We woke up to a gorgeous, sunny morning at Cape Overlook State Park. We could have happily stayed several more days but we were conscious of the fact that September was coming to a close and we wanted to see as much of Oregon as possible before the weather got too cool for us.  After breakfast and saying goodbye to our campsite neighbor, we packed up and hit the road.

We made our way toward Cape Meares State Park, stopping for lots of pictures along the way. Our first stop at the park was the Big Spruce Trail. A short, easy hike brought us to the huge tree. It is so hard to get photos to do these big trees justice but we tried. After our short hike, we made our way the Cape Meares Lighthouse. Aside from the lighthouse itself, there are fantastic scenic views, and tons of information about the area to read. I learned a lot about the birds and other wildlife that make this area their home.

After leaving the park, we continued our drive along the scenic  Three Capes Road and came to Cape Kiwanda which has some of the state’s wildest surf. After so much time on the east coast, the very different Pacific Ocean beaches are fascinating to us.

As always, time flew by and it was time to find a place to spend the night. We were happy to find Derrick Road Dispersed Campground in the Siuslaw National Forest. It is on the northern end of the Sand Lake Recreation Area and only $5 a night. When we arrived, we were greeted by the friendly camp host and his adorable dog. We were the only campers, so we had our pick of sites. It was overcast and looked like it might rain so the host brought us an extra tarp to cover our stuff with. It was getting chilly so I jumped in the car while Francis walked out onto the sand dunes to catch the sunset.