Day-to-day at Barview Jetty Park

Day to day at Tillamook County’s Barview Jetty Park, our routine involves driving our cart to the fee booth for a list of sites that need to be cleaned-up for the next campers. We also check our section for any maintenance or clean-up that may be necessary. We are on-duty about 20 hours per week and the work is fairly light-duty. We’re off on Wednesday/Thursday, however we are free to make trips around our schedule, as the need arises. The Tillamook County Parks Department has a friendly team to work with and we enjoy the staff and other volunteers.

On our days off, we take advantage of our time to sightsee and explore. This week, on a rainy day, we visited the Tillamook County Pioneer Museum and learned all about the history of the area. The old-courthouse museum comprises an excellent collection of artifacts, pictures, and journals of the original native inhabitants and the pioneers, in addition to a natural history section. 

This evening, the ocean was angry, the crashing surf was a tremendous condition to witness. The huge waves were breaking on the jetty and the mouth of the bay was boiling with turbulence, creating a frightful scene. Surprisingly, a pod of seals were playing in the tempestuous water, probably attaining a seafood dinner.

On a sunny day, we traveled north to Wheeler, Nehalem Bay, Manzanita, and Cannon Beach. We had a fine seafood lunch at Mo’s on Cannon Beach. Cannon Beach, Oregon’s answer to California’s Carmel, is a classic, upscale, coastal-resort to pamper your vacation dreams. Named for the cannon that was recovered from the 1846 wreck of the “Shark”, it has developed into a popular summer-resort, and playground for Portland, and second-home owners. Cannon Beach is also famous for its 235-foot, “Haystack Rock”, lying just offshore, and part of the Oregon Islands National Wildlife Refuge.

At Hug Point and Oswald West, as Hwy 101 rounds Neahkahnie Mountain, the high, narrow highway, provides some stunning observation turnouts. From here, we hiked a short section of the Oregon Pacific Coast Trail, along the towering cliffs, for a breathtaking and daunting overlook.

Rockaway Beach, another summer resort for Portlanders since the 1920’s, is home to the Rockaway Beach Cedar Wetland Preserve, comprising its old-growth Western Red Cedars. Just offshore lies the “Twin Rocks” landmark, accommodating its rookery of nesting seabirds. We attend church here and the hospitable parishioners make us feel quite welcome and “at home”.