Our first camping spot in Oregon was Bullard's Beach SP on the shores of the Coquille River. From the campground we explored some small dunes, a stony flat section of beach and met our first agate hunters. Mostly as a hobby, people search the beaches for this particular form of stone.
We also started to experience a special feature of the coast, the lighthouses. The is the Coquille River Lighthouse.
Across the River, along the beach in the town of Bandon, we had one of our most spectacular beach walks. The sunlight, the rocks, the birds and seals, the sky, the tidal pools all worked magic for us that day. You can see what I mean.
The Giant Pacific Green Anemone
Needless to say,we were actually "high" after this day. We just keep saying how grateful and happy we were to share in such beauty.
The next day we ventured off to a spot that our friends Stan and Alida, from the Keys, told us about. Stan is native to Oregon and they enjoy nature and especially the birds along with us. On Coos Bay, we found this special spot he recommended.
The hiking was through the rich and luscious forest and found some new creatures and plants on the walk.
The Rough Skinned Salamander
A Land Snail
The naturalist at the Slough told us this is a saprophyte.
Pacific Rhodendron blooming everywhere.
Part of the Slough and Estuary. There was a Yellowlegs feeding in the edges, and I saw my first
Chestnut-backed Chickadee and a pair of Wilson's Warblers in the woods near here.
On the way back to the campground, we saw a sight somewhat new to us. A commercial Oyster Company and the proof of their business along the road.
Our travel has been adding so much to our lives each day. We saw a place called the Triangle near Winchester Bay where the oysters are grown and harvested each day. We found an eating spot and I had three as an appetizer to be sure I didn't miss any special gift of the area. Delicious!
We had one more good hiking day before some rain was predicted. We had been seeing signs for the Oregon Dunes National Recreation Area and realized that is encompassed miles and miles of dunes along the coast. These of course act like the barrier islands we had seen along the Atlantic, but we were impressed with description of the length and height of these sand piles. We decided to venture on a hike into this area and chose the John Dellenback Dunes Trail. This was billed as one of the top ten hikes along the coast of Oregon.
First half of mile was through the woods...
The next two and half miles were through the dunes following poles for trail markers. We made,it to the beach and found hundreds of Peeps feeding in the surf and a notice that Snowy Plovers were present. We didn't see any but it is always encouraging to see these protected spots.
When we did the loop back over the beac, through the dunes and finally back along the woods trail we had only one thing to do...empty the dunes out of our shoes! What another great day. We rejoiced that we were still healthy and strong enough for a challenging but rewarding hike through the Oregon Dunes.
We had a few more adventures. Buying some famous Tillomook cheese after a visit to the factory and visiting several more lighthouses and national forests. During the rainy days these were fun things to do. One day was so stormy we just stayed put!
Now the sun is out, and we have started a new adventure in Washington.
One small note about a little slip yesterday. We were taking funny pictures of Latona and she was swinging her arms around and laughing and inadvertently stepped off the edge of the parking lot and down she went. She scraped the skin off both knees and one hand, but as she always does got up laughing and said, "oh well, the price of stardom!"
Special note of gratitude for tomorrow. Thanks to my wonderful daughter who made me a mother, and to my own precious mother for sharing life with me.
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