Adventure with the mister day 3. We made our way to Rockaway Beach to catch the Oregon Coast Scenic Railroad. It’s a historic steam engine that runs between Rockaway Beach and Garibaldi, chugging through groves of coastal trees then opening out to ocean views. Our seat neighbors were a large noisy impatient family who yelled at grandma when she paused to search for her seat number. Seriously.

We had a couple of hours to have lunch at the marina in Garibaldi and wander the small town. At a vintage shop I found a hand made lace doily I’d been thinking about incorporating in some cyanotypes, so that was a score.

We took the return train to Rockaway Beach and our hotel room was ready, so we slid open the patio door to the sound of the surf and took a nap. Our room is right on a quiet nearly empty stretch of beach. So much of the northern Oregon coast is heavily visited, especially on a summer weekend when it’s hot in the valley, so the quiet is a treat!

We bundled up for a very chilly ocean front patio dinner at the Sand Dollar Restaurant (great fish tacos!) and then had the Rockaway Cedar Preserve Hike almost to ourselves. It’s short, 1.2 miles round trip. But the entire thing is a boardwalk that was clearly completely rebuilt fairly recently. A small sign pointed sideways to “hiking trail” so we took the detour and bushwhacked our way through dense foliage, clambered over tree roots, and tip toed around mud holes. I don’t think that part gets used much.

We finished our walk just in time to close down the ice cream store. I have my down camping quilt in the van and I’ve been wrapped in it almost nonstop since getting to the coast. It’s now at the top of my list of favorite things!