5/8/05 to 5/13/05
We left with the weather cloudy but as we traveled along we saw more and more beautiful sunshine. The Oregon coast line is spectacular with large rocky peaks in and near the coast. It is picture perfect country. We crossed the highest bridge in Oregon. The gorge below was spectacular. We sill sure be glad when we have a camera again.
The mountains we pass through are completely covered with trees a lush green. We are seeing very few wild flowers. We just heard on the radio it is supposed to rain today. with snow in the upper elevations however the sun is shining now with beautiful clouds. We have passed through an area with a small town that looks like it could be a small town in Kansas. Logging is a big resource in Oregon and in Coos Bay we saw a very large ship that is used to transport logs overseas. As we got closer to our destination we saw miles and miles of sand dunes along the coast. The dunes run along the coast for about 50 miles. It is a big tourist attraction here. We are staying at Lakeshore RV Park which is three miles south of Florence, Or. We will be staying here for one week. Florence has a lovely renovated downtown right next to the river with a wharf there. We walked around the shops and along the wharf and enjoyed the nice sunny afternoon. The next day it began raining and rained off and on the rest of the time we were at this campground.
We needed to pick up our mail and buy some groceries so we ignored the rain. Wednesday we took a side trip to Coos Bay, Or. This is a small town that originally was founded around coal mines. Now it is a logging area. We saw many logging trucks on the highways. There is a very large ship docked that is being loaded with logs. Also there are many huge piles of logs waiting to be loaded. There is no waste byproduct with this wood. Every part of the tree is sold for some purpose. We made a trip down to the beach in Coos Bay which seems to be used mostly for 4-wheelers. The sand dunes are right up next to the beach. The sand dunes start here at Coos Bay and run all the way up the coast past Florence which is about 50 + miles. On Thursday we went north to an area where sea lions congregate in cave like areas in the bluffs. We were able to see one small one in the water and a couple sunning on a rock. We also took some pictures of the Heceta Light House. This is supposedly the most photographed light house in the US. Today was a beautiful day and we enjoyed the beauty. Friday we took a side trip to an Aquarium in Newport. On the way we stopped by a couple of beaches along the way. Each was very different. One had lots of large rocks and the other was nothing but sand. The aquarium was a great place to visit. The fish and creatures that live in the sea are certainly more colorful than those on land with such bright colors and unusual shapes. It was amazing to us.