Nehalem Bay State Park
After years of looking forward to camping at Nehalem Bay State Park, I finally got around to going there. It was a beautiful weekend and we had just camped 50 miles to the north at Ft. Stevens and we were caught off guard by the wind. It wasn't so bad, that it ruined the day, but it was noticeably stronger there than up the beach. The campground was 100% filled with RV's lined up at the entrance hoping to get a spot. The campground consists of several loops with some pretty tight sites. The road is very narrow and paved and the sites on the outside of the loops are angled to more easily back in, but the inner sites are pretty much perpendicular to the road. So if you're in a larger RV try to reserve a site on the outside. Walking around we noticed that almost all the sites were the same. Which makes it far easier to choose.
Once camp was set up, our first venture was to take the dogs to the beach. There are several trails out of the campground leading up over the dunes and onto the beach. The sand on the trails is very soft and difficult to walk in. It's not too long of a walk, but it is a bit of work to finally get to the packed sand on the beach. We found another trail that led toward the bay and around a small runway. The loop was an easy mile or so on a wide trail. Perfect for walking dogs. The park also had some wildlife too. We saw deer walking through camp, not the least bit bothered by people or dogs.
Overall the park was great! We met the people camping next door who were from New Zealand and hopefully will contact us through the site as we travel in the future. The people on our other side had just purchased a very large fifth-wheel and a new GMC truck and were on their first outing. They had quite a time getting into their site but finally got in. Having been there with my truck and fifth-wheel in the past I felt for him and am so happy to be in a class-A, where backing in is a breeze. I spoke to them and told them for as long as it took them to get parked, it would have taken me longer. I don't think I relieved the stress they were feeling from the ordeal.
Jackie and I made a second visit to the park as our last camping trip prior to hitting the road full time. The drive over in the pouring rain was quite the adventure. I decided to take Highway 53 to cut a few miles off the drive, big mistake! The road is very windy and in poor repair, not a good choice for a motor home, pulling a dinghy. Then we arrived only to find that we wouldn't fit into our reserved site. Fortunately, the campground was pretty much empty and half of it is set up as first come first serve, so the ranger told us we could choose from any of the more than 100 plus sites that were empty. On the second day, the sun broke up the rain. So after a short hike with the dogs, we headed up to Seaside for lunch and something to do. On the third day, the rain returned, leaving us with just a small window to take the dogs out on the beach and let them run. Rain and all the campground is beautiful and very relaxing. We've had a couple of deer and a lone coyote visit within just a few feet of the motorhome, along with some other area natives along the trail.