2016-09-03 - Jack and Amys Oregon Vacation - Day 7

Jack and Amy's 2016 Oregon Vacation

Day 7
Our Final Day in Oregon
Oregon Coast from Lincoln City to Newport, Yaquina Head Lighthouse, 
Butte Creek Falls, Abiqua Falls, and the Portland Airport

Saturday, September 3rd, 2016

 

 Lincoln City Beach Sunrise

For the final day of our Oregon Vacation we had to drive from Lincoln City to the Portland Airport.  However, since we were flying home on a Red Eye we had the entire day to make the drive back to Portland and to check out a few more sites along the way.

Our Route to the Airport for our Final Day in Oregon

I started out the morning with a sunrise stroll around the beach outside our Condo in Lincoln City.

 Sunrise over our Condo at Lincoln City Beach

 Message in the Sand

There are shorter and quicker routes to the Portland Airport, but we decided to start the drive by heading south to check out a section of the Oregon Coast between Lincoln City and Newport, OR. We stopped at a few roadside overlook spots along the way.

 Along the Oregon Coast

The Lookout at Cape Foulweather

  view from Cape Foulweather

Once in Newport we made a visit to the Yaquina Head Lighthouse.  In addition to the Lighthouse, there are several short trails offering up some great views in all directions!

The Yaquina Head Lighthouse

 view from Yaquina Head

Amy walking towards the Yaquina Head Lighthouse

 The Yaquina Head Lighthouse

view of the Yaquina Head Lighthouse from Salal Hill

view from Salal Hill

After Yaquina Head we stopped for Breakfast at a quirky little place called the Newport Cafe.

The Newport Cafe

Amy at the Newport Cafe

Our final stop along the Oregon Coast was to the Yaquina Bay Lighthouse.  This one was not overly impressive, but I did really like the view of the Hwy101 bridge over Yaquina Bay.

The Yaquina Bay Lighthouse

The Hwy101 Bridge over Yaquina Bay

  

Amy - Last photo along the Oregon Coast

During the next couple of hours in the car, I changed my mind about 5 times about what to do next.  Ultimately I decided on a couple of short waterfall hikes starting with Butte Creek Falls.

Lower Butte Creek Falls is listed at 76 feet and Upper Butte Creek Falls is listed at 26 feet.  Both can be seen with a short and easy hike of about a mile round trip.  Getting to the base of the lower drop does require a bit of a scramble.

Lower Butte Creek Falls

 Lower Butte Creek Falls

Upper Butte Creek Falls

Roadside view near the Butte Creek Falls Trailhead

The final waterfall of our Oregon Trip would be Abiqua Falls.  This one was listed as a half mile (one mile round trip) hike, but about 2 miles from the trailhead the road got a bit sketchy!  Amy didn't feel comfortable taking Sandy Fey (our rental car) any further.  So the one mile hike turned into about a 5 mile hike. 

Amy wasn't up for a 5 mile hike, but this is one that I really wanted to see so I did this hike solo!

Abiqua Falls

Me getting Photo Bombed at Abiqua Falls

Abiqua Falls

Since Amy likes to make sure to allow for plenty of time at the Airport, we had several hours to kill once we returned our rental car, checked in, and got through security.  I do have to say that the Portland Airport is one of the nicest airports I have ever been through, so killing a few hours was not a problem!

I saw this on a T-Shirt and it proved to be true!

The Portland Airport!  A Great Place to Grab a Flight

Enjoying a Flight at the Portland Airport Rogue Brewery

Sunset from the Portland Airport

Enjoying my last beers in Oregon at the Portland Airport Laurelwood Brewery

Our flights home were smooth and uneventful, but neither of us was able to sleep much.  We were glad we had an extra day (Labor Day) off from work to recover!


The Complete Set of Photos from Day 7 of our Oregon Vacation is posted here:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/8146392@N05/albums/72157670778983113