Florence, Oregon

Growing older isn't all it's cracked up to be! Jim helped Scotty put the bike rack on their car and managed to pull a muscle in his back. Still we drove the 78 miles to Florence and once set up Jim laid down on the bed.

Little while later Anne comes over and says lets explore! So we headed into town Monday afternoon to check it out. As we wandered the town it began to get colder and grayer. We decided to have dinner at Mo's. Right on the water and good seafood. The beer was pretty good too!

Back home I fed Boo, then we showered and we settled in for night. Both of us were tired, Jim was really sore and I was uncomfortable. My back has been acting up and I haven't been exercising as much as I should. Jim and I both had a rough night sleeping so yesterday was a wash out.

I let Jim sleep and he didn't get up until 1000. Anne and Scotty managed to entertain themselves while we just stayed home to rest. I ended up napping but it wasn't very restful. All in all a bad day!

Today I'm 90% better but Jim still has a hitch in his get along, if you know what I mean. We'll live but we could do without the pain!

After lunch we headed out to hit the beach. we wanted to see the ocean and the sand dunes. So Scotty drove and we headed south to Winchester Bay

Where we found sand dunes and the beach. :)

This was neat....sat behind some driftwood and shot the waves washing ashore.

Anne and I walked the beach while the guys went in search for dune buggies. As we we walking back Jim called but I missed the call so I tried to call him back but got Dave instead! Meanwhile Anne was talking to Jim on her phone! It's noisy on the beach and I talked to our friend Dave for a bit while Anne talked to Jim. Confused? I dialed Dave by mistake and Jim had called to tell us they were waiting. Anyhoo we walked back to the car and walking back up the dune was more difficult than we remembered. We were struggling with the sand and laughing at the fact that it was so difficult. I worked myself into a sweat! Oh, did I mention how cold and windy it was on the beach? We were walking against the wind on the return trip and we were wearing a jacket. Whew after all that hiking Anne and I were hungry!

We drove through the marina and stopped and looked at the campers and boats. Then we headed back north and home. But first we stopped at Don's Diner in Reedsport for a bite to eat. Oh my, we all had great food and then we had pie for dessert and we left stuffed. The pie slices were huge and delicious, I had peanut butter fudge pie. I'd never had it before and I probably won't have it again. But it sure was good.

Tomorrow we're heading north to Tillamook.

Hope our friends in Mission, Texas manage to get through the night safe and sound. Hurricane Alex sure is dumping a lot of rain on the Rio Grande Valley.

North Umpqua River

Today we hiked, climbed on rocks and saw some incredible, gorgeous sights.

Miss Anne heading for the water!

And boy, was the water beautiful!

Rushing water, cold and clear

Fall Creek Falls Trail. Lots of moss, ferns and magical places. the trail follows the water up to the falls. At one point you have to pass through a crevice in the rocks. For some reason we didn't take a picture of it

this gnarly tree was covered with moss and in the sunlight looked really cool

Fall Creek Falls

Oakland, Oregon

As soon as I made my coffee yesterday I started cooking the beans for bean soup. They had soaked all night and were ready. After having my morning coffee I went for a 2.5 mile walk! It's cool in the mornings and I wear a jacket but there isn't any wind so the walk is pleasant.





After Jim got up I dug out the crock pot and assembled the soup ingredients and put it on to cook all day. Soon the house was smelling good!





Everyone stayed busy during the morning doing those chores that had been put off. Jim got the front cap all cleaned and did some cleaning on the truck. I know Anne and Scotty worked on their car, inside and out. I took a stack of magazines to the clubhouse and found the series of books that Scotty is reading. So on the return trip I told him about them. Jim wandered down and we all made plans to go into Historic Oakland after lunch.





Since it was after 1100 Jim and I had lunch, then changed for the road trip. Since we were driving we headed to the Scott's and they were still working! :) And they hadn't eaten so we waited while they grabbed a bite to eat and got ready.





Oakland is only three miles up the road. I didn't take any pictures but if you check this web site http://www.makewebs.com/oakland/ you can read about it and see the old buildings. The hardware store was fun for all of us and the Museum was small but packed with all sorts of interesting displays and information.





We stopped in at Tolly's where there is a soda fountain and good food to be had. We ladies had coffee along with whoopie pies and Jim had a banana split while Scotty enjoyed a cold beer.

Back home we just snoozed, played games or read books until dinner time. Anne made some corn muffins to go with the soup and we sat outside on their patio to eat.



I Think these critters wanted to join us!

They were wandering around nibbling on the local plants. We've been instructed not to feed them, but I haven't seen the residents shoo them off either.

After cleaning up the kitchen I showered and then so did Jim. We spent the evening on our computers. I turned on the tv around 2100 to see what was on PBS and we watched a harp competition. In bed around 2200 and slept with the fan blowing and a window cracked.

Oregon

Monday we left Klamath, California driving north on Highway 101. We ran in and out of coastal fog and a couple time we drove right along the coast and the views were fantastic! We then headed inland to drive Highway 199 taking us through more Redwood forests. The trees started to change and lo and behold we were in Oregon

Highway 199 travels along the Smith River and it has some breathtaking sights.

As you can see from these two pictures the trees are different. But beautiful just the same.

We arrived at Timber Valley SKP Park in Sutherlin, Oregon around 1500. It didn't take long to set up and within an hour we saw jack rabbits and deer. The brochure says we can't feed the wildlife. :(

Jim and I went out to dinner and had a pretty good meal of Mexican food.

Tuesday I started my day early again so I decided to go for a walk and did a mile and a half. The resort is easy to walk with some inclines that aren't difficult to navigate. Got my heart pumping and that's good for an aerobic workout.

Yesterday we drove into Roseburg to get groceries and along the way we stopped at a fish viewing area. WOW!

This is the dam on the Umpqua River in Roseburg

this is the fish ladder. there are 5 jumps for the fish to navigate and the ladder takes them by the viewing windows.

They don't really hold still for pictures but you can see the fish in this shot. some of them would have made a mighty fine dinner!

Last night we had dinner with the Scott's and made plans for the upcoming 4th of July weekend. We also discussed the fact that it's time to start our trek back to Texas. So we'll be heading east soon.

Klamath Beach

Yesterday we went to Klamath Beach, it's a huge spit of land covered with driftwood, rocks of all sizes and seals! We strolled along the Pacific side and nearly froze our left ears off! The wind was fierce!

Anne took this picture of Jim by the tree stump. I can't imagine how it got out to sea then spit back up on land to become 'drift wood'.

One of the Sister Rocks that guards the entrance to the river

it is chock full of wild flowers and succulents

As we strolled along the beach we picked up pieces of driftwood for Anne to possibly carve or use with her carvings. Jim and I decided to get out of the wind and walk back towards the car on the river side of this sand peninsula. it got us out of the wind for awhile. We watched a couple casting a net and learned later from Anne that they caught a big salmon.

We found this piece of drift wood on the river side of the peninsula and it's chock full of plant life on the protected side away from the wind.

as we came around one bend I saw movement down the beach. With my binoculars I discovered seals! About 15-20 of them. As we got closer up would pop their heads, a few here, a few there. Jim got as close as he could to take these pictures

the closer we got a few would slip into the water

then there was a mad dash as Jim invaded their space!

soon all we could see were heads bobbing in the water!

We worked up an appetite and once back at the car the four of us decided to head to Subway to get sandwiches. Back home we sat outside in the sunshine and had our lunch.

Why is it the best entertainment is free? We all had a good time walking the beach and enjoying the sounds of the surf and wind.

Jim watched some golf while I napped. Sonsearae called to wish Jim a Happy Father's Day. It was nice to hear her voice.

Dinner was macaroni and cheese (Anne made it), ham and peas and carrots. A bottle of wine and dinner was perfect! After dinner we all did some packing up as we're heading to Sutherlin, Oregon today.

Trees Of Mystery

Saturday we spent a wonderful, enchanting afternoon at Trees of Mystery. First thing after Jim got up he and Scotty worked on our hot water heater. We developed an annoying hum and Scotty fixed it! An O ring had deteriorated and air was getting in the line.

Yes, it's a tourist place and on a Saturday afternoon we thought we'd have hoards of people to contend with. But it wasn't like that. After we admired Paul Bunyan and Babe we entered and proceeded to be awed!

Our traveling companions, Scotty and Anne

Cathedral Trees, where they do perform marriages!

Halfway through the trail there is a gondola ride to the top of the mountain

Where you are treated to this view of the Pacific Ocean

This part of the trail had some logging and it's amazing to see the trees recover from such a drastic, traumatic event. The trees are continuously sending out shoots and limbs

a root ball

Can you see the three trees growing on this tree limb? The redwoods have families!

small flowers can be found amongst the redwood giants

the last part of the trail has carvings

This grizzly mom and cub are huge!

We all agreed that we could have spent more time exploring! There are alot more pictures posted on Facebook. If you want to see them but don't belong to Facebook, let me know and I'll send them to you.

Beef Stew kind of weather

Yesterday I was up at 0715 after sleeping soundly all night. The temperature dipped into the upper 40's and with all the windows closed we slept well under the comforter. Jim got up around 0815 about the time the sun broke through the fog and mist. Sure was pretty to see.

When we checked in they said there was a bear visiting the dumpster. So far no sightings of him.

We spent the morning putzing. A little cleaning, a little maintenance and a little cooking. I made beef stew for our dinner and that helped warm in up inside. So far our daily temperatures have reached the 60's but not much warmer. It's not bad in the sun as long as the wind isn't blowing.

After lunch the four of us headed out to explore.

I took this picture around 1430 and the mist and fog were still hugging the coast

the contrast of the white surf on the grey sand it quite striking. Don't think I'll ever tire of seeing this ocean. Or any ocean!

We drove through more of the Redwood National Park on Newton B. Drury Scenic Parkway ending in Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park. Just gorgeous with huge redwoods. We stopped at Big Tree Wayside and this friendly Steller's Jay popped in to get a bite to eat.

I'm sure we spent 10-15 minutes feeding him and taking pictures. He pitched a fit when we left!

We drove by the Elk Viewing field but no elk :(

Driving back north on highway 101 we hit the city of Klamath and went for a drive through a redwood tree.

Though you can't see her lovely face that is Miss Anne poking through the sun roof. The signs say you can drive a pick up truck through but I don't think our truck with the wide hips would fit!

Since we were on the north side of Klamath river we drove to the observation point on that side. We spent almost an hour there watching birds and fishermen. We are told the whales visit the area but so far no sightings.

Back home we had time for a cup of coffee before dinner. I heated up the stew and we joined Anne and Scotty for dinner. As always we enjoyed ourselves sharing a bottle of wine. Some cookies for dessert and another day with our friends comes to an end.

A quiet evening at home is how we ended the day.


"A friend knows the song in my heart and sings it to me when my memory fails. ~ Donna Roberts"

More pictures of northwest California Coast

Jim took all of these pictures when we went exploring last night after dinner. The sun was very bright as it was sinking into the western skies.
mouth of the Klamath river where it meets the Pacific Ocean....the tide is out

Our friend Dan says this is a wren tit

I'm guessing the sun has washed out the green in these pictures because the vegetation is greener than it shows

Beautiful! imagine a jig saw puzzle made from this

"Climb the mountains and get their good tidings. Nature's peace will flow into you as sunshine flows into trees. The winds will blow their own freshness into you, and the storms their energy, while cares will drop off like autumn leaves. ~ John Muir"