Coasting Along

Monday we headed south again, crossing this bridge just south of Yachats. We stopped for the lighthouse at Heceta Bay, walking out onto the beach for a better view. Can you see the lighthouse on the cliff? How about now? According to the guidebook, this is one of the most photographed lighthouses in the world. The setting is beautiful, with this bridge completing the landscape.A couple of miles away, just above Florence OR, is Sea Lion Caves, the largest sea cave in the world. An elevator takes you 220 feet below ground to watch the Stellar sea lions in their natural habitat; another opening in the rock also gives a great view across the water to the Heceta Bay lighthouse. I'd love to show the pictures but apparently I erased them last night instead of transferring them to the computer. Grrrrr. What an idiot. *

We stopped for lunch in Florence, checked out a few artist stores (some great wood turnings and glass work), and were on our way out of town when Dick spotted a Myrtlewood store that sold turning wood in addition to finished pieces. It was like letting a kid loose in a candy factory. An hour or so later, after rearranging the car to get all his 'loot' inside, we continued south.

Once we hit Newport, we noticed these signs cropping up whenever we got to a low area from Oregon down into California. They seem to take the threat seriously; each hotel had tsunami evacuation plans in their 'welcome' packets and most areas had well marked evacuation centers. Not something you want to think about on vacation, but good info to have in an emergency.

We haven't planned our stops since we left Eugene, trusting that we'll find a hotel when we're ready to stop for the night. That worked well up till tonight. There aren't a lot of hotels in the smaller Oregon coastal towns, and with tourist season in full swing, we had some trouble finding a place to stay. About 9:00 we finally checked into a Best Western in Brookings, about 5 miles north of the California/Oregon border. A bit further than we'd planned on going, but it worked out.

* Looks like I accidentally deleted over 100 photos. I'm so bummed I just want to cry.