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| New Sisters-in-law |
We detoured inland to Eugene for four nights to visit again with Scott Clark (the youngest of the three) and his new bride, Judy deGrandpre. We told a lot of stories and one of us drank a lot of wine :) Oh, you remembered that I was on a diet? Yes, sometimes celebrations with new family BFFs call for libations as well. Jeff shot antique rifles with Scott, Evan and Marshall's girlfriend, Katie. Scott and Judy entertained us by making dinner together and Jeff and I even hosted a dinner at our place. We really enjoyed our time there.
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| South Tree Island |
Back in Florence we energetically tackled a one and a half hour hike through the sand dunes. The Oregon Dunes National Recreational Area is found in the Siuslaw National Forest and is another gem to visit along the coast. This is one of the largest expanses of temperate coastal dunes in the world! We found them mesmerizing - like something in an Indiana Jones movie - without the snakes!
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| Approximate out and back route |
I have drawn a very simplistic sketch of our path through the sand dunes and back. In fact, we 'serpentined' quite a bit more than I have depicted here with my limited drawing capabilities. It is impossible to go straight anywhere and the dunes were quite high, so the best path was not the shortest but the flattest. I learned to follow behind Jeff in his exact footsteps in order to use the 'ladders' that he created in the sand. The entrance to the dunes was literally at the back of our campsite and we were thankful to make it home just as the rains started in. We have been very lucky with our weather, but had just run into 3 days of rain. On this day, we even got some very tiny hail, but not enough to cause any damage.
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| tracks in the sand |
Of course, we weren't the only ones out there, just the only ones walking. Even though it was cold and the storm was imminent, there were several groups of dune buggies out enjoying the park. The sand comes from the Coast Mountain Range which was uplifted 12 million years ago. Then, as rocks tumbled downstream to the ocean, they ground themselves into sand. The area of the Oregon Coast from Florence to Coos Bay is devoid of the steep headlands that we have seen in the north, so over thousands of years, the tide and strong winds have blown the sand inland. The result is a lunar landscape that stretches about 60 miles south from Florence to Coos Bay.
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| One (I) could EASILY get lost here! |
Like breadcrumbs, we followed our footsteps exactly back from whence we came. When we turned north in a straight path at the ocean side of the dunes, I drew a big arrow for us to make sure we didn't miss our path on the way home...and that's why they call me "compass" :)
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| All is well that Ends well! |
Our next stop was Coos Bay and we had another amazing campsite - this may now be my favorite. We could see the waves breaking through the trees from inside Betty. As you see, we had privacy and didn't even have to pull our shades at night. In fact, we got lucky in many ways with this site. Our first reservation was in the State Park just a few miles south, but when we got there we learned that there were no sewer hookups nor cell signal nor internet. By now, we might be able to live without one or two of these, but not all three. So, we backtracked to the Oceanside Beachfront RV Resort. Jeff proclaimed it his favorite resort because, just like The Double Tree hotel, they give out warm cookies at check in! So, lucky strike number 1 that we were able to get one of the two available sites.
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Sunset Bay State Park
where we almost stayed |
Of course we chose the site closest to the beach and proceeded to park. Now, not to be cocky or anything, but 3 days earlier, we had just executed a perfect reverse 3 point turn in a driveway to avoid a dead-end road. So, we are getting pretty confident with our parking skills. This site seemed pretty straight forward, and when I say straight forward, it was literally a straight backward park job. How hard can that be? Well, according to Jeff, pretty hard! Since I still haven't driven our rig, I have to trust him that it is actually easier to make an S shape while reversing to get the trailer 'just right'. Well.....as he was making what might have been a Capital S when perhaps we only needed a lower case s, he noticed that he could no longer see the 3 foot post on the passenger side of the car? I have never dreamed of having to watch the car in addition to the trailer and couldn't see that side of the car from the back of the trailer. When I walked around...well, let's just say I had a little bit of a fit! The passenger door was literally touching this post, which thank goodness was strategically draped with soft roping. We had barely touched the roping - only enough to wipe the dust off the car. Another inch and we would have damaged the door panel. Lucky strike number 2 and I'm not hoping for a 3rd near miss!
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Our beach and Parking Reward
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| More Abstract Art |
There was a really nice town in Coos Bay (the name of the general area) called North Bend that we shopped and enjoyed. We were actually staying in Charleston just south of the big city. Charleston is basically a fishing village just north of the state parks in the area. Oysters and other shell fish are a big deal all along the coast as evidenced by the ginormous piles of shells left bleaching in the sun exactly where they have been pulled off the boats. Now that is fresh!
We learned that if you continue south on this county road, you get to see many wonderful views in the state park of the pristine coastline.
We wondered how it could be any more beautiful? Would we see anything as gorgeous and wild when we eventually crossed the border into California?
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| Flat volcanic slab under the Sandstone |
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| A Lighthouse off in the Distance |
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| Look carefully in front of the large rock on the left and you will see a colony of Sea Lions of all types and sizes! |
On one of our full days in Charleston, we decided to drive south to Bandon so we could spend some time in another little town without having to bring the whole rig with us. Bandon had a really well preserved Old Town where we lunched at the local brewery and then walked the main two streets to see what we could see.
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| Tula the Turtle |
Our favorite attraction was Angela Pozzi's Washed Ashore Project housed in a working display gallery. Motivated by the massive amount of plastic pollution found on the very beautiful southern Oregon shores, she decided to take matters into her own hands. She enlisted the help of hundreds of local volunteers to clean up the beaches and then used the debris to create bigger than life sculptures of the sea animals most affected by the pollution. Washed Ashore is a traveling exhibit meant for education and awareness of the damage that humans are doing to our oceans and their wildlife. As Paula says, Styrofoam is the Devil himself!
On our last evening in Charleston, we walked out to the beach one final time and were amazed to see a SUP'er coming in for the day, or was it only 5 min? The water can't be more than 50 degrees and this guy thinks this is fun? Of course he wore a wet suit, but I still can't imagine the allure!
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| Secret Cove |
We also found a hidden beach accessible only at low tide. It was thrilling to go out on the rocky outcropping to take a sneak peek. Sally and Betty are literally parked just on the other side on the left about where the rocks start turning to face the sea.
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| Gorgeous Blue Water |
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| Our beach at Sunset |
On our last evening in Charleston, we walked out to the beach one final time and were amazed to see a SUP'er coming in for the day, or was it only 5 min? The water can't be more than 50 degrees and this guy thinks this is fun? Of course he wore a wet suit, but I still can't imagine the allure!
