Tillamook Air Museum from distance.

The University of Oregon geographer Sam Dicken opened his 1950 Oregon Geography with an aerial tour of the Oregon Coast. Upon reading that some 35 years ago, I was smitten with the notion of flying down the coast, from north to south. Instead, I have settled for the front seat of a car.

If you drive from Astoria to Coos Bay, you don’t necessarily see the coastline. But you gain a view of the changing natural and built environments as you move from Clatsop to Tillamook to Lincoln, to Lane and Coos counties.

A week ago, my wife and I spent the weekend driving from Astoria to Coos Bay. We would stay with my cousin John and his wife, Ruth, and they would show us the south coast’s newest big attraction.

Cows, cows, boats and boats would sum up the Tillamook County segment of our drive. Starting with Nehalem Bay, the water was thick with boats — a small armada really. And in the fields that straddle U.S. Highway 101, cows abounded. Entering Tillamook, the end point for all of those cows’ milk loomed — the Tillamook Creamery, one of Oregon’s biggest tourist attractions.

Tillamook’s other eye-popping roadside attraction is the gigantic blimp hangar, an artifact of World War II.

Cloverdale is charming. At roadside, we observed a home that was completely ensconced in ivy. Only the house’s front door was apparent. I wondered whether someone lived there, and was he some sort of gnome?

Lincoln City announces itself with traffic. Just to its north is the feeder highway from Portland and Salem.

We stopped at the south end of Lincoln City to play the Salishan Golf Course. It is a lovely piece of ground, but the first fairway skirts Highway 101. The first few holes, as we climbed a hill, were akin to an urban golf experience with the roar of cars and an occasional siren.

Salishan – the iconic coastal resort – is in the hands of a receiver. When I attempted to make a reservation, an officious gatekeeper blocked the way. Instead we stayed at the Inn at Spanish Head, which is like being on the top deck of a giant ocean liner. The sweeping ocean view is like none other.

Coos County has been home to generations of our family. Even though I was 4 years old when our family decamped for Pendleton, sentiment tugs at me when we cross the big beautiful bridge and enter North Bend.

The good news is that Coos Bay is coming back. The town looks much better than it did on our prior visit. It has a new railroad museum. A new county historical museum is about to open. The Egyptian Theater has been restored.

Months ago, my cousin John made arrangements for us to play one of the Bandon Dunes golf courses. This was like a trip to paradise. We played the original course.

There is an aesthetic about Bandon Dunes that seems Japanese in its restraint. Whoever plotted the course followed where nature led. The juxtaposition of ocean and fairways is dramatic and intimidating.

There are no motorized carts. Thus the place is quiet. Cart paths do not slice into fairways, and the owners saved themselves infrastructure.

Driving north on Tuesday, we shopped Lincoln City for a lunch spot. Black Fish, where we had enjoyed dinner on Saturday, was not open. So we stopped at Maxwell’s, at a corner on Hwy. 101. Service was terrific, but the culinary offering was essentially tasteless. It occurred to me that food of this quality could not survive in Astoria. It also was greatly at odds with the blooming of restaurants elsewhere on 101 such as Black Fish or Ona’s in Yachats, where we had a delightful Sunday lunch while gazing at an expansive cove.

— S.A.F.

The aesthetic of the original Bandon Dunes golf course seems Japanese in its restraint