Viewpoint.  The lighthouse is not all there is to see on the Three Capes Loop, but the scenic viewpoint was our longest stop.

We left Lincoln City and hooked up with the loop without much effort.  Then it was

time to just sit back and enjoy the view.  Our little red rent car zoomed along the highway and we soon came to a gorgeous scenic overview.  Since it was early in the day and we had plenty of time for exploration, even though we really couldn’t see much, we pulled into the parking lot.  Would WOW be sufficient?  If I actually showed you all the pictures we made, this would be the longest post on the blogosphere.

As Bill took pictures of the awesome seascapes, I began to look around at the flora and fauna.  I realized that our photo record was incomplete without some shots that depicted how verdant and GREEN this gorgeous landscape is.  I had a hard time ripping the camera out of Bill’s hands, but I did get a few shots of the landscape sans water.

We drug ourselves away from the stunning overlook and continued our

trek northward.  After a forested stretch we found Cape Meares.  We planned to take a few shots and hop back into the car, but ws were there for hours.  I’m surprised the camera didn’t start smoking.  Yes, the viewpoint was the spot we captured our best lighthouse pictures, but there was so much more.

More to See Than a Lighthouse

At several points volunteer nature guides had set up powerful telescopes and pointed them at important wildlife scenes.  An hour disappeared and we hadn’t even gotten down to the lighthouse, yet.  Like the previous stop, the verdant plants were clamoring to be a part of our record, so we took more of those pictures.  (For the record, I’m the fauna and flora photographer.  Bill’s more about macro visions.  And yes, I do realize he’s a better photographer than I am.)

Just when we thought we’d seen it all, we realized there was something called an Octopus Tree,  so we followed a path into the woods and dutifully photographed it.  Botanist and historians can’t decide whether the tree grew like that naturally or with a little help, but it was quite interesting.

Finally, we headed north again and just like on the Central Coast, Bill stopped at so many places and took photos, that somewhere along the way I quit trying to keep a record of where they were all taken.  But now I’ll quit talking and let you see the pictures, which is probably why you’re here in the first place, but since you’re probably as overexposed to great seascapes as I was by this point in the trip, I’m going to focus on pictures with green in them