Following our fabulous two hour visit at Heceta Head Lighthouse State Scenic Viewpoint we continued south on U.S. Highway 101. We stopped at several turnouts to take in the stunning views of the Oregon Coast.
Siuslaw National Forest, Florence, Oregon. Photo by Margaret.
Siuslaw National Forest, Florence, Oregon. Photo by Margaret.
We ended up camping for two nights (9th & 10th of Sep 2019) at Alder Dune Campground in Florence. It was very lush, green, and heavily forested. There were 39 campsites separated by natural shrubs, potable water to refill from, and vault toilets. We stayed in campsite #12, which was fairly level and had a picnic table convenient enough to set stuff on.
The following day we drove into the city of Florence, where I spent five hours at the Siuslaw Public Library. Earlier that morning I had irritated my messed up back, and sitting in the uncomfortable chair at the library was excruciatingly painful! While there, I was able to publish a post here to our blog and upload photos to Flickr while in the library. Margaret was waiting out in the Roadtrek with Peaches. We stayed an additional two hours parked outside, where the Wi-Fi signal reached enough to back up our phones and download additional books and movies. Conveniently located around the corner from the library was the post office. Yippee! I was able to mail postcards to my daughter and best friend without driving around looking for a mailbox! We gassed up the Roadtrek and arrived back at camp at 8:00 p.m. Dinner and reclining was all I could think about!
Peaches on a Bridge at Alder Dune Campground. Photo by Margaret.
On the morning of 11 September we left camp and once again headed back into the city of Florence where we hit up the laundromat. With our clean laundry put away, we drove further south to Oregon Dunes National Recreation Area and entered at the South Jetty entrance.
Oregon Dunes National Recreation Area sign. Photo by Virginia.
We spent time exploring the pristine ocean dunes, where it was quite the walk from the parking area to the shore. The sand was extremely rough and deep, but it was worth the hike to experience this unique area (considered "one of the largest expanses of temperate coastal sand dunes in the world"). The temperature was in the high 50s, and the winds picked up to be rather gusty at times; but what a lovely time to take in this gorgeous location. (You can come along for part of the walk and listen to the wind and waves in the short movie below.) It was made even sweeter as we were the only ones there on the beach!
Oregon Dunes National Recreation Area. Photo by Virginia.
Oregon Dunes National Recreation Area. Photo by Margaret.
The Siuslaw River enters the Pacific Ocean just north of where we walked on to the beach; and as is always the case of where rivers flow into the Pacific, it was a powerful image.
Oregon Dunes National Recreation Area. Photo by Margaret.
Oregon Dunes National Recreation Area. Photo by Margaret.
Siuslaw River, Florence, Oregon. Photo by Virginia.
Oregon Dunes National Recreation Area. Photo by Virginia.
Oregon Dunes National Recreation Area. Photo by Virginia.
Oregon Dunes National Recreation Area. Photo by Margaret.
Oregon Dunes National Recreation Area. Photo by Margaret.
Jessie M. Honeyman Memorial State Park Beach. Photo by Margaret.
[If you have trouble viewing this embedded movie, you may view it directly on YouTube here: https://youtu.be/9kDK4WJmjP8]
Once we returned (a wee bit sandy) to the Roadtrek, we headed back into Florence (apparently we loved going into this city!) where we did some grocery shopping at Safeway. I can't recall how we found out about our next campground, but it turned out to be a short but truly lovely stay.
Note: Clicking on the photos in the post will open them in a larger view (recommended!). If you want to see more photos of the beautiful places we've shared, we have them in this Flickr Collection:Over the Hill Sisters Photo Collection.
No comments:
Post a Comment