We ventured south and west into Oregon today. It ended up being mainly a windshield day – we spent more time in the car than we expected – but we had fun and saw a few cool things.
Heading down along I-5 we passed through “The Grass Seed Capital of the World” somewhere south of Portland. It wasn’t as inspiring as it sounds. The weather’s been pretty dry here (we passed through some forests that were on the highest forest fire alert), and most of the farmers were out plowing their very dry fields. This created enough dust that we turned off the vents in the car for about 15 minutes and could see the dust hanging in the air like smog. The only cool thing about this was it created dirt devils, which were fun to watch. Unfortunately we had so much fun spotting them we forgot to get a picture.
Then we turned west and headed through the mountains that separate the coast from the inland valley. They were more extensive than they looked, but pretty. Logging appears to be one of the main industries out here, and after a little while we almost got used to seeing mountains completely stripped to the grass of every tree. These mountains are similar to the Blue Ridge in size (maybe a little bigger) and shape (just a tad more jagged) but they are covered nearly entirely in everygreen trees (if they haven’t been stripped bare). We passed through Mapleton, Oregon, a town located in these mountains, but were unable to spot a Maple tree.
Florence, Oregon was our first coastal town. Much to our surprise, in Oregon, unlike California, Route 101 doesn’t actually hug the coast but is several miles inland. So, we were allegedly near the ocean, but couldn’t see it. Florence is a cute little town that clearly does solid tourist business – they’ve rebuilt a few blocks of their “Historic Old Town” and it is now reportedly “charming” according to them. Actually, it is. However, having lived in Old Town Alexandria for 3 years it’s hard for me to call anything old that Washington didn’t pass judgement on. I need to adjust my perspective to the West Coast’s concept of history, which is much younger.
Just south of Florence is the Oregon Dunes National Recreation Area. This is major cool! The dunes are massive – think miles long and hundreds of feet high! The inland dunes are open to off road vehicles, and dune buggies are zipping across these things like ants on a picnic blanket. Once your mind gets past the “hey, this isn’t my idea of the beach!” you realize you are dying to ride one of those things! The dunes along the shore are off limits to the machines, and once you cross them you are presented with beautiful, nearly empty beaches. I, of course, chose the absolute longest possible walk to the beach, but enjoyed running through the dunes for about a quarter mile to find the beach (turns out that was the day’s workout). We checked out the beach then went back and watched the dune buggies for a while. They even have businesses that offer dune rides to folks like us (that didn’t bring our own machines) in things that look like dune buggy limos!
We continued to meander south along the “Coastal” road, trying to catch glimpses of the ocean through the trees and dunes, but instead just enjoying the views of the forests and small towns along the way. We ended our southern trek in Bandon, another little town with a “Charming Old Town District” and briefly walked around the town and the pier. It was after 6pm so the shops were closed but the restaurants were hopping. In looking for a specific shop that wasn’t along the two-block Old Town section we accidently found an amazing Bird Sanctuary south of town. What great luck! Located on a bluff overlooking the ocean, there were unobstructed views of massive rock formations along the beach and the cliffs. It was amazing, and in the fading light of the evening quite spectacular. It was also freezing! It will take me a while to discard all my Outer Banks notions of summer beach travel and embrace the Pacific – no warm breezes or 75 degree water here! We enjoyed the views until we were too cold to take any more, then jumped in the car and headed east again.
We made a big “Z” across Oregon today, crossing back through the mountain range at dusk and eventually landing in Roseburg for dinner and to stay the night. Tomorrow is the “eat your way through Oregon” tour – with luck we’ll tour Harry and David, a few wineries, and maybe even the Jelly Belly factory. Whee!
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