Blogs from Florence, Oregon, United States, North America

Tonight I went to the jetty to watch the sunset. It is not summer obviously, so evenings next to the ocean at this point on the map tend to be chilly and windy. I waited until the sun was almost to the ocean, then walked out to the beach getting cold beach sand in my shoes. I walked halfway down the jetty and watched the sun set, disappearing from sight behind the massive ocean. When I turned around to go back to the car, the full moon was rising at the exact opposite of the sunset. The sunset was brilliant yellows and oranges; the moonrise was in a deep blue sky with a plae blue mist surrounding a white blue moon, huge and round in the dusk sky. Life is good.... read more

Traveling through the mountains in the summertime is completely different than travel in the winter. Going over Ochoco pass was old hat; I have made that trek several times over the last decade and half. Going over Santiam Pass is not something I have ever done in the winter time. You forget your are so high up in the mountains when there is no snow level marking the way. The lava beds, usually dry and shades of red and brown, were covered with snow and barely recognizable. I wanted to stop and take some photos of the stunning scenery but was afraid to lose my place in line up to the summit. Last night's snowfall left two inches of powder sitting atop branches of trees normally green with leaves and moss. Once over the pass and ... read more

The moon is almost full and threw its refelction over the ocean last night as she crashed to the shore. There is an eerie lack of winds blowing, the crashing ocean is not drowned out by the howling wind here. A fresh and salty scent fills the air as the sky turns endlessly black sprinkled with the occassion of star light. The ocean at night is bigger as the water joins the sky in their immensity and the two become one. Only the moon knows where the sky ends and the ocean begins.... read more

We were leaving California behind and heading into Oregon. As soon as we hit the Beaver State, we stopped off at Ecola State Park, with this one being a beach. It was pretty immense with all the massive rocks just off shore and the driftwood lying on the completely flat beach. The tide was out, so the sand reached out for a while, up to the rocks, a good 300 feet from the top of the beach. Whilst on the beach we discovered a crab with all its legs snapped off, and Jess ran and ran forever along the beach. I almost thought about joining her on her second run, but didn’t. After leaving the beach, we had another shop for dinner tonight, and lunch at another beach, eating the two chickens we bought at the ... read more

Yesterday we left Portland for Eugene. Had to get a couple of vent cover replacements for the coach. It was gloomy and chilly when we left Portland, but sunny by the time we arrived in Eugene. We got the parts and headed for the coast!! Arrived in Florence around 6pm. Tried to find the "beach", but only found the jetty...starving, so tried a little place in the historic district on the Syusila (sp??) River called the "Bay Street Grille"...YIKES!! Do NOT try this on your travels...the service was HORRIBLE!!! Food was good, but jeez...a smile or asking if we needed anything would have been nice...especially since we were sitting at the bar!! OK, enough of my rant...we stayed the night in the 3 Rivers Casino parking lot...we're getting pretty good (read: lucky) at scouting out free ... read more

We spent the night in Florence, Oregon. It had been a full day of driving and we decided to spend the night in florence and watch the fireworks that night. The hotel was situated on the side of a mountain and overlooked the bridge and the river with the city on the other side. Peaceful and beautiful.... read more

Well, because I could not put up that footage of beautiful Santa Barbara last time I bring you three videos of Florence. I did label one downtown shops, but it's really just one. And it's really just a mural. Though I think it's very pretty. Not much to report my first full day in Florence my mother drove me to the shops on the marina. At least I think that is what you would call it. I guess in May there are merchants who sell wares along the path there but they've all gone home for winter. I am actually enjoying the fact that this is the off season for the town and most of the tourists have gone home. Pretty soon my mother and I are going to visit the information center and the Pioneer ... read more

Saturday, October 18, 2008 Morning fog lifted enough to reveal the wild shore line as we travelled north along the Oregon coast. Every video clip we took had the background surf to complete the atmosphere. The sound and sight of the surf varied with each stop, sometimes pounding, sometimes just rolling. There were several overlooks where the sea shore was just too far away and shrouded in fog. But we found a couple to compensate. At Bandon, Face Rock State Park and north of Coos Bay at Oregon Dunes Overview we stayed long enough in the cool wind to breathe in the air and soak up the wild feeling of the coast. Sea stacks defending themselves against the surf, wide and long sandy beaches, sea grass growing out of the sand and waving in the wind, ... read more

Well we experienced the notorious Pacific Northwest Fog today. We woke up to a cold foggy morning in Lincoln City. We’re sorry there weren’t many pictures from yesterday. Lincoln city didn’t have too many picturesque moments and unfortunately the morning didn’t offer many more either. We were surrounded by fog until about noontime, which was just in time for when we came across a great overlook spot somewhere near Cape Perpetua, OR. Huge waves were crashing over these rocks that we could walk right out on. Pretty amazing. From there, we decided to shoot for Florence, OR. The drive on the way there was perfect. The fog was gone and the sun was out. There were more great viewpoints and some scary driving conditions. Real fun though. Florence, OR was surprisingly nice. There was a quaint ... read more