Aug 3-4 - Florence OR

As we drove up the Oregon coast we realized that we were driving right past the part we thought we would visit - all the craggy coastline we had heard about.  So note to self to explore southern Oregon the next time.  But we drove up US 101 to central Oregon and a small old fishing town called Florence.  The benefit was first even slightly inland we had sun and the temperature was a lovely 70+ degrees.  Second, it was a charming town with lots to see nearby.

Day one we first wandered Old Town Florence.  Had lunch in a chatchky filled restaurant called Mo's that definitely had the small town feel.  There was a little art festival on the warf but we were good and only perused.  The town seemed to be crazy for art deco bridges and the dock gave us a great view of the best one.  After lunch we went to see the Sea Lion Cave just up the coast.  The day stayed glorious so the views were amazing.  The Cave is the largest sea lion cave and is made accessible via a lot of walking and an elevator.  Beautiful cave but we were not there at the best time of year so there were two lonely sea lions inside with a ton outside.  In the fall and winter it is packed with the animals, but I'm thinking the smell would be there to match, so I was very content with what we saw.

Day two was more like what we had expected - a little grey at the RV park but when we went to the beach, it was foggy, cold and very, very windy.  But we bundled up and tromped through the sand, laughed a lot, felt really sorry for the poor horse one guy chose to try to ride (saw him come and go pretty quickly).  We then drove up the coast to see the lighthouse we saw from the Seal Cave the day before.  With the fog the coastline took on a completely different (kind of spooky) feel.

From here it's home again, home again, jiggity jig.  First travel day ended with a stop in Bend OR.  Might as well be in any snooty town and couldn't leave fast enough.  Day 2 travel ended in Fruitland, ID.  We've stayed in this RV park before and are taking a breathing day before hitting the road again.  We figure to be home by the weekend. If we have nothing to report, we'll resume blogging after we depart for Alaska.  Happy Trails!!!