We found a farmer's market in the very town we were near open Wednesday mornings! Finally farm fresh produce. Loading up on veggies and berries (Marion berries and blueberries are in season here.) we were disappointed, still no corn! A short growing season in this part of the world, they were closer to our late May early June in vegetables ready to harvest...
We traveled south on 101, Oregon Coast Scenic Highway, and it lived up to its name. The cool thing about Oregon is besides the pull offs along the way, there are many state parks with parking, picnicking, restrooms along the way. Frequent campgrounds dotted the road, too. Naturally we stopped at most of the pull offs and some of the state parks.
Each area was different. Some beaches were sandy, others rocky with no sand. There were sandy beaches that had huge rocks sticking out of the water. These were the ones the seals and sea birds of all sorts liked. You could see the seals lying on the rocks almost rock like themselves. Waves crashed over rocks making waterfalls in the ocean. Some beaches required a climb up huge sand dunes, others you climbed down rocks to gain access to the water. In some areas mountain streams and the forest came right up to the ocean. The forests were never far away along the highway.
The predominant tree is red cedar towering above other coniferous trees. There were enough deciduous trees to make the forest interesting. Red cedars are tall and graceful; the huge trunks indicate their old age. The branches are delicate, they hang veil like. Often the trunks are padded with moss. There was a Spanish moss-like growth on many of the trees. It was a brighter green than what you would see in South Carolina or Georgia.
The main difference between this coast and the Jersey shore is that they were not crowded. That's because no one swims in the ocean here. Dangerous waves combined with highs of 65 degrees doesn't make you want to jump in. Skip dangled his hands in, but was careful to keep the feet dry. No need for sunscreen because we were usually wearing long sleeves and jackets!
We drove south as far as Coos Bay, then went across the bridge to a working town, Charleston, where we found a nice restaurant for some fresh fish. You could watch the fishing boats in the marina.
We traveled south on 101, Oregon Coast Scenic Highway, and it lived up to its name. The cool thing about Oregon is besides the pull offs along the way, there are many state parks with parking, picnicking, restrooms along the way. Frequent campgrounds dotted the road, too. Naturally we stopped at most of the pull offs and some of the state parks.
Each area was different. Some beaches were sandy, others rocky with no sand. There were sandy beaches that had huge rocks sticking out of the water. These were the ones the seals and sea birds of all sorts liked. You could see the seals lying on the rocks almost rock like themselves. Waves crashed over rocks making waterfalls in the ocean. Some beaches required a climb up huge sand dunes, others you climbed down rocks to gain access to the water. In some areas mountain streams and the forest came right up to the ocean. The forests were never far away along the highway.
The predominant tree is red cedar towering above other coniferous trees. There were enough deciduous trees to make the forest interesting. Red cedars are tall and graceful; the huge trunks indicate their old age. The branches are delicate, they hang veil like. Often the trunks are padded with moss. There was a Spanish moss-like growth on many of the trees. It was a brighter green than what you would see in South Carolina or Georgia.
The main difference between this coast and the Jersey shore is that they were not crowded. That's because no one swims in the ocean here. Dangerous waves combined with highs of 65 degrees doesn't make you want to jump in. Skip dangled his hands in, but was careful to keep the feet dry. No need for sunscreen because we were usually wearing long sleeves and jackets!
We drove south as far as Coos Bay, then went across the bridge to a working town, Charleston, where we found a nice restaurant for some fresh fish. You could watch the fishing boats in the marina.
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