21. Monday Sept. 1--still heading south down the Oregon coast.

A very quiet nite in the Park Motel in Florence, OR. Had breakfast next to the hotel and hit the road by 9:30.

We stopped and climbed a high dune. Absolutely amazing how nature shapes these mountains of sand.

Silcoos Beach dunes

 

We stopped on a whim in Reedsport, just to see an older town on the coast. Saw some marvelous examples of town pride and unique art.

"YarnBomb the trees. That is yarn wrapped around the trunk Many examples on Main Street.

Driftwood wood carving of Dragon Fly on roof

One of 20+ carvings on Main Street, Reedsport.

We drove out to Shore Acres, a very large estate created by a man named Simpson. He built a three story mansion overlooking the shoreline and created a 100 + acre series of gardens in the early 1900's as a Christmas present for his wife. The Oregon government restored the estate after years of decline and have opened the gardens to the public. It was truly a magnificent setting.

40 acre lilly pond

Walkway branching out to grassy walkways and garden settings

Statuary in the lilly pond

As we left the park, we made one of our three happy mistakes. We turned right out of the park, believing the map showed the road rejoining 101 heading south. Instead, we stopped at another overlook and got a spectacular view of waves crashing on the rocks. A bit further down the road, we stopped at a spot and saw our second whale.

Second whale spotted

Again, we kept going on the road and pulled in at a turnoff. When we got out of the car, we heard hundreds of sea lions bellowing as they sunned themselves on the rocks.

Crazy loud noise

We turned ourselves around and retraced our drive back to 101 (but having to search around to find the right road.) Adventure? Yup.

We had an Oregon travel brochure and used it to call ahead to reserve a motel room in Port Orford. before we got to the hotel, we went to the fishing wharf to see the boats. As we pulled up to the parking lot, a number of people were gathered around a seawall. We approached them and were able to see our third whale! Good hunting.

The Sea Crest Motel is to be avoided. Like the Plague...Last of the 'no name', 'mom-n-pop's' motels for these travelers. Bad news.

Tomorrow, out of Oregon into Northern California and the redwoods.