Kim & Lynda's Wild Ride: Seaside, Oregon

From Newport, Oregon we continued up Highway 101 to Seaside, Oregon. The road is typical of the coast: drifting inland slightly and traversing steep and windy roads through the coast mountains and then back down to the ocean for a run along the beach or through the marsh grasses that edge most of the beaches in Oregon. It is another beautiful drive but make sure you take it slowly and use the appropriate lower gears for all of the ups and downs.

Arriving in Seaside, it is an easy drive to the Thousand Trails, Seaside RV Park. A quick turn to the east in the middle of town on Twelfth Street will take you to the park. Seaside TT Park is divided into two sections (North and South of 12^th St.). Check-in is on the south side of the road, but there is an easy turn around to access the north sites. All 50 amp. Service is on the north side so that was where we headed. We found a nice site on the second street (#148) that had great space, satellite TV reception, WiFi reception, and 50 amp. We were in campers’ heaven. We really enjoyed our site, so did a lot of outdoor cooking on the grill and lounging on the rug that we were able to put out. We give this park a “9” on the Moore 1-10 scale (with 10 being perfect and 1 being unspeakable). Why only a nine … well if you follow our blog, you know it is a pet peeve that as TT VIP members we have to go fetch the paper at the ranger station. Parks that require that get a point deducted. Parks that deliver receive the point. Please don’t bother to comment on this particularly highbrowed conceit … it’s our scale and we can deduct for what we want … and I really enjoy getting up to a paper without having to get dressed, hop in the car, and go fetch it.

Seaside is a nice little town with a few interesting shops and restaurants down Broadway Street. We ate breakfast and lunch at Dundee’s Bar and Grill and we definitely recommend this little joint. It has a family side and an adult only side (where the bar is located). While we enjoy seeing all the kids have a good time most of the time, a nice quiet meal once in a while is a blessing and we opted for the adult side. We had great food and watched a few Olympic events on the many TVs. We did eat at the kid friendly Foltana’s Pizza and we recommend it too. It is a wide-open room with an arcade next door with plenty of action and noise. It also serves one of the best pizzas this side of the Mississippi (great crisp thin crust with plenty of toppings … served hot and gooey). Avoid the sushi place (Tora’s) … we found something crawling on Lynda’s plate and walked out.

Oregonians flock to Seaside in the summer for the cool beach air and to enjoy the ocean. There are plenty of opportunities to fly kites, play volleyball, boogey board or swim (in designated areas only as the currents tend to be strong and unpredictable). Therefore, the areas around the beach are crowded and Highway 101 can become a bit congested. We took our Segways down by the most popular beach areas by riding on the Promenade, but if you just want to walk on a nice stretch of nearly deserted beach, just go a bit further down and you will find it too.

Not So Crowded Beach

Away from the Crowds

Crowded Beach in Oregon (In California this would be an empty beach)

This was a lazy couple of weeks for us, really. We went to Costco in Warrington, Oregon (just 13 miles up the coast) and also visited Fred Meyer to stock up on food. We did find a nice store just outside of Warrenton on the way back to Seaside that specializes in selling meat: Reed and Hertig – Purveyors of fine meat products. We stopped in a bought a package deal for $79.00. If you like meat (and we do!) it was a great buy and the product is very tasty.

There is plenty to see and do in the area. We opted to follow some of the trails of the Lewis and Clark Corps of Discovery and also visited Fort Clatsop (named after the local indigenous tribe the expedition befriended). The expedition wintered here after making their way to the Pacific. They also took the opportunity to set up a small camp at the ocean where they made salt. A replica of the salt-making operation is on display in Seaside. If one ventures all the way up the coast of Oregon the Astoria area is replete with interesting things to see (since we will be next in Long Beach, however, we saved Astoria for that stop).