I am finally here on the Oregon coast.

This is a road trip I have been talking about doing for years now, and I finally had a few days where I had nothing planned.

So I flew up to Portland and I am now in the town of Astoria.

This is at the very top of Oregon, right along the Columbia River.

You have the Pacific Ocean just a few miles away, and it is where I am starting this adventure.

It's going to be a couple days of stunning coastlines, natural bridges, wildlife, seafood and I am so excited to explore this picturesque and beautiful portion of the West Coast.

I'm Alice Ford and we're back in Northern Norway.

This is the Garden Island, Kauai, Hawaii.

As you guys can see, it is absolutely beautiful down here.

The views are just already stunning.

And we are on our way to Antarctica.

So right now we're having a traditional tea here.

Wow.

Astoria is actually a pretty remarkable place to begin a journey like this.

It's the oldest American settlement west of the Rocky Mountains.

Founded in 1811 as a fur trading post by John Jacob Astors Pacific Fur Company, which gives the town its name.

At its peak, it was one of the most important ports on the entire West Coast.

And that history is everywhere you look here, because Astoria sits on the Columbia River.

There is a lot of maritime history here.

So the first thing that I'm doing is actually checking out the Maritime Museum, which is right on the river here.

And I'm really looking forward to learning a little bit more about the region.

All right.

So we started here.

We have come up the river here.

And later today I'm going to go there.

This map is actually really interesting because it's talking about how gasoline gets inland into the northwest.

So it actually comes up from Mexico and San Francisco, heads into the Columbia River here, and then travels across the United States to refineries and other areas can get all the way as far as Idaho.

This museum is such a great place to start on this adventure, because there is so much history here, so much information, lots of Native American art and information about the history here that goes back to time immemorial.

Also, lots of fishing and maritime history from all of the different shipwrecks that happened here in the graveyard of the Pacific, as they call it.

They've lost about 2000 ships over the years in this area where ocean meets river.

Now, outside the museum, one of the other things that is included in your ticket is visiting the Lightship Columbia.

In places where they couldn't have lighthouses on the Columbia River, they actually would anchor these ships in about 200ft of water.

And they had lights on them.

They had sirens to be able to divert ships.

So they used these for, I think, well over 60 years.

Then they use these big giant buoys that you see behind me, which also had lights, sirens, etc., to make sure ships weren't getting stuck in this really shallow area.

Now, because we have a such good satellite communication, we don't really need any of this stuff anymore.

They have small buoys out there, but nothing quite as big as this.

The Columbia River is thousand 243 miles long, starting in Columbia Lake, British Columbia, and ending right here in Astoria.

About 360 miles of that is navigable by container ship.

But coming into the port is no easy feat, and it has to be done with tugboats that actually help these ships navigate the hazardous conditions where the river meets the ocean, and also the many locks and dams upriver.

Were at the very corner of Oregon, now in Port Stephens State Park.

And right now I am standing on an extremely long jetty.

It's about seven miles long.

This jetty actually separates the Pacific Ocean, which you can see right here and the Columbia River.

Because so many ships have run aground here, crashed and lost lives.

We have for over 100 years been trying to slow the force of these two water bodies that combine here, where the ocean currents meet the fresh water of the Columbia River.

Where this happens, it usually makes a massive sandbar.

This is why so many ships have run aground in this area, and many people have lost their lives over the last 250 years.

So this jetty used to be one mile long, and then it became bigger and bigger and bigger.

Now today it's seven miles long and it is certainly a sight to see.

Just ten miles northeast of here is one of the campsites that Lewis and Clark ended their journey across the United States.

And so there's a lot of Lewis and Clark history here.

And it tells you a lot more than the things that we may have read about in our history books growing up.

Where I'm standing right now is actually an old salt works.

So before Lewis and Clark decided to head back across the country, they needed to make sure they had a way to preserve and cure meats.

So they actually left a couple of people right here, boiling seawater for about six weeks to have enough salt to be able to preserve the foods that they would need to make the journey back across America.

Just a few miles north of here is Fort Clatsop where Lewis and Clark and the entire Corps of Discovery spent the winter of 1805 to 1806, 106 days, almost all of them rainy.

By the expedition's own journals.

The sun appeared on only 12 days that winter.

They were cold, they were wet.

They were running low on food, but they stayed map the coastline and documented the indigenous people of the region with remarkable detail.

When spring came, they packed their salt, broke camp and began the long journey home.

Fort Clatsop is now a national memorial and well worth a stop if you make it up to this end of the coast.

There are several state parks along the Oregon coast, so this morning I am in Ecola State Park.

This is just north of Cannon Beach, and this stretch of coastline has also been the stage for many famous movies like Point Break, The Goonies, and several others.

The trail that I'm on right now is taking us to a viewpoint, to one of the many lighthouses here along the Oregon Coast, and this is also part of the Oregon Coast Trail.

And I really went back and forth when planning this trip, trying to decide between road tripping and actually hiking the Oregon Coast Trail.

It's about 360 miles, so it does take a couple of weeks.

So I opted to drive and just hike along the way.

And I'm really excited to get to the viewpoint at the end of this trail.

If you are doing the Oregon Coast Trail, this is one of the many camping areas along the trail that you can stay in.

You can stay for three nights, it says, and you can stay in these cabins.

Or if you want to tent camp, you just have to do 50ft away from these little cabins.

You can also have fire in the fire pit there.

And they do sell firewood somewhere for $5 it says.

It is so nice to just be out here breathing in the fresh air today.

It's one thing that I definitely take for granted getting to travel so much.

You know, so many people on this planet live in areas with horrendous air pollution.

Where I live in Los Angeles, it's not so great either.

So these moments where I get to be out here in the forest, breathing the air that has been filtered by all of these old growth trees and plants and even the ocean, is something that I am so thankful for.

This hike took me to a viewpoint overlooking Tillamook Rock lighthouse, one of the most expensive lighthouses ever built on the West coast.

Located 1.2 miles offshore, it was completed in 1881 and operated until 1957.

Nicknamed Terrible Tillie, the lighthouse set in such a harsh location that rough seas, powerful storms, and relentless winds often made it difficult for workers and supplies to reach the island.

Today, it's part of the Oregon Islands National Wildlife Refuge, providing habitat for seabirds and sea lions.

What I didn't mention is just how brutal the construction of this lighthouse actually was.

Before a single stone was laid, the surveyor drowned trying to access the rock.

The construction crew had to be lowered onto the island by rope from a ship, because there was nowhere safe to land.

It took over a year to build at an enormous cost, and almost immediately storms began battering it.

In 1934, a wave launched rocks straight through the lantern room, more than 130ft above sea level.

After it was decommissioned in 1957, it was briefly repurposed as a columbarium, a place to store cremated remains called Eternity at Sea.

That operation was eventually shut down.

These days, the lighthouse just sits out there, battered by the Pacific, slowly being reclaimed by the elements, a testament to just how extreme this stretch of coastline really is.

After leaving the state park, I continued south, passing through the seaside town of Cannon Beach, which is a great place to stop for lunch or some light shopping, and you'll also want to take a walk on the beach.

You may recognize the location from the end of The Goonies movie, where the famous Haystack Rock was used as the backdrop for a hidden pirate ship.

In reality, though, this rock with juts way up out of the ocean is a nesting site for tufted puffins and many other seabirds, and you'll definitely want to stop and take a gander.

Haystack Rock is 235ft tall, one of the largest coastal monoliths in the world, and it's actually protected as part of the Oregon Islands National Wildlife Refuge.

During low tide, the tide pools around its base come alive with sea stars, anemones, hermit crabs, and chitons.

And interestingly, the town itself takes its name from a cannon that washed ashore in 1846 from a wrecked U.S.

Navy schooner called The Shark.

So even the town's name is a shipwreck story.

Some of the most unique landscapes along the Oregon Coast are formed from it's crazy weather.

We're talking wind, rain, dense fog, and big waves, and I certainly experienced a lot of that.

At my next stop.

I am definitely letting the weather dictate this trip, and I think you kind of have to do that when you're exploring a place like this that has all these beautiful natural areas.

I had hoped to hike out to a lighthouse here, and obviously with the rain and the changing of the weather, it just didn't happen.

So I did this beach walk instead.

The wind out there was absolutely wild blowing the sand and these crazy patterns blowing me almost over.

But really glad that I got out of the car despite the weather and saw this.

Now there are also some cabins here.

I guess you can probably rent and stay in.

This is Cape Lookout.

It is part of the Oregon State Park Department as well.

So there's just all these different places that you can stay and explore here along the Oregon coast.

I'm going to head now to my hotel for the night, and hopefully tomorrow we'll have a few more hours and better weather for more exploring.

I woke up to cloudy skies, but no rain, at least for the time being.

So I stopped along the 101 for a few quick walks along the coastline, and then a stop at Thor's Well, which is an ocean driven water geyser right off the road a few miles south of my hotel.

It's always so awesome to witness the immense power the ocean in places like this.

Thors well sits within the Cape Perpetua Scenic area, one of the most geologically dramatic stretches of the entire Oregon coast.

The well itself is essentially a sinkhole in the basalt shelf, and at high tide, the incoming waves funnel into it and shoot water up to 20ft in the air.

It drains just as fast as it fills, giving it this almost hypnotic, endless sucking and surging.

The best time to visit is during a high tide on a stormy day, which on the Oregon coast, is never in short supply.

Well, the rain has continued here along the Oregon coast, which is pretty common, especially in the springtime.

A lot of heavy winds today as well, but it hasn't stopped me from exploring.

I actually just visited one of the lighthouses here along the Oregon coast.

This lighthouse is actually pronounced Heceta Head, and the Heceta Head is widely considered one of the most photographed lighthouses in America.

And honestly, it's easy to see why.

It sits 205ft above the ocean on a dramatic headland, and it's light is still active today.

It's actually the most powerful lighthouse being on the entire Oregon coast, visible from over 21 miles out to sea.

It was completed in 1894 and has been in continuous operation ever since.

The lighthouse keepers assistant house next door has been converted into a bed and breakfast, which has to be one of the more unique places to spend a night on the West Coast.

And yes, it reportedly comes with a ghost, a woman in Victorian dress who has been seen in the upper rooms for decades.

Whether you believe in that sort of thing or not, on a stormy night on this coastline, it's not hard to see how the legend took hold.

There are, I believe, nine lighthouses on the Oregon coast.

Seven of those can be visited.

This one was open to the public today, and at the spot where the lighthouse is, is also a really good place to watch for whales.

The whale migration season just began.

It is March and it goes from now until around May as the whales migrate up towards Alaska where they spend the summer.

Unfortunately, on a day like today, it's nearly impossible to see whales because the ocean is so turbulent.

But they had a volunteer up there with binoculars, giving me all kinds of whale facts as well, which was really neat.

So if you are planning on coming here to the Oregon coast, you'll definitely want to stop at not only a few lighthouses, but some of these whale watching spots as well.

Just down the road from the lighthouse is the Sea Lion Cape.

This is evidently the largest sea cave in America, and the only one that you can actually access via elevator.

So I am about to step into an elevator and go 200ft down to where the ocean comes into this sea cave.

There should be a bunch of sea lions in there.

The lady at the front said, there is about 75 in there today.

And, this should be really interesting.

What makes this place genuinely unlike anywhere else on earth is how you get there.

An elevator that drops you 200ft straight down through the cliff into the cave itself.

And when those doors open, you're suddenly inside this enormous sea cathedral.

The cave is naturally lit from the mouth, where the Pacific pushes in and behind a viewing window and protective fencing.

You can watch steller sea lions doing exactly what they've been doing here for thousands of years, getting tossed around in the surf, hauling themselves onto the rocks and bellowing at each other.

The cave serves as both a shelter and a nursery, protected from the worst of the Pacific storms and safe from predators.

It's one of the few places these animals can truly rest.

The noise, the smell, the sheer scale of the place.

It's not exactly what you picture when someone says wildlife viewing, it's rawer than the more primal.

And honestly, one of the more unexpected stops that I've taken on this trip.

Okay, that was not what I expected, but that was actually really cool.

And I guess up until about 1961, you could still come down here to this cave.

This is prior to the elevator being built, but you had to come down a 1500 foot staircase, which sounds really sketchy considering I'm seeing this cliff side here.

So what are the other things from this cave is right here in front of me.

You have this fantastic view of the lighthouse that we were just at as well.

One of the places that was on the top of my list for this trip along the Oregon coast, was the Samuel H. Boardman Scenic Corridor.

This is near the southern border of California, kind of the last 60 or so miles of coastline before you reach California.

And it has all of these stunning rock formations right off the edge of the landmass here.

There are sea caves, natural bridges.

And the spot that I'm in right now is the natural bridges viewpoint.

You may or may not have seen photos of this place on social media, but it is supposed to be absolutely stunning and I'm so excited to be here.

The corridor is named after Samuel Boardman, Oregon's first state park superintendent, who spent decades in the early 20th century fighting to preserve this coastline from development.

Thanks largely to his efforts, this entire stretch was protected before the highway was even fully built.

The natural bridges and arches you see here were formed of the ocean eroding through the coastal headlands over thousands of years, essentially sea caves whose roofs have partially collapsed, leaving these dramatic stone spans.

Geologists believe the process is still ongoing.

The bridges we're looking at today will eventually collapse too probably thousands of years from now, leaving behind sea stacks like the ones already scattered up and down this coastline.

Right now, I'm just here at the viewpoint for the natural bridges, which you can see way down there.

This is absolutely breathtaking.

The ocean is furious today.

We've had rain for the last couple of days, so the waves are huge.

Now, a lot of people will just come to this viewpoint, but if you want to get a closer look, there's also a trail that takes you down along the bridges near the ocean.

The trail down from the viewpoint is steep and can be quite slippery, and I've been told that the best time to come here is actually at sunset.

But because it's actually dry right now and has stopped raining, I'm going to just make the most of it and head down to see these sea caverns and natural bridges up close.

Wow, is that beautiful or what?

Just look at that natural bridge down there.

These ocean formations off the coast of Oregon are so beautiful, especially along this corridor.

Every time I stop, I am just in awe at the big giant rocks and just the waves coming through these natural arches.

It is so cool.

All right, I am down here right by the bridge.

It's right behind me.

Well, scary.

Not gonna lie a little scary.

I cannot believe people actually go across that bridge, though.

That just looks crazy.

Oh my gosh, this is wild.

Oh my gosh, we are out here on the natural bridge.

Oh, this is kind of crazy.

Actually.

It's a lot bigger than it looks from up there at the viewing platform.

But it was scary coming out here and really, really steep.

I definitely would not recommend this for most people.

You have a fantastic view from up there at the viewpoint.

It is extremely hazardous here.

Definitely overcame some fear coming down here.

Well, unsurprisingly, as soon as I got out of the car it started raining again.

But that's Oregon for you.

I'm now in deep within the forest to hike along the Oregon's Redwood Trail.

Redwoods actually extend from Monterey County in California, up 450 miles along this fog belt to coming right across the border into Oregon.

This trail is really short.

It's only about three quarters of a mile, but it's going to take us through some of this area that is rich in redwood trees.

Now, redwood trees actually grow really quickly, and they rival the ancient sequoia in size.

Redwood trees can grow several hundred feet tall, and these ones are just massive.

And I probably get a neck ache looking up at the tops of them.

These are not the largest trees in the world.

Sequoia trees are actually bigger by volume than redwood trees, but redwoods do grow taller.

I'm a hugger.

Even if you're not a hugger.

Back.

It's okay.

Well, I have officially made it to the California border, which means we have driven the entire coastline of Oregon.

It has been epic.

So many beautiful and spectacular landscapes, scenery, hiking, so many different ecosystems.

And I definitely have to be back because there is so much more that I did not get to do on this couple of day trip here along the Oregon coast.

Also, once you go inland, there are just so many waterfalls.

There's so many other beautiful things here in the state of Oregon.

So I will have to come back here on a few other trips to explore Mount Hood, Crater Lake.

Gosh, there's so many beautiful things to see her in Oregon.

So I hope you enjoyed this little Oregon coast road trip.

The Oregon Coast doesn't really let you go easily.

It's the kind of place that gets under your skin, the scale of it, the wildness of it, the way the weather just does whatever it wants.

And you have no choice but to go along for the ride.

I came here chasing coastline and ended up getting a history lesson, a geography lesson, and honestly, a bit of a reality check about how small we all are out here.

If you ever get the chance to make this drive, do it.

Take your time, pull over constantly, and don't let a little rain stop you.

On the Oregon coast that's just part of the deal.