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Oregon in August ’26
  • Duane Richards
  • Duane Richards

Oregon in August ’26

Last vacation before the new school year kicks off - trying something new! Read more
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  • Trip start
    August 2, 2026
  • Duane RichardsOregon in August ’26Traveler

    Farmers market

    August 2 in the United States ⋅ ⛅ 64 °F

    Once we landed, we spent a few minutes getting all loaded up in our rental car and headed to a Walmart for some supplies for the trip. After grocery shopping, we stopped in at the farmers market to enjoy the fresh offerings and get some breakfast. There was an amazing selection of goods, and a few different choices of prepared foods, but we settled on some breakfast burritos, steak tacos and some very fresh raspberry lemonade and horchata!Read more

  • Duane RichardsOregon in August ’26Traveler

    Crossing the bridge!

    August 2 in the United States ⋅ ⛅ 66 °F

    As we navigated toward Astoria from Portland, we kept crossing into Washington state and back again. It was fun to see all the drawbridges and get a peek at the amazing lumber industry along the river. It was interesting to see so many logs, and yet still so many trees all over the place. A beautiful area of our wonderful country!Read more

  • Duane RichardsOregon in August ’26Traveler

    Astoria Column

    August 2 in the United States ⋅ ⛅ 64 °F

    This had definitely been a recommendation on travel blogs, but we didn't know what to expect. It was an amazing view of the city, and the rivers leading to the ocean. It was also an fascinating history lesson on the whole Lewis & Clark route, of which this was a major part of, as the pacific connection of their journey. Wind was crazy, but we climbed the 164 steps to the top so we could throw some gliders down. Fun, scenic and educational!Read more

  • Duane RichardsOregon in August ’26Traveler

    River walk

    August 2 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 66 °F

    After the column, we headed down the hill towards the river. We explored another farmer's market, which happened to be on the coolest named street ever, and eventually ended up in the river district, walking along to see the area. It was a really nice place.Read more

  • Duane RichardsOregon in August ’26Traveler

    Fort Stevens

    August 2 in the United States ⋅ 🌬 64 °F

    Out toward the very edge of the state, we found Fort Stevens, an old American fort, built in the late 1800's and reinforced up to and during WWII. In fact, we found out that the Japanese actually attacked here, which was the only attack on continental US soil in the war. Most of the bunkers were closed to exploration, but it was fun to walk around and see the place.Read more

  • Duane RichardsOregon in August ’26Traveler

    Peter Iredale Wreck

    August 2 in the United States ⋅ 🌬 64 °F

    As part of the Ft. Stevens state park, we were able to visit the beach where the strange hull of a ship remains on the shore. The sand was great, and we finally made it to the Pacific Ocean, which was very cool (cold if you ask Becky), and it was a great place to explore and enjoy. We don't know much about the Iredale wreck, except that it was a steel barque that ran aground in 1906.Read more

  • Duane RichardsOregon in August ’26Traveler

    Driving to the beaches

    August 2 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 63 °F

    While heading into Cannon and Indian beaches, we had to drive these narrow forested trails, and it was just stunning. Wildlife and greenery were everywhere, and it was hard to stop staring and wanting to stop and take pictures around every corner.Read more

  • Duane RichardsOregon in August ’26Traveler

    Cannon beach overlook

    August 2 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 63 °F

    Probably the most iconic Oregon beach, used in promotional material, and often lots of movies, this was the place we were very excited to see, and with good reason! Movies like "The Goonies" and "Twilight" were filmed in this area, and it makes sense, as the scenery helps sell the movie and make it memorable. We enjoyed walking around to the different viewpoints while reading up about the history, nature and geology of the place.Read more

  • Duane RichardsOregon in August ’26Traveler

    Indian Beach

    August 2 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 63 °F

    Just up the road from Cannon, we found another amazing view just around a rocky point. This one however allowed us to walk down onto the sand and enjoy the water and view a little closer up. We found these fresh water springs running right out of the rocks into the ocean, with water even colder than the Pacific. Refreshing!Read more

  • Duane RichardsOregon in August ’26Traveler

    Our beachfront hotel

    August 2 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 61 °F

    Finally arriving at our hotel in Rockaway, we were excited to see our upstairs room overlooked the beach and the sunset. Eating at the food trucks across the street, we were able to still get out on the beach for a few pics afterwards.Read more

  • Duane RichardsOregon in August ’26Traveler

    Haystack Rock at Low Tide!

    August 3 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 61 °F

    We headed back north in the morning to revisit Haystack Rock - low tide was the time to go. There were a lot of people with the same idea as we, but it was easy to see why. Normally submerged rocks were exposed, full of starfish, mussels and anemones. We even saw a few hermit crabs and a slew of different birds, even young one, freshly jumping off the rock to learn how to fly (they're called "jumplings", isn't that cute?)Read more

  • Duane RichardsOregon in August ’26Traveler

    Short Sand Beach trail

    August 3 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 64 °F

    Further south, we stopped at the Short Sand Beach state park, with a half-mile walk through some amazing forest scenery along the Short Sand Creek. We enjoyed the huge trunks and stumps, the greenery everywhere, the mossy branches that looked like hands (or spiders), all on the way to the anticipated beach. The weather was also perfect, and the walk was so tranquil.Read more

  • Duane RichardsOregon in August ’26Traveler

    Pacific City - Gigantic Beachfront Sand Dune

    August 3 in the United States ⋅ 🌬 68 °F

    We had big plans for Pacific city, including possibly dinner and the Sand dunes, but by the time we got there, we had been driving for a long time throughout this day. So instead, we got out and took some great pictures and left. It turns out the wind was blowing pretty hard and even for just a few minutes we were there, we were getting assaulted by the sand in the wind, scouring our skin. So I don’t think climbing or sliding down the dunes would’ve been too much fun.Read more

  • Duane RichardsOregon in August ’26Traveler

    Tillamook Creamery

    August 3 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 73 °F

    Visiting the famous creamery and dairy farm was always on our list, but after a long day of driving, it was a welcome stop! Huge lines of people waiting for ice cream didn’t deter us, and we enjoyed gigantic double scoop cones. There was a self-guided tour of the cheese making, with samples!, which contained some pretty cool facts and views of the cheese assembly lines.Read more

  • Duane RichardsOregon in August ’26Traveler

    Our last night in Rockaway

    August 3 in the United States ⋅ 🌬 66 °F

    Sad to know we’d be leaving the coast in the morning, but we enjoyed one more night on the beach with the sunset, and food at our little food truck plaza across the street from our hotel. Nothing like the sounds of the ocean sailing in through your open hotel window at night while you sleep!Read more

  • Duane RichardsOregon in August ’26Traveler

    On our way South

    August 4 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 73 °F

    We finally left the Oregon Coast (kind of sad to do so), and headed inland and south towards the more volcanic part of the state (or so we thought - as it turns out, the whole state is volcanic!). On our way, we were greeted with deep pine forests, wild flowers, and farm fields as far as you could see. It was pretty diverse and unexpected - changed our preconceived ideas of Oregon a bit.Read more

  • Duane RichardsOregon in August ’26Traveler

    Silver Falls State Park

    August 4 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 75 °F

    Our inland journey was intentionally taking us a state park, full of waterfalls! As we journeyed towards the park, it was hard to imagine there were any falls anywhere as the pastures and the rolling hills were spread far and wide, and very dry. At the entrance, it didn’t look much different. But the map said there were definitely falls so we continued on.Read more

  • Duane RichardsOregon in August ’26Traveler

    South Falls

    August 4 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 77 °F

    Imagine our delight when just a few feet from the parking lot we stumbled on South Falls. This amazing falls was a real treat, considering what we had just traveled through. It was also great that we could walk down and behind and get down towards the creek at the bottom to feel the water and enjoy the spray.Read more

  • Duane RichardsOregon in August ’26Traveler

    On the trail

    August 4 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 77 °F

    We continued down the trail from South Falls towards the lower South Falls, enjoying the shade of the trees, the cool, moist air, and the views along the river. We also had some fun chats with the boys as the hike wasn’t quite as short as we had thought. But it made for great family time!Read more