Sunday 18 August – sunny and 17 Celsius. We left at 8:15 in the morning to head to Florence, Oregon. We decided to stay at Heceta Beach RV campground and we were given site one. It’s a really nice site in the corner in the very back and it’s pretty private. It was a back-in treed site.
We set up and left and did the scenic drive to Newport, we didn’t get there because it was not very scenic and we were bored so we ended up driving just past Yachats. We did stop here and there to take photos before we got to Yachats. We only saw a little bit of the coast the rest was mostly trees. We did see some seals and some birds.
Anyways, we got to Yachats and stopped at the Yachats brewery. We sat at a high table facing the outside. I had a hummus plate and Clint had an Apple Beet Ginger soup. Really cute place and the food was great. The beer was okay.
The town itself was really cute too. We drove around a bit to see the scenery.
Headed back to Florence and we stopped in at the Florence Visitor Center and the lady there loved to talk. She kept us talking for quite some time. We didn’t realize that Florence has a really cute downtown by the water with stores and restaurants. Home for dinner.
Monday 19 August – sunny 22 Celsius. We went to the dunes and sat and watched the buggies driving around the dunes. There is 40 miles of dunescape on Highway 101. Pretty neat place and the dunes are really high.
Then we walked down to rock break wall and saw a seal, pelicans, ospreys and surfers. This was a neat place to walk out on. Lots to see and photograph.
Left and drove the other way to Gardiner. We drove just past the elk viewing area on the way. We saw two elk but they were way in the back of the field. Not very close to us at all and not good enough to take pictures. We also saw an egret in the water there. We got to Gardiner and stopped for a coffee and a piece of pie. We decided to head back and see if we could see some elk. On the way back, we stopped at the same spot, a drive off area, and there was one elk very close to the parking lot. We spent a long time there photographing. The lighting was, unfortunately, not good.
A few random photos.
We got back to Florence and decided to walk down by that area by the water. Really cute little place. We stopped in at a distillery called Stillwagon and the lady there was really nice. We tried a couple of the liquors but didn’t buy any. I don’t drink liquor, which I imagine is pretty obvious if you read my Blog, breweries are my thing.
Tuesday 20 August – cloudy and 20 Celsius. Went for breakfast in Florence but I don’t remember the name of the place. I do remember we sat by a window and could see the river. Nice spot.
Off to play mini putt and Clint won by one point. It was a nice little course. They also had sand buggy rides and water boats and go karts.
We decided to head down to the Sea Lion Caves. It was $11 each to get in. Now I have to say, this is not a zoo, sanctuary or anything else. There is a cave that the Sea Lions like to winter in but they come and go as they please out to the ocean.
After you pay for your ticket in the building, you go down some stairs and down a path then to an elevator. The elevator went down some more. When you get off the elevator, you are in a big cave and there is a viewpoint to see the Sea Lion cave but it’s all fenced in. Unfortunately the sea lions had left the cave a week ago. They only winter in the cave.
So we walked up a few stairs at the other end and had a good view of the outside at a viewing area and saw lots of birds. We saw seagulls and their babies and cormorants and their babies and also some different colored pigeons. I found out they were called Guillemette Pigeons. At first glance they look a little like a puffin ! We stayed there a very long time taking photos.
As we were standing, way up high, looking down, I saw this seagull and his dead friend. I don’t know why it bothered me. The whole time we were there, at least an hour, maybe longer, he just sat by his little friend.
Then we went back up the elevator and we could see saw the Sea Lions in the ocean from the trail.
We walked along the trail which ran along the coast for a bit and then headed back. It was a nice day.
Tomorrow we are off to McMinnville, Oregon; we are going to see the Spruce Goose.
Trums Travels 