South Beach, near Newport OR

Monday, July 4 (independence Day ) 

Another sunny day!  We were in two minds whether to leave or stay today - it’s funny how you so easily get into relax mode where you feel quite at home and can’t be bothered moving on!  But after another cup of tea and a think about what we need to achieve in the next week or two we decide we should move on and at least get a little further north so we have an easy trip inland towards Eugene to get the jack hydraulics seen to and meet up with Larry and Lois. 

So after a ‘healthy’ and ‘nourishing’ brekkie of pancakes and maple syrup (note: the first we have made this trip) we get on the road. 

We say goodbye to our new BFF’s next door and are now the proud recipients of a jar of homemade Huckleberry jelly/jam, both red (tart) and black (sweet) in layers in the one jar.  Huckleberries, which we gather are similar to blueberries, are a local delicacy.  Looking forward to trying it, as soon as we can get the lid off the jar.  Might need to resort to tools!!

We have seen lots of road-side shops selling wooden products made from Myrtlewood which is a tree native to Oregon – they are only found on the west coast here, or in the Holy lands.  Gives you a frisson of spiritual awe, doesn’t it!

The coast road is a little more rugged the further north we drive but this is tempered by the vast sand dunes which extend three miles inland.  Reminds us of our four wheel driving days.  These dunes are enjoyed by herds of ATV’s and you can hire them for the day for some off-road fun of your own.

We drive across the Umpqua River, divert three miles inland in search of elk at the Dean Creek Elk viewing area - noon is obviously not the best time of day for elk to be out and about : ( so we head back to the US101 and drive through a few small seaside towns, Reedsport (with gorgeous bright pink flower baskets), Florance, Yachats (which I thought was another American spelling mistake).  Here there is a traffic jam worthy of a big city, due to the obviously much famed Farmers Market, people must come from everywhere to this, they can’t all live in this little seaside town. 

Pretty town of Reedsport, beautiful pink flowers!

Farmers Market traffic jam in Yachats

Yup, it is 4th of July! Nope, we are not in Walmart!

The wind along the coast is still strong, even by Wgtn standards and it’s only around 20C so we’re not feeling the summer we hoped for but we find us a nice sunny spot in the South Beach State Park close to Newport where we book in for tonight.  It’s a huge camp, 227 sites, with internet and some trails to the beach which we might still investigate.  The wind is less here but the temp only rises as far as 21C - still have a hankering for some real summer warmth and 21C does not cut it!  Tomorrow we go inland and I’m expecting (well insisting really) on an upward swing of the temperature ratings.

Had a good sleep except for the fog horn (nope, there was no fog – must be a land warning) which cycles every 12 seconds, I know ‘cos I counted along numerous times.   So up early and sitting here updating the blog and watching the crows demolish everything left on the picnic table next door.  Crows, or ravens maybe, they are hard to tell apart except ravens are bigger, anyway they are huge black birds, their wingspan can be up to 46 inches and they have a hideous, annoying raucous 'CAW'.  But the squirrels are also foraging for any left over human food and they are so cute!