We left Seaside this morning and headed south on our Highway 101 tour of the west coast. It was slower going than we expected, with a lot of construction. We seem to have a special knack for find road construction, particularly the type where they close one lane and you have to wait for the flagman to let your side go. So we sat waiting our turn a lot today.
But even with the construction, the drive was enjoyable. There was some amazing scenery. The Oregon Coast is so ruggedly beautiful with the rocks poking through the surf and the cliffs that drop off into the sea. We drove up over Cape Perpetua, the highest point on the coast, and past Heceta Light House.
We decided to try a state park this time, as we have heard Oregon has some of the best state parks in the nation for RV camping. We heard right! We arrived at Jessie M. Honeyman State Park outside Florence, Oregon, this afternoon and found a lovely site, for about half what we have been paying in most private RV parks. This park has full hook-ups (a lot only have water and electric). Like most state parks, it doesn't have wifi, which we miss, or cable, which we don't miss. So a little bit of a trade-off, but not enough to pay an extra $25. My Sprint hotspot is working well enough to get the blog written and catch up on Facebook. The park is also much more scenic and ... natural... for lack of a better word, than a lot of the places we've stayed. It's in the middle of a lush forest, lots of trees, fairly private sites with trees between them. We also happened to pick the spot with a magical little fairy circle hidden in the woods right behind us. Maggie was so excited to find it after the cool spot we found yesterday.
Florence is at the northern end of the Oregon Dunes National Recreation Area. I had no idea that Oregon had the largest area of sand dunes in North America, at over 40 miles long!! Some of the dunes are 500 feet high and miles wide!
We explored a little before dinner and walked over some of the dune area, which is exhausting, by the way. It is so strange how abruptly the landscape changes from this desolate-looking landscape of sand to lush, almost tropical-looking, forest. There is no transition to speak of, just sand, then lush vegetation. It's really fascinating.
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| The secret fairy hollow hidden behind our campsite. |
We have exciting plans for tomorrow. In the blowing-our-budget-in-one-day-plan, we are taking a dune buggy ride in the morning, and a horseback ride on the beach at sunset! So exciting!!!
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| Oregon Dunes National Recreation Area |
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| In the National Rec Area. |
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These are the dunes in the state park
we are staying at. |
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| The dunes run right into a lake and forest. |
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| Alien landscape. |
We decided to try a state park this time, as we have heard Oregon has some of the best state parks in the nation for RV camping. We heard right! We arrived at Jessie M. Honeyman State Park outside Florence, Oregon, this afternoon and found a lovely site, for about half what we have been paying in most private RV parks. This park has full hook-ups (a lot only have water and electric). Like most state parks, it doesn't have wifi, which we miss, or cable, which we don't miss. So a little bit of a trade-off, but not enough to pay an extra $25. My Sprint hotspot is working well enough to get the blog written and catch up on Facebook. The park is also much more scenic and ... natural... for lack of a better word, than a lot of the places we've stayed. It's in the middle of a lush forest, lots of trees, fairly private sites with trees between them. We also happened to pick the spot with a magical little fairy circle hidden in the woods right behind us. Maggie was so excited to find it after the cool spot we found yesterday.
I am so glad you have this blog. I am going to follow in your footsteps some day, as you are seeing such neat and wonderful things! Must get a pop-up so we can do this.
ReplyDeleteWe used to play on dunes as kids, but up north more. My grandma's sister has a cabin in Pacific City. :) Great fun!
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