Whalen Island Camp Ground in Tillamook County, Oregon

On August 1st we set off on a camping adventure with "Rocinante" (our mini motor home), Danny Boy (our min pin) and Dilly Boy (an adorable Munchkin doll created by the very talented Maddy Rose of Santa and the Mrs).   The first two nights we spent in Whalen Island Campground ...

Located just 4.5 miles north of Pacific City on the 3 Capes Scenic Loop.  Whalen Island is an 8-acre overnight campground and is surrounded on three sides by the Sand Lake Estuary and abuts an Oregon State Park Natural Area of 200 acre. Shore birds and Bald Eagles are common sights.  Park facilities consist of 34 campsites (no hookups), but does have dump station, rest rooms, fishing, crabbing, clamming, boat launch, swimming and hiking.

Over the course of the next several days I will be posting photos we took at each of the four campgrounds we visited.  Here are some photos from our stay at Whalen Island.

These are photos of "Rocinante" safely nestled into our campsite.  We've set up the kitchen area on the picnic table and are ready to sit around the campfire and enjoy the evening.

This is Dilly Boy, he is welcoming you to our site ... he really likes our camping sunflowers!

Here, Dilly Boy is showing off his favorite of my camping cookware ... our Mickey Mouse water pot, we use it to boil water for our drip coffee maker (a real necessity in the early morning!).

Now you may think this is an ordinary roasting pan ... but it is much more!  This is our dishwater pan!  We put in 2 gallons of water, heat it on the stove, add dish soap and voila! hot water for washing the dishes!  The lid helps keep the water warm and the bugs, leafs and pine needles out ...  we have a 5 gallon water dispenser which we use to rinse the dishes.

Here is Dilly Boy reminding me that I promised to make up ham and waffles for breakfast.  He is really a big fan of boysenberry syrup!

Here is Danny Boy, he is not a big fan of camping ... he is truly a city dog!  Here he is asking "Just how long do I have to endure this torture?".  He doesn't like water, detests fluffy sand, and gets downright upset when the bugs show up!  He does enjoy riding in the car on my lap and looking out the window ... or maybe its because everytime we get into the motor home he thinks we are finally going home?

The following are some random photos I took of the area ....

Where you see the large pieces of driftwood is the entrance to the beach.

This is another view looking at the ocean inlet.

This area has a few campsites for bicyclists and hikers.  They have great views of the ocean inlet's incoming and outgoing tides.  When the tides are low it is relatively easy to find a meal of cockles hiding in the sandy bed.  You walk out into the water with your feet bare and whenever you walk over something that feels like a round rock, you reach down and pick it up and it is usually a cockle!  They are really great in clam chowder or make a super tasty clam fritter.

Here is a view of some of the local trees and foliage.

 

The campground has sites that are in treed areas and others in open areas, the open area sites provide an open grassy area that is great for playing games like volley ball, badmitton, bocci ball, or for jumping into the water with a floatation device.

 This is an aerial view of the campground that I was able to find on the internet.

Tomorrow I will be sharing photos taken during our time at Hebo Lake Camp Ground on Mt. Hebo in Tillamook County, Oregon.

Happy Day!

Karen Anne