Official 2012 Oregon Coast Picture Thread
 

Please post up any pics that you took of the trip. Here is a link to all the pics that dane and I took of the first leg of the trip: Seaside 2012 Cobra Trip pictures by jkgreger - Photobucket

Jake,

Those are some really nice pictures. Oregon has a great coast line and some really nice places for pictures. Thanks for sharing them.

Ron :)

Very nice! All good looking cars...

Photos and videos
 

A big thanks to Skip and the NWCC gang for a great trip. For what it's worth here's what I managed to come up with.

NW Cobra Club Coastal Cruise 2012

Day 1

The second annual NW Cobra Club Coastal Cruise was due to launch from the Tacoma/Lakewood area of Washington on Friday. In order to meet the group by 8:00 on Friday morning I decided to buzz up to the Tacoma/Lakewood area on Thursday and stay over.
Given that the forecast temps were supposed to be in the upper 90’s on Thursday I left Portland around 11:00 in order to avoid the hottest part of the day. Leaving at 11 would get me there around 1:00 or 1:30 and would give me a chance to stop by the Lemay Auto Museum and have a look around in air conditioned comfort while waiting for the motel check-in time at 3:00.
As I was passing by Longview on the way up I5 I was mentally reviewing my packing for the trip. While it was forecast to be hot in the valley the coast was calling for typical Oregon summer temps in the 60’s. Mental check list:
Long sleeve T shirt – Check
Sweat shirt – Check
Jeans – Check
Shorts _ I was wearing them already so Check
T-Shirts – Check
Socks, underwear, toiletries – Check
Jacke(s) – I knew I would forget something. Was thinking so much about the heat on the way up to Tacoma/Lakewood I completely forgot about packing any of the 12 or so jackets I have that will cover just about any weather I run into driving the Cobra. A quick stop at Chehalis and $40.00 later I now had 13 jackets to cover any weather I run into driving the Cobra.
The museum was really impressive in the breadth of cars that they have on display. Something for everyone on matter what you vehicular tastes.
Friday dawned sunny and getting warm. Everyone met up at the McDonalds parking lot and got to touch base with the start-up crew. We had seven cars to start with and two more meeting us in Seaside.
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We hit the road and proceeded towards our first scheduled stop in Montesano about 60 miles down the road. About 10 miles west of Olympia we drove into the overcast that would be with us until just north of Astoria. The temps dropped a bunch and everyone was thankful for the planned stop. It was cool enough that I decided that I’d put on my new 13th jacket. Who says you can’t put on a jacket in a Cobra traveling 60 mph and driving with your knees. Piece of cake and never even almost crashed once.
Starting out in the sun
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Driving into the coastal overcast
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The stop in Montesano so everyone could warm up a bit and put on another layer or two. I wimped out and turned my heater on and left it on till Sunday afternoon.
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As we got further south we finally broke out of the overcast and the sky started to clear up a little
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As we neared Astoria we could see the coastal strat hanging just out over the water.
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Still under clearing skies we could see the Astoria Bridge as we came in from the east.
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We stopped at the Dismal Notch Roadside Park just to stretch out legs and hold a small car show for the folks passing by.
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From there it was over the bridge (without leaving anyone on it this year) and into Astoria.
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Did I mention it’s a pretty long bridge?

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Into Astoria and onto another bridge to get out of Astoria and make the sort drop down to Seaside
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By this time traffic was starting to build pretty good and we were in it for the rest of the way into Seaside. Not bad as traffic goes but definitely busy.
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The stay at the Shilo was pleasant and we were warmly welcomed by the staff (“Did you bring in those beautiful cars”?) and, since it was still daylight, most of the guests thought the cars were pretty neat as well. Don’t know what they thought when we cranked up the next morning getting ready to leave. I know I set off at least two car alarms in the garage when I started.

Here’s a short video of the run to Seaside starting out in the sun, going to clouds and then back into the sun again. Typical NW terrain heading west from the valley going to rolling hills and then down into the coastal flats.
NW Coastal Cruise 2012 Day 1 - YouTube

Day 2
 

Day 2
Day 2 started out cloudy and cool but I was O.K. in my lucky number 13 jacket. We were heading down to Tilamook for our first stop of the day so folks could load up on snacks and souvenir cheese for the folks back home.
About ten mile south of seaside my lucky number 13 jacket turned around and bit me in the butt. Ran into some rather wet weather that stayed with us until Tilamook, about 30 miles.
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When we stopped Skip decided to put on his new Factory Five Deluxe top. Looked kind of like an erector set to start with.
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We made a fine bunch of spectators offering all sorts of “helpful” suggestions as he proceeded and a couple of folks even pitched in to get it up.
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Bruce seemed to be enjoying Skips work.
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Once it was on the top looked pretty good and helped down the road.
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As we traveled further south towards Newport and on to Florence the precip made another couple of appearances but traffic was light enough that we were able to keep going and most of it just blew over the top of the windshield. It did however cut down on being able to see the scenery as we traveled down the coast.
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We stopped in Newport for lunch to another mini car show and several offers from folks to by the cars. When the owner of the Newport Café where we stopped for lunch offered to buy one of the cars I think it was Fred who came up with the best answer I’ve heard in a long time. He said the owner could buy the car but had to buy the “whole set”.

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We arrived at the Three Rivers Casino where the front desk remembered us from last year. I think that was a good thing. At least no one got stuck with a room in the basement next to the ice machine.
The rain did take a small toll on the cameras in that the video caught a cold and quit working after Tillamook and the still started acting up the next day. Got the video camera dried out with the room’s hair dryer so all wasn’t lost.
Here’s what I managed to salvage from the run from Seaside to Tillamook.
NW Coastal Cruise 2012 Day 2 - YouTube

Day 3
 

Day 3
Day three dawned cloudy and cool (gee Oregon coast in the summer, who’d a thought) but thankfully dry. Everyone had wiped down their cars the afternoon before so we were all shiny and ready to go.
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As I mentioned my still camera caught a cold the day before but I didn’t know it until we got underway. Only a couple of shots coming up the coast until it quit.

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By way of narrative we came back up the coast as far a Waldport where we shunted off onto Hwy 34 which is a fun little road that follows a river into the Corvalis area. Some kind of neat little twisty patches in between curves in the hills and sweepers in the small valleys and much less traffic than if we’d gone up to Lincoln City and back in on Hwy 18 and 22 as originally planned.
Here’s the video from Florence to Waldport along the coast.
NW Coastal Cruise 2012 Day 3a - YouTube

And from Waldport to Corvallis via 34
NW Coastal Cruise 2012 Day 3b - YouTube

Once we picked up I5 north towards I205 and around Portland it was back to pretty much clear and warm. Off came the jackets and Skip dropped his top. Took less time to take off than to put on.
As we got nearer to Portland I kind of figured that I205 could be a little busy and confused since I5 through Portland was closed for construction. I pulled us off at Wilsonville and cut around the I5 I205 interchange. It avoided about 15 miles of possibly congested freeway and gave everyone a last chance to really turn the steering wheel before they made the long stretch up to Tacoma/Seattle. We had a nice lunch at a local restaurant and I got the mob out another back road to avoid one of the local I205 choke points where it climbs a hill.
Waved so long to the group and headed for the barn.
All in all another really great trip with a great bunch of folks. Don’t know about anyone else but I enjoyed myself immensely and wouldn’t complain if Skip put this together again next year. Hope everyone made it home without incident or problems.
Many thanks to Skip and the rest of the NWCC folks for a most enjoyable trip.

DonC

Great photos and video Don. It was a great trip. I second making Skip in charge of making this a yearly event. So whats the dates for this next year Skip? See everyone again soon.

Thanks Don for sharing those wonderful photos and videos. (I'm still trying to sort out whatever my GoPro took of the trip) Judy and I enjoyed seeing some Oregon and Washington backroads we had never been on before, but most of all we were happy to make a new set of friends. We too would repeat this trip with Skip at the helm! He did a superb job of organizing, and therefore, deserves to lead us again. Safe driving and we hope to see everyone soon.