Oregon Part 4: Sand Dunes and Sea Lions
After the covered bridges we made stops at walmart because Kevin needed hangers that could only be bought in the states and Dad thought it would be a good idea to get long johns. Fortunately, once we got to the coast, it ended up being warmer so he never needed them.
I was able to convince Yuki to drive and she drove the Umpqua Valley Scenic byway from Roseberg to Newport on the coast. Oddly enough, while the scenery reminded us of the Okanogan with rolling farmland and then a meandering river valley, we didn’t stop once for a single photo. Instead we drove down the valley alongside the meandering river as the satellite radio cut in and out while reminding us, “total coverage in the continental united states…” Like Hell.
Upon arriving in Reedsport on the coast, we were surprised to find it so warm. Our first stop was a McDonalds for lunch and then we proceeded to the Oregon Sand Dunes National Recreation Area. The Recreational area is a pretty long stretch of beach, made up predominantly of sand dunes anchored by European grass. As I understand it, the European grass was introduced along the coast so that the sand didn’t blow away. It artificially created a sort of hilly berm along the beaches that’s suppose to help protect from the wind and possibly tsunamis.
Last year I really wanted to see the dunes but we didn’t have time. This year we visited an outlook that had a trail down into the sand. The sand is a really fine consistency that’s soft and fun to run in.
I even tried rolling down one of the sand dunes. They’re pretty steep, and because the sand is so fine and dry I didn’t have a whole lot stick to me. Some people rent ATVs and dune buggies to go riding around in the sand. This looks like it could be a lot of fun if you’re the one driving. If you’re just riding along, it’s probably not so much fun. We also saw a sign for sand boarding, presumably with a snow board. I’m not sure if it’s like water boarding or snowboarding as the dunes aren’t very high.
Just north of Florence we made a stop at the Sea Lions Cave. This is a popular tourist attraction and is very prominently placed on the side of HWY-101. They claim to have the world’s largest sea cave and while the viewing area is small, there are quite a few resident sea lions.
Nearby is the famous Heceta Head Lighthouse. Apparently it is the most photographed lighthouse so we stopped for some photos.
This is one of the few panoramas that worked. After making our travel book for South Korea with a whole bunch of panoramas, I was keen to replicate that success. Unfortunately, I haven’t been as successful on this trip with panos and my horizons often aren’t straight. It require more practice.
There’s a small beach near the light house that we visited. Yuki took an instax photo of me but when she stepped it fell out of the camera’s ejection port and we weren’t able to find it. I’m hoping some other tourist finds it one day as the second attempt turned out pretty good.
