Day 59, THurs. May 31, 2018, Time to take breather! Lincoln City , Oregon... a six day stay.

The 135 miles up the Oregon Coast from Coos Bay to Lincoln City  is a beautiful vista of water, seacoast, fir trees, "seastacks", sea mammals, seabirds, wonderful majestic bridges and a few towns sprinkled in along the way. There are 13 Rivers, all of some consequence between those two towns. Many of  them have fisheries attached to them  and some have well developed marinas and port systems.  Florence, Oregon , as an examle,  does cater to the tourist industry, and besides the three logging compnaies that operate there, there a few things one might find interesting.

Sail from the Siuslaw River out into the Pacific Ocean.
Walk to the historic Heceta Head Lighthouse from the sandy beach below.
Descend 200 ft (61 m) by elevator into North America's largest sea cave brimming with bellowing sea lions.
Spot migrating whales cavorting just off the Oregon shoreline.
Explore Florence by geocaching.

For Ruth and I it is always looking for that "next" bird . We had not seen a Robin today ,but when I stepped out the door for a walk after supper... there were two. From our window I cansee through some homes across the street and see the Ocean. A "typical" West Coast sunset tonight  with rolling, fluffy clouds gives an orange/yellow glow,  but no vibrant colors.

Here are then,  some photos for you to travel with us along the Oregon Coast as we "stay put" for 6 days here in Lincoln City  Oregon.  It is a very "long" city and here is why.
Lincoln City was incorporated on March 3, 1965, uniting the cities of Delake, Oceanlake and Taft, and the unincorporated communities of Cutler City and Nelscott. These were adjacent communities along U.S. Route 101, which serves as Lincoln City's main street. The name "Lincoln City" was chosen from contest entries submitted by local school children. The contest was held when it was determined that using one of the five communities' names would be too controversial.

Umpqua River Lighthouse. You cansee very little of it from US 101,  as it is far below , but it is 65 feet high and stands 165 feet above sea leval. (225 feet!)

Heceta Lighthouse

Some intersting facts about the Heceta Lighthouse..."In 1892, a crew of 56 began construction the light. Because of the site's seclusion, building materials were either shipped in if the weather and tide permitted, or brought from Florence by wagon, the latter usually taking four or five hours. Stones were brought from the Clackamas River and bricks came from San Francisco. Completed in August 1893, the entire project cost $80,000^."

Umpqua River Bridge

Sights along US 101 near Yachats

Umpqua River Lighthouse from US 101. Gotta shoot quick!

Waldport Bridge  (Alsea River)

Seals at Waldport on the sand spit.

Tomorrow will be a mystery!

Day 58, Wed. May 30, 2018, A lighthouse, 2 NWR's, cranberries and a Botanical garden

This edition has many photos as there was much to see and learn today.

What's a NWR you ask? In the USA there are hundreds of National Wildlife Reserves , where the wildlife is either protected ,or through arrangements with the government, hunting is allowed at times. The hunting seasons are always in the late fall or winter, so wildlife enthusiasts can be safe there in the warmer months of the year. We visited two of them today both of which were within a few miles of one another.  They both are Salt Marshes that have been reclaimed by very aggressive conservation endeavors to restore old farmland back to its original state for plants and wildlife. Here are some public boards that help to explain how it works.

How to restore a Salt Marsh.

Why they are worth restoring

 The two projects on the Coquille River , OR.

One of the Marshes has more water at this time. It is closer to the Ocean.

The second marsh is farther from the Ocean so has less water at the same time.

Back at one of the Coastal lookout one of the rocks is called "Face Rock" and is  an old Indian tradition that tells of how the rock has a face, looking skyward. That is a good omen to be sure.This "Face Rock" is a great nesting site for more birds, including the COMMON MURRE, TUFTED PUFFIN, WESTERN GULLS, PIGEON GUILLOMOTS, which we saw,  while Black Oyster- catchers, Surfbirds and Black Turnstones use the lower parts  of the rock, to nest as well.

Cape Arago Lighthouse is not accessible as it is on Native American land .

From the same spot the shoreline has those "haystacks" as they are sometimes called. The rock called haystack is in the background.

"Face Rock" is the small one behind the foreground rock.

A delightful stop , that was actually the first stop this morning was at the Shore Acres Botanical Gardens. Free to the Public but on a State Park, it is a formal garden unlike the one we saw at Endocino.  The photos tell the story quite well,.

The Gardeners original home about 1910.

Set off on one side is this Gazebo.

Photographers were in "heaven". Ruth , too.

Brick walks and behind the hedge more flowers coming

"Rhodies": are still in full bloom.

Close up of a Rhodendron

No one could describe what this one was.

Lotus lily.

A view from the entrance.

A centerpiece

ON the way south to Bandon, we took the "shortcut" which was about 15 miles shorter than US 101. THis is in the back country where the logging is done.Here are a few photos and a partial explanation of the state rules on logging.

"Oregon rules limit clear cuts to 120 acres, and adjacent areas in the same ownership cannot be clear cut until new trees on the original harvest site are at least four feet tall or are four years-old and the stand is free-to-grow. This “green-up rule” must be met before harvest can occur on an adjacent stand, meaning Oregon has an additional standard beyond survival for establishing a new forest. 

Oregon law requires that trees be left as buffers along streams to protect water quality and fish habitat.

Logging crews must leave at least two live trees or two snags and two large logs on the ground per acre for wildlife habitat.

Seedlings must be planted within two years after harvest. Within six years of harvest, young trees must be tall enough to out-compete grass and brush and grow into the next forest." (These are a few of the rules that can be found under 'Oregon rules for logging'.

Oregon clear cut (read rules above)

What is left after the clear cut. (read rules)

More of the followup  even though it seems very messy it is for a good reason.

Finally we had been spotting these very 'reddish like' fields that had berms around them. We knew they could not be growing rice here, so what could it be .One after noon it hit both of us! Cranberries!!! Oregon *(especially this area) grows the 4th most cranberries in the USA .
"Out of 856 million pounds of cranberries produced in the U.S., Wisconsin is the leader with 538 million pounds delivered in 2014, followed by 210 million pounds in Massachusetts. Oregon produced 39.5 million pounds.
The USDA has projected strong cranberry harvests for Oregon and Washington in 2015. Oregon growers may top the 500,000 barrels they produced in 2014. Washington growers may produce 186,000 barrels, the most in a decade. A barrel equals 100 pounds of cranberries.

The "tool and equipment" shed.

Some of the fields of cranberries.  (Harvesting is Oct.-Dec.)

The pumping station for flooding, and more fields.

When the cranberries are ripe, the fields are flooded and  large tractor like machines "rake"the berries, and float them to the top. they are gathered behind "traps" and funneled into escalators to waiting trucks to be further sorted, packed and shipped.  A great amount  is made locally into juice.

That's it for today. We covered much but it was another great day  for us on the journey. We move to Lincoln City, OR tomorrow.

Day 57, Tuesday May 29, 2018 Charleston,OR Harbor and visiting friends

Charleston Oregon is situated just south of Coos Bay and is a large fishing industry port for many fishing activities not the least of which is a booming oyster industry. High piles of oyster shells are stacked along side the building where the “shucking: is done.  Ruth and I drove the narrow road that is on a dike to the end where we could observe the waters more clearly and see the activities of the harbor . There were some LOONS and GUILLIMOTS and two of the three CORMORANTS located in this area.

The dike at Charleston Harbor

The fishing fleet is enormous

The Charleston inlet and harbor

The dike looking toward town

Ruth concentrated on the Guillomots that were either nesting on top of pilings or they were merely ytryng to rest on top of them. 

Two Pigeon Guillimots under the piers.

Two Guillimots on the piers.

We made a quick stop at a bakery that we spotted on the way to the dike and bought some morning baked goods which we seldom do. They tasted very good and were made locally.





Another potential birding area that we attempted to get to was the “South Slough" on Seven Devil's Road.” a few miles further down the road. This was an excellent stop for the Center there  was well equipped to handle groups as well as individuals in the history of the area, and the meaning of the marshes that exist along the coves and rivers of the Oregon Coastal. It meant walking some long trails to get there even though there is a “diabled persons “ drive that is behind a locked gate that we used to get the trails. There was a very dense woods  and a boardwalk did still not get us to the marsh that was at the end. (It was just too much walking). We did not see any birds in the dense woods and heard only one.

Salal is a shrub with these berries very common now.

A fern as yet unidentified

The trail to the Slough that we did not get to the end.

We returned to the Arago bluffs and stopped at Shore Acres where the sea has cut deep gouges in the cliffs and left fascinating rocks and geological marks. These are called concretions made from matter that lands on rocks amd in geological history is "set" into the sanstone it falls on. Hence,... harder rock.

Another feature of these cliffs

The concretions are the darker resistent areas.

 Of course the seals are still there along with the wave action on the rocks.

Harbor seals

And... Sea Lions

In the late  afternoon and evening I went to visit some friends in Coquille.  Liz started her teaching in Newtok when I was there and will be returning ths Fall. Her husband, Mike, will return to his hone village with her and she will end her teaching day back in the village where they were married. It was a fine visit with some reminiscing and sharing. Thanks Liz and Mike.

A normal 30 mph wind brings much wave action.

 See you later tonight!

Day 56, Monday May 28, 2018, The Oregon Coast! Coos Bay.

Those who have driven or been a passenger on this ride along the Oregon Coast can only marvel at the wonder that is there. The seascapes, the colors of the water, with the green firs and pines as a border, the rocks and sand colored beaches,  make for a marvelous cacophony of visuals for any traveler.  Pity the fellow who has to drive it every day by himself and cannot take his eyes off the winding and twist road. The road actually is not that difficult to drive, There are actually some  very long stretches of road that is straight as an arrow.  The few towns along the way, Bandon, Gold Beach and Brookings are small and quite quaint with a slow pace, so taking in the local culture is an added bonus on any trip this way.

Ruth and I only had 135 miles to travel today and that allowed us to poke along, stop at some of the pullouts not only for traffic that was gong faster than us, but to see the seacoast and visuals.  The wind that was quite stiff out of the north today was creating a heavy sea mist and salt spray.  OT also meant to watch the spots where wind moved the trailer at times. Witness these photos I took from the truck to show that "haziness".

The main street of Bandon OR

The "haze"is salt spray that has been raised by the ocean waves

More of the salt spray with some monoliths on US 101.

We wanted to stop for lunch at one of the pullouts overlooking the Ocean, but few were on the land side of the road. At a large pullout next to a Farm Store we stopped for lunch (Packed our own) . There at the farm store I inquired about some large cotter keys that fit the stabilizer on the hitch, Mine keep getting bent as the are too tight and cannot slide a bit. They did not have any but recommend the Ace Hardware (This is Memorial  Day remember). We stopped there and they were busy . Wayne helped me find what I needed and I bought a few for backups besides the two for the stabilizer.

The rest of the drive was smooth and we arrived right before 2:00 Pm , with enough tome to set up, and still get in some side trips to see the seacoast up close without the trailer. Two places were recommended in the brochure I ordered in the mail. "Birding the Oregon Coast". It has 173 different sites recommended for seeing the birds in Oregon on the Coast  ONLY.
Two of those were the Cape Arago and the Simpson Reef. Both about 10miles from the trailer. The largest colony of seals on the Oregon Coast.  We did see seals and a pair of HARLEQUINS that Ruth was anxious to see and asked about "where" every day. Also a BALD EAGLE, some GUILLIMOTS, and two PACIFIC LOONS in the water down below.

Some of the monoliths on the Oregon Coast at Coos Bay.

The surf

 Neither Ruth nor I took photos of the hundreds of seals on the Simpson Reef. I took a video which I will take some photos from for the blog.  Here is our site at Alder Acres in Coos Bay. It is a very well attired Campground. Many long term campers here.

First class treatment. This has NEVER happened in 25 years of trailering.

Our site in the RV Park. (Note sign by drive edge.)

Simpson Reef. One mile long and 1/2mile wide , full of sea kelp, food for the seals and birds.

If you look hard , you will see two Harlequins  (Ducks) in the center of the photo.

Tomorrow more biding sites and a visit to some long time  friends of mine from Alaska.