We have been in the Airstream for three weeks, and while we were at the family’s ranch for part of the time, we still camped out front as all of the Erickson clan descended for the eclipse. We spent time enjoying ranch life, which includes everything one would expect: cleaning horses, riding horses, feeding horses. 🙂
If you want to follow our travel story, make sure to check out last week’s post: Tahoe -> Lava Beds National Monument -> Diamond Lake, OR
But also picking blackberries, blueberries and peaches.
The Total Solar Eclipse
Experiencing totality during the total solar eclipse was magical. My kid’s utter amazement at the darkness of the landscape and the appearance of the cloaked sun made the experience well worth all the travel for it.
Pacific City/Webb Country Campground
After the eclipse, and a few more days with family, we headed 2 hours west to the Oregon Coast. We’ve been longing for ocean time for a while now, and Pacific City was our first stop.
While the Webb Country Campground is not the most pristine campground we’ve ever stayed at, we were pleasantly surprised by our accommodations. We gladly gave up our cramped site with full hook-ups for one with more space and some trees in the back – but no hook-ups.
The kid’s favorite part of this campground? The bunnies! I mean dozens of rabbits everywhere! They could feed and pet them, just not pick them up. It was like we’d walked into Zootopia.
The campground is right across the road from the beach, Pelican Bay Brewing Company and access to Cape Kiawanda. It is an excellent location to explore the area and within walking distance of many places, including Cape Kiawanda’s dunes. We even escaped for a date night at the brewery one evening!
Cape Lookout State Park
Next stop is Cape Lookout. Chris spent every Labor Day weekend camping at Cape Lookout as a child. So taking our kids here for a few nights was on the top of our list.
We spent time on the beach and took an afternoon to hike the 5 miles out to Cape Lookout. You can hike the cape directly from the campground if you are up for a 10 mile hike.
On the second afternoon we adventured north to Cape Meares and the Meares Lighthouse for a quick tour and some grocery shopping.
The sunsets here are some of the most magnificent sunsets we’ve seen!
Oregon State Parks Jr. Ranger Program
Did you know that Oregon State parks have their own Jr. Ranger program?! We just discovered this and my kids are having a blast finding the unique “park secrets” that ever park has. Each child also receives a passport, where they collect stamps from each park they visit and earn prizes as they complete packets at different parks. Make sure to check it our!
See you on the road,
–Alyssa