Tuesday, June 15

We set out relatively early from Cape Lookout to start our trip down the Oregon Coast, continuing our path on Hwy 101.  Our first stop of the day was the Otis Cafe which, according to our guidebook, served legendary breakfasts.  Our guidebook was definitely right, but could have reminded us that in small towns, $6 buys much more food than you could possibly eat.  Paul and I each ended up putting about half of what we ordered into the cooler to eat later.

From Otis (that is the name of the town as well as the cafe) we headed down the coast to Cape Foulweather, so named by Captain James Cook (yes, THE Captain Cook). Lucky for us, the weather was beautiful when we were there.  The cape offered us some wonderful views of the coast to the north and to the south, as well as out to sea.  Next we headed down to the Devil's Punchbowl, an unusual formation that, at high tide, looks like a separate "bowl" of water from the ocean.  At low tide, it was much less impressive.

Perhaps the most specacular views of the day came when we visited Cape Perpetua, where a point on the cape offers a view of about 70 miles of coast.  Along the short walk, a rain shelter built by the Civilian Conservation Corps as part of the New Deal marks what has been popularly considered to be the best coastal view in Oregon.  Paul and I sure enjoyed the view as we had an afternoon snack (no lunch for us, Otis's was much too filling!)

For me, the highlight of the day was when we stopped just north of Florence at an overlook where we were able to look down and see at least 40 Sea Lions on a rock along the coast.  There were full-grown ones as well as small ones and they were a sight to see.  I don't think I've ever seen so many Sea Lions in one place, not even in a zoo.

After the Sea Lions, we headed in to Eugene, where we had dinner at the Bier Stein, which had been heartily recommended to us many times by fellow beer-geeks in Portland.  Neither the food nor the beer disappointed. The paninis were delicious, as was the soup and the beer selection was excellent.