Drift Creek Falls & Suspension Bridge

The beautiful Oregon Coast is filled with spectacular hikes and scenery and activities. You can see a lot if you're driving along the coast route of Highway #101, but to really experience the beauty of nature, you must get out of your car and explore.

No matter what season, a wonderful hike with spectacular views and an amazing payoff is the Drift Creek Falls Trail and suspension bridge.. A fairly easy 3 mile round trip hike through lush forest. You'll then find yourself on a 240 foot suspension bridge, 100 feet above Drift Creek. The suspension bridge is the longest suspension bridge in Oregon. Never fear, the bridge barely moves under you and can hold a massive amount of weight! After crossing the bridge, you can take a short hike down to the pool bed. In the summer, you might even want to take a swim!

Directions from Sandlake Country Inn:

• Go south on #101 from Pacific City
• Take #18 east from Lincoln City.
• About 4 miles on #18 you will see a brown park sign for Drift Creek Falls. Turn Left onto the side road.
• Drive 9 miles to the paved parking lot and well marked trailhead.

Please note: You’ll need a $5 Northwest Forest Pass, which can be purchased at http://www.fs.fed.us/r6/passespermits/index.shtml 

Drift Creek Falls & Suspension Bridge    Photo by Dee Brausch

Click below to view the wonderful video from Grant's Getaways

Grant's Getaways - Drift Creek Trail from Travel Oregon on Vimeo.

Diane Emineth

Sandlake Country Inn

Your Romantic Getaway on the Beautiful Oregon Coast

Vegan Breakfasts at Sandlake Country Inn

Breakfast might be "chef's choice" (me), but we always take into consideration dietary issues and are quite comfortable doing vegetarian, vegan, gluten free, non-dairy and lactose intolerant, etc. breakfasts. Don't worry, if you don't have any dietary restrictions, we'll make you our normal breakfast!

Here is my favorite recipe that everyone loves and you would never know it's vegan! The recipe has no animal products of any kind. Try it, you'll love it!

Sandlake Country Inn Vegan Pumpkin Bread

Prep Time: 20 minutes/cooking time 1 hr 15 minutes/makes (2) 8"x4" loaves

INGREDIENTS:
1 cup chopped walnuts
3 1/2 cups all purpose flour
2 cups packed dark brown sugar
2/3 cup white sugar
2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon fresh ground nutmeg
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
2 cups pumpkin puree
1 cup vegetable oil
2/3 cup coconut milk
2/3 cup flaked coconut

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and sugar (just use sugar to line the pan instead of the typical flour) two 8"x4" loaf pans.
2. Spread walnuts in a single layer on an ungreased baking sheet. Toast in the preheated oven for 8 to 10 minutes or until lightly browned. Set aside to cool.
3. In a large bowl, stir together the flour, brown sugar, white sugar, baking soda, salt nutmeg and cinnamon. Add the pumpkin puree, oil and coconut milk and mix until all of the flour is absorbed. Fold in the flaked coconut and toasted walnuts. Divide the batter evenly between the prepared pans.
4. Bake for 1 hour and 15 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Remove from oven and cover loaves tightly with foil. Allow to steam for 10 minutes. Remove foil and turn out onto a cooling rack. Tent loosely with the foil and allow to cool completely.

Diane Emineth
Sandlake Country Inn
503-965-6745
"Your romantic getaway on the beautiful Oregon coast".
 

National Hot Breakfast Month

Bet you didn't know that February has been named National Hot Breakfast Month! Here at Sandlake Country Inn, everyday we celebrate a hot breakfast.

Apple Pie French Toast Bake

Here's what our guests woke up to yesterday. Our breakfast delivered to their door was:  fresh fruit with vanilla yogurt, Diane's homemade granola & milk, sausage links (vegetarian sausage patties for our vegetarian guests) and apple pie French toast bake. Of course, we also delivered Ron's home roasted coffee, tea &/or hot chocolate.

What a way to start your day! Come stay with us and you can celebrate the most important meal of the without ever getting out of your robe and slippers.

Approximately 60% of Americans each day never eat a hot breakfast. Maybe that's why the Jimmy Dean Sausage folks created National Hot Breakfast Month. You don't have to be a sausage eater to enjoy a hot breakfast. We can prepare a vegetarian, gluten free, vegan, low carb special breakfast for those who have dietary restrictions or food allergies. Just let us know when making your reservation with us and we'll work around most any dietary issues.  

Diane Emineth
Sandlake Country Inn
503-965-6745
Your Romantic Getaway on the Oregon Coast near Pacific City, Oregon

Your Oregon Coast Bed and Breakfast Just Got A Little More Green

They've finally arrived. Our new Sandlake Country Inn environmentally friendly water bottles! Now our "Certified Green" Oregon Coast bed and breakfast just got a little more green!

For years, we've been supplying our guests with store bought plastic water bottles for their convenience. We've always told our guests that after they drink the water in those plastic bottles, just fill them up with our wonderful spring water right from the tap. We would then recycle the used bottles. Getting our own water bottles has been something I've wanted to do for a long time, but other projects seemed to take over. Not anymore!

Each room at Sandlake Country Inn is now provided with 2 sanitized personal water bottles for your use during your stay. We opted to have clips on our bottles so you can take them with you on hikes and day trips. Our tap water is wonderful spring water. Our spring is located on Nature Conservancy land (originally part of the original homestead here) and we gravity feed it to our pump house. As a small water system, we are required to report to the Health Department and the State has us inject a very small amount of chlorine for safety. Our water is tested 5 times a year to ensure the quality. We've always had wonderful, clean fresh water for our guests. It just doesn't get any fresher than that!


Diane Emineth
Sandlake Country Inn 
 "Your Romantic Oregon Coast Getaway, near Pacific City Oregon"

Oregon's Inspected and Approved Bed and Breakfasts

All B&Bs are not alike. That's one of the great things about B&B, but it's also what makes choosing just the right one for each traveler a challenge. When making your decision on where to book, we suggest that you choose a member of the Oregon Bed and Breakfast Guild which has been inspected and approved and follows the Guild's Standards and Ethics.

Did you know that in the State of Oregon a bed and breakfast with 2 or less rooms are not required to meet any state or county standards?! There is no inspection by county health departments, no food handlers training or permit is required and no entity checks to see if there is even any commercial liability insurance to protect you if you are injured on their property. If they have their own private water system, no county or state agency is checking to see if the water supply is safe.

You never have to worry about any of that when choosing a B&B that is a member of the Oregon Bed and Breakfast Guild! The member inns of the Oregon Bed and Breakfast Guild (OBBG) have all been inspected and approved by OBBG and even it's small 1 or 2 bedroom B&B members meet state standards and more importantly, OBBG standards which are even higher than the state in many cases!

Here at Sandlake Country Inn we have been proud members of OBBG for more than 15 years and are also licensed and inspected by not only OBBG, but also our county health department twice a year with surprise inspections. Sandlake Country Inn has also been certified "Green" by the OBBG Green Inspected Program.

When making your choice of where to stay, choosing a B&B is a great choice, and choosing an Inspected and Approved Oregon Bed and Breakfast is is not only a great choice, but you can rest assured that you'll be healthy and safe too!

Diane Emineth
Sandlake Country Inn 
8505 Galloway Rd
Cloverdale, OR 97112
"Your Romantic Getaway near Pacific City Oregon"

Whale Watching on the Oregon Coast

It's that time of year again! It's time to bundle up and get on the Oregon Coast beaches to whale watch! The whales have started their migration south to Baja. The official start of the Oregon Coast Winter Whale Watch Week is Sunday, Dec 25, 2011 - Jan 1, 2012. During Whale Watching Week, volunteers will be at selected locations to give you information about the whales, their migration and help with spotting. This program is Whale Spoken Here.

Photo: Oregon State University Marine Mammal Program

An estimated 18,000 gray whales will start their long journey along the Oregon Coast to their breeding grounds in lagoons in Baja, Mexico. Located within just a few minutes of Sandlake Country Inn are 3 excellent Whale Spoken Here spots. On the map below, they are numbers 4, 5 & 6. Many more Oregon coast whale watching sites are within an easy 1 1/2 hour drive (locations 2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,& 14).

Best Watching Sites and Times
Winter Whales - Southbound Winter Whale Watching Week - Sun, Dec 26, 2010- Sat., Jan 1, 2011 from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Trained volunteers will be present at the 26 sites listed on the map (right) to show visitors the gray whales. This is not the only time you can see the whales. About 18,000 gray whales will pass by in about 4 weeks, from mid-December to mid-January. The same locations are still great viewing spots. The main body of whales is about 5 mile off shore, but some can be seen as close as 1-2 miles off shore. During the southern migration whales seldom stop to eat, but travel steadily to the Baja lagoons of Mexico. Spring Whales - Northbound Spring Whale Watching Week - Sat., March 19 - Sat., March 26, 2011 from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Trained volunteers will be present at the 26 sites on the map (right) to show visitors the gray whales. This is not the only time you can see the whales. About 18,000 whales will pass by our coast during March, April, May and June on their way to Alaska's Bering Sea. Juveniles pass first followed by adults. Last are the mothers and babies. Many of them come close to shore feeding on Oregon's great food supply. In April and May you may be able to see mothers and calves resting in protected coves close to shore. We see this quite often from the Whale Center. The same locations on the map are still great viewing spots. Summer Whales There are about 200-400 gray whales that do not go as far north as Alaska to feed in the summer. We generally have feeding whales on the central coast from July through October. These whales are very close to shore while feeding and can often be seen from many of the same locations on the map.

Diane & Ron Emineth
Sandlake Country Inn
 8505 Galloway Rd
Cloverdale, OR 97112 (near Pacific City)

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Nestucca Bay Wildlife Refuge

What a great time of year to explore south Tillamook County and the Nestucca Bay Wildlife Refuge. All year long, wildlife abound in our area, but fall and spring are especially wonderful for birders to view the migrations of an abundance of species.

Once again, Grant McOmie along with Travel Oregon has produced a beautiful and informative video of our unique area. Grant's Getaway features the Nestucca Bay Wildlife Refuge and Little Nestucca River using  Kayak Tillamook which has guided tours for all levels of ability. Never been in a kayak? No worries, Kayak Tillamook will teach you everything you need to know and provide all the equipment.



Nestucca Bay Wildlife Refuge can also be reached by car. It's located just south of Pacific City off #101 on Christenson Rd. To really appreciate the beauty of the area around Sandlake Country Inn, you need to be able to take your time, get out of your car and get a little physical. After your outing, you can come back to your comfortable room, sooth your tired muscles in your room's jacuzzi tub and maybe even have your dinner delivered to your room.

We look forward to helping you with your adventure!

Diane Emineth
Sandake Country Inn