We spent ten relaxing days at Woahink Lake RV Resort just south of Florence, Oregon. The lake was about a hundred yards one direction and the dunes were about a hundred yards the other direction. We were very comfortable with full amenities and thoroughly enjoyed the area.
The Oregon Dunes stretch north to south for about 40 miles and reach heights near 500 feet. They are a big play ground for All-terrain Vehicle (ATV) folks. The dunes are very photogenic with shifting sand and varying sun angles resulting in new portraits almost every day. We played fetch with our four-legged friend in the dunes at least twice a day. Each time he hit the sand and we let him off the leash, he forgot that he is over 10 years old. It was great watching him run around like a wild dog. He was a happy hund!
The top of our trailer is nearly in the center of the picture.
The weather started out great so we hiked across the dunes to the ocean. It was over 5 miles of tough walking up and over dunes, often through soft sand. Except for just a few ATVers, we had the dunes mostly to ourselves. Staring at the dunes is mesmerizing like watching a fire or a waterfall. It was very peaceful. Arleen couldn’t resist acting like a 5 year old and rolled down a dune! But It took her awhile to get the sand out between her toes and such. We also couldn’t resist sarcastic references to Bear Grylls’ survival tactics about staying hydrated. Those of you familiar with the TV show “Man vs Wild” know what I mean. Thankfully we didn’t have to resort to that desperate hydration method!
We took a day trip north to see Cape Perpetua, Devil’s Churn, Cook’s Chasm, and Heceta Head Lighthouse. We started at Devil’s Churn and hiked about 1.5 miles to Cook’s Chasm. Along this section of the coast are narrow, deep gouges through the rocks. The wave action in these fissures creates constant toilet bowl action. I found the sounds amazing. There were deep whooshing sounds as water rapidly filled or exited, crashing of the waves against the rocks, rocks knocking against each other, and occasional sounds like thunder. It was a bit unnerving standing near the edge while all this was occurring!
Then we drove up to Cape Perpetua. The turn off from Highway 101 is hardly marked. We found it, but nobody else did while we there. We had it to ourselves…just the way we like it! The view from the top of the 800 foot hill is often rated as the best on the Oregon Coast. It is very impressive. A rock shelter sits right on the edge and is a great place to admire the view.
We stopped briefly at a highway pullout to take pictures of Heceta Head Lighthouse. As soon as we stopped and opened the doors, we heard the unmistakable ruckus of sea lions. Sure enough, sitting on rocks just a couple of hundred feet below us, were 50 or 60 sea lions. We took a couple of quick pictures of the very photogenic lighthouse, but the sea lions were the main show. We watched them for about twenty minutes and wondered what was going on in their tight community. The critters would climb over each other causing very vocal responses. There were groups of 2-10 sea lions floating and swimming in various areas with what appeared to be no purpose. There were a few that were clearly bigger that had wide sections of rock to themselves. At one point, about half of them got much louder and started rapidly moving toward the water in the same direction. After a minute or two, they settled down like nothing happened.
See the sea lions?
On our next bright, sunny day we decided to ride ATVs on the dunes. We rented “quads” for two hours. In spite of the safety brief, I nearly got myself into trouble. Check out the video for a laugh. This time Arleen thought she was a 15 year old. A little adrenaline and hamming it up for the camera resulted in getting some air. The evidence is in the video below. We had a lot fun on the ATVs, but we’ll stick with more tranquil activities.
After two days of rain and fighting colds, we were ready for a quick adventure. Darlingtonia Natural Area just north of Florence was a great way to beat the blahs. This small area hosts carnivorous plants. The following is from the state park’s web page ( http://www.oregonstateparks.org/park_115.php ):
“This 18-acre botanical park provides parking and a boardwalk trail out into a fen that is home to Darlingtonia californica. Also called a cobra lily, the rare, strangely-shaped plant is the only member of the pitcher plant family (Sarraceniaceae) in Oregon.”
It took us only about 10 minutes to walk the trail and admire these interesting plants. 10 minutes was long enough for us to get soaked and chilled so we went to Mo’s for another round of clam chowder!
Sea Lion Cave and Heceta Head lighthouse round two…The “world’s largest sea cave” is just north of Florence, Oregon ( http://sealioncaves.com/home/ ). An elevator takes you 200 feet down to a sea cave that is 12 stories high and as long as a football field. From the ocean there are two entrances to the cave that allow a steady flow of water and sunlight. During certain times of the year 50-300 sea lions claim the cave as their home. There were no critters in the cave during our visit…they were around the corner where we saw them before. Though we didn’t see them in the cave, we enjoyed the exhibits and were enthralled by waves pounding the rocks. The great visibility and clear blue sky made Heceta Head lighthouse really stand out. It is one of the most photographed lighthouses in the world and we could see why. We also took a tour and learned about its interesting history.
Kayaking and fishing Woahink Lake…We spent an afternoon slowly trolling around the southern part of the lake. The winds were tricky. One minute they would be 20mph and the next they would be nearly calm. It was work fighting the winds on the way back. We got a couple of bites but didn’t catch any fish. Some of the houses ringing the lake were impressive. I’m sure a couple were pushing the $1M threshold.
Story time…Under the bed is storage with an outside access hatch that allows cold air to seep in which means our bed and everything on it get chilly at night. To solve this we got a heated sleep pad. Except for one night, it has been an outstanding solution! Early one morning I was getting cold so I turned the heat up a notch. An hour or so later, I was a popsicle, so I turned it up again. I got up to put on warm clothes and socks. I thought the mattress pad was kaput. Then I noticed that the faint green light from the control was missing on Arleen’s side. She was stirring so I asked if she was cold. NOPE…She was “sweating to death”! Earlier she got warm and turned off her control which turned my side into an ice box! Each time I turned up my control, Arleen roasted more! We laughed and laughed! I shared her warm side of the bed awhile to ward off hypothermia. Later that morning I switched the controls!
Projects and to-do list…10 days in one spot allowed us to tackle our to-do list. Things got lubed, cleaned, adjusted, and fixed. Addresses were changed, things were ordered, mail was received and sent. Multiple loads of laundry were done and both propane bottles were filled. Future routes and time-lines were researched. With wi-fi we were able to update the computers…something that hadn’t been done for a month (30+ Windows updates, Java, anti-virus, I-Tunes, Adobe, etc). There will always be things to do, but we made a considerable dent in the list. It’s amazing to think of our to-do lists just over six months ago. Arleen was leaving Afghanistan and overwhelmed with retirement stuff. I was wrapping up my Air Force career and prepping the house for sale. Boy how things have changed!
Cleaning the awning with a kayak paddle
Next we head inland about 100 miles to Oakridge, Oregon for a few days to visit Arleen’s friends. Then we’ll come right back to the coast to pick up where we left off.
Here are a few more of our pictures of the dunes…
No comments:
Post a Comment