A Full-time Life

Last of our European Trip

This is the last post about our June trip to the Czech Republic and cities in what used to be East Germany.  We are grateful for the time spent with our grandchildren in Prague and for learning so much about living in both Czech and Germany now and in earlier times, especially during the time when they were part of the USSR.   In Germany, we enjoyed the comforts of our Viking River Boats (even though we didn't spend much time actually boating).   

On our last full day in Wittenberg, we spent a morning at the Garden Kingdom of Worlitz .

Garden Kingdom of Worlitz, Wittenberg 

After a trip to England during the "Age of Enlightenment" (18th Century) Prince Leopold began construction of his Garden Kingdom.  He brought the concept of the formal English Garden to Continental Europe.   Today the Gardens include  Gondola rides on the River that winds through the park and  18th-century castle-like buildings to visit.  This World Heritage Site is a beautiful park and a lovely place for a quiet walk and it does have historical significance, but in some ways it felt like "just another tourist attraction" because it didn't seem to really teach us much about the country we were actually visiting.    

 

 

Every time our tour bus left  the ship while we were docked in Wittenberg, we passed this apartment building on a nearby corner.  And every single time this sweet lady would be leaning out of her window and waving to us.  Sometimes  her husband (I assume) would be at the other window.  Our bus driver/tour guide said that she  always came to her window when the tour buses passed.  He said  she had lived in the same apartment for almost half a century.    I finally remembered to have my camera ready for her on our last day.  

So she's really saying goodbye to us in this picture, because it was on the day we left Wittenberg and the Viking ship for good.   

 

 

Our tour included two nights in Berlin.  (This hotel stay was a planned part of the Viking tour and was not due to low water levels.)  So the above picture was the view from our Viking Bus as we reached the City Center near the very modern and well-run hotel where we would stay.

 

Brandenburg Gate

We like to visit really big metropolitan cities occasionally.  We lived in London for three months once ... we loved Prague earlier on this same trip ...but oh my gosh Berlin was so huge and so crowded.   

 

Historical Museum

Of course, a day and a half isn't long enough to get to know anyplace, especially a huge city.  But we did get an overview and saw things we had never thought we'd see in person. 
 

Because of the crowds, it was actually impossible to get pictures of some of what we did see or even to get close to some things.    (There were massive crushes of people around Checkpoint Charlie for example).

 

Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial and Church

We had a bit of an overview from our Viking tour guide as we arrived and then we walked around the Hotel neighborhood  after settling in.  The next day we took a Hop On-Hop Off tour on our own.  Those tours are great as overviews when you are short on time (and on energy by this time on our trip.)  

 

So this Berlin post is pretty much just an Instagram-type photo rollout.  I don't like Instagram nearly as well as blogging, because there's usually no story with the travel pictures.  And I like the stories!    

Victory Column (Prussian War, 1866)

We weren't in Berlin long enough to have much of a story.   But we're  happy we were able to visit and learn a little -- and glad to have the memories and the pictures.  

  Moabit Neighborhood, Berlin

I don't have pictures of the last day of our European trip, but it was definitely exciting in its own way as we navigated the huge Berlin Railroad station for a long day's  trip to Munich.  We flew home to Oregon from Munich (with an unplanned overnight layover in Detroit due to an airport delay) and some wait time in Seattle.    I'll just say that both in the railway depot and the Munich airport we wished we'd paid more attention and/or remembered more of the German classes we took so long ago in high school but we figured it all out and made all our connections on time.  

 

Oregon sky from above the clouds

It was a great trip, but that first glimpse of home is always wonderful!

 

LINKING this week to the following sharing opportunities.  Thank you to the hosts.

MOSAIC MONDAY;  THROUGH MY LENS; TUESDAY TREASURES;  MY CORNER OF THE WORLD;  THANKFUL THURSDAY;  and SKYWATCH FRIDAY;     

Mountain Drive

In the backyard now there are more leaves on the ground than in the trees.  They make a pretty carpet.  Nowadays we aren't responsible for lawn care and in addition we've had mostly dry Fall weather.  Those two things make it easy for us  to admire the beauty without worrying about what needs to be done before the fallen leaves get wet and sloppy.

 

 I've read  that it's better for the environment and the birds to leave the leaves alone or to mulch them  in place.  We didn't know about that back in our former life when we had a yard and gardens.   Unfortunately, if this year is like past Autumns since we've lived in this apartment complex,  the lawn maintenance crew here doesn't know it yet.  And worse they will use noisy leaf-blowers.    At least, the City of Eugene will pick up the bagged leaves and make them into mulch available to the gardening public.  So there's that good thing.

Last week we took a mountain drive up the Old McKenzie Pass. It's a good day-trip  this time of year for the Autumn color and because Winter snow will close it.   

 

Bill loves driving curvy mountain roads.  I like riding along.   This is a good paved highway, but there are sharp curves and I wouldn't want to pull our trailer on it.   Years ago, when driving this road, we were stuck a traffic jam because a truck driver had jackknifed his long flatbed tractor/trailer rig on a curve.  We were coming down the hill, and had a few cars behind us.  We decided not to try backing up the hill to find a place to turn around, and instead  to wait for the totally blocked road to be cleared. It took quite a while, involving large recovery trucks being summoned from towns both above and below the accident.  I think a tree or two had to be removed before the problem was solved.  The truck driver had  passed flashing lights and signs warning that his 50 foot plus length was not allowed!

Whether you love navigating curves or not, there are beautiful mountain views as payback for the effort:

 

Three Sisters Mountain

Besides mountain viewing and leaf-peeping, we wanted to see how much damage there was in these hills from the summer wildfires.   It  wasn't quite as bad a fire season this past summer,  but still thousands of acres of forest land were burned and there were some evacuations in mountain communities and campgrounds.   Annual wildfires are a frightening fact of life now.  

 

 

Some ghost forests (dry burned trees) and blackened trunks along the McKenzie Pass.  

Back at home this past week, we've had some rain but interspersed with beautiful blue sky days that make it easier to appreciate the rainy ones.  Later in the season, when it starts to rain and drizzle day after day and the sky stays gray, that's when I have to remind myself often that we need the rain.  

 

 

Grateful for beautiful blue sky October days, but still hopeful for a good rainy season here because that means needed snow in the mountains east of us.   

 

Linking to the following sharing opportunities.  Thank you to the hosts.

MOSAIC MONDAY;   NATURE NOTES; SIGNS SIGNS;  THROUGH MY LENS; MY CORNER OF THE WORLD;   THANKFUL THURSDAY;  and SKYWATCH FRIDAY;    

Wittenberg

Going back in time to June 20, our first night on the Viking Astrid, our (now) floating Hotel.

 

View from our room on the Astrid, docked near Wittenberg on the Elbe River during a perioid of low water.  Normally, the river's level would reach the middle point of the post on the right.     (See this post).    

 

Low water blues?

The picture above  was taken quite late in the evening (for me anyway).   It was the first day of summer and the longest day of the year.  On the ship, it was German night and we'd enjoyed a good, but heavy,  welcome aboard dinner.    After the road trip from Meissen, unpacking and  organizing our new room, the big meal, the evening's entertainment and the staff's review of tomorrow's activities  some  quiet time on our stateroom deck was welcome.  We enjoyed the last of the daylight.  The river view was lovely, even if we weren't moving along on it.

 

The next morning tour bus  transported us into the city of Wittenberg where we had some time on our own to stroll  through the historic city.  We then met our guide for a  tour of the Museum in the Martin Luther House.  The famous theologian lived here in the early 1500s; it is where he founded the Protestant Reformation.

Wittenberg Castle Church Door where Luther may have hung his 95 Theses document.  Historians have  differing views.

Other than the most basic of facts about the Reformation, we didn't know a lot about Martin Luther.  And I had never really thought about wanting to learn more about his life since we didn't grow up in that faith.  But I paid  attention and took a lot of pictures because of relatives and friends who  did.   And it was far more interesting than I had thought it would be.   

 

Among  his other writings, Luther translated the Holy Bible  into German while living in this house in Wittenberg.

Lectern in the part of the home that was used for Church services.  

 

The pictures above are of  Luther and his wife Kathe (about whom I had never heard).  Their union was important in the Reformation because it set a precedent for marriage and family life in the clergy.   

 

Like all good tour guides, ours had a way of bringing history to life with knowledge, respect and a dash of humor.   She told us that Kathe was the practical woman behind the reformation, keeping the family afloat so her husband  could carry on  his work without thinking about the problems of everyday life.    She said "I think Luther's quote under their portraits above means that he appreciated her."    (It translates as: "I would not want to exchange my Kathe for France nor for Venice to boot." )  

This mosaic panel in the rectory depicts the ten commandments 

After our tour  we enjoyed a pleasant lunch on our own in a local restaurant before returning to the ship.    We were always happy with the quality of the meals on Viking, but it is also fun to eat where the locals eat.  We enjoyed both the food and the people watching. 

We learned something new, we ate good food, we got just enough of a walk in nice weather --all good parts of travel (and of life, really).  It was a good day.

 

LINKING this week to the following sharing opportunities.  Thank you to the hosts.

MOSAIC MONDAY;  THROUGH MY LENS;  TUESDAY TREASURES;   MY CORNER OF THE WORLD;  SIGNS SIGNS;    THANKFUL THURSDAY ; and SKYWATCH FRIDAY. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Autumn in Eugene

For various reasons, I've been slow documenting the  trips we've taken this summer.  This makes the blog seem as if we've been traveling for the whole time and that isn't really at all true.   As we always have done, we've   been enjoying our Oregon home most of the time.  

And our Eugene neighborhood has been particularly beautiful this month.

 

 

For awhile,  it looked like we wouldn't have any real Autumn color.  Summer was so hot and dry.  Late in  September, leaves on some of the trees in our neighborhood were turning dry and brown and falling before they showed any color at all. 

 

 

 

 That was sad, but now that at least some of the trees are showing off their Autumn glory, even the dry leaves on the ground are fun to see.  The crunchy noise as my feet shuffle along the sidewalk makes me feel like a kid again.  (But it is a good thing there are no big piles of leaves to jump in -- don't think I could perform that Fall ritual any more.)  

 

 

We don't have a whole lot of red color here.  Orange and glowing yellows are more prevalent.  Some late summer flowers are still putting on a good show.    And in every season here there is always green.

 

 

"I'm so glad I live in a world where there are Octobers."

Lucy Maude Montgomery - Anne of Green Gables.

 

 

So am I.  Grateful and happy to be here.

 

 

LINKING this week to the following sharing opportunities:  Thank you to all of the hosts.  And to all visitors.

MOSAIC MONDAY;   NATURE NOTES;  THROUGH MY LENS;  MY CORNER OF THE WORLD;   THANKFUL THURSDAY;  and SKYWATCH FRIDAY 

 

Sibling Road Trip - Bellevue Washington

We finished out the camping season last month by enjoying some more travel with the tiny trailer.  I'm calling this one the Sibling Road-Trip because we went from home  here in Oregon to the Seattle area (Washington State) for a great visit with my sister and brother-in-law and then across Washington into Northern Idaho for the same  with Bill's brother and sister-in-law at their floating cabin on Lake Chatcolet.    We enjoyed great catch-up times at both destinations and, as always, enjoyed the journey as well.

Here's a picture taken from our doorstep on our first night's stop:     

Mount Rainier, late afternoon in late September

This is why we like staying in our own home-away-from home.  You don't often get a view like this from a motel room.   

We met up with our family the next day.  It was a great catch-up time, enjoying good conversation and reminiscing, good meals, and exploring the area.     One day the four of us visited the Bellevue Botanical Gardens.   Below are pictures from a  beautiful bridge walkway built across a ravine in the 55-acre park.  

 

As the sign says, it's a taste of the wild side in the middle of the city.     

 

 

The whole park is  one of those places that always seem sort of magical to me because of being so close to a major metropolitan area, while feeling  as if you're miles away.  An easily accessible outdoor getaway for city-dwellers  -- and tourists as well.

October and November are Dahlia season in the Pacific Northwest  and the "tamer" area of the park had a beautifully groomed garden featuring these show-stoppers:

 

Who could fail to be cheered by these beautiful flowers.

 

 

Every variety and every color so photogenic.

      

 

 

We saw a few  deer as we wandered around the park and always enjoy these sightings . But the above sign (and chewed up hosta leaves) reminded me of why some gardeners aren't  happy to see them.     Obviously, this park wasn't going to stop the deer from snacking.     I'm sure the sign is to explain to the public that the plant damage isn't because the gardeners are neglecting their work.

 

 

The bees loved this flowering bush.  Plantings in the gardens were all those that would do well in Western Washington's  climate.      

We had a great couple of days, over all too soon, before we got back on the road.  I'll share some pictures from the other side of the State of Washington and neighboring Idaho in another post.  

 

LINKING this week to the following sharing opportunities:  Thank you to all of the hosts.

MOSAIC MONDAY;   NATURE NOTES;  THROUGH MY LENS;  MY CORNER OF THE WORLD; SIGNS SIGNS;  THANKFUL THURSDAY;  SKYWATCH FRIDAY;  and  SATURDAY CRITTERS    

The Port of Newport

The Port of Newport owns and manages Newport Marina for fishing fleets and pleasure boats just as you would expect of a Port District. 

Port of Newport Marina

They also have two RV parks and we were lucky to snag a last-minute reservation at the older of the two.  It's a very popular destination during the summer months and no wonder.   The RV facilities are well managed, clean and close to most of the good things Newport offers.   

 

NOAA headquarters, Newport

One of the most interesting tenants of  the Port District is The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Marine Operations Center - Pacific (NOAA MOC-P) .

It was quite a big deal for this port when it was awarded this lease back in 2008.  The other  finalists in the competitive bidding process were much larger cities, including Seattle Washington.      From all appearances  it seems the Port of Newport is up to the task.

 

 We often read about the important oceanic research and discoveries by NOAA marine scientists.   But it was interesting to see job postings for some of the many support people necessary to run the research ships.   Those workers also have to sign up for lengthy  sea voyages as these research ships travel the entire Pacific Ocean.   

We saw one ship pull into port and some of the crew disembark and head for the headquarters building with their suitcases.   I think there might be lodging for them there.  Thankful there are scientists and support staff to do this important work.

The Port also leases land to several commercial businesses.  The Rogue Brewing Company was one we patronized and enjoyed.  It was very easy walking distance from where we stayed. 

 

It's a fun place to eat located within a working  Brewery.  You enter through a silo doorway into the actual brewery and honestly do have to follow a maze to get to the upstairs pub tables where you have a nice view of the water while  enjoying dinner.      

  (In back of the brewery)

Here's a sunset picture from Newport Beach.  It was taken by our daughter-in-law who visited Newport the week after we did.

 

Sunset at Newport Beach

 We had taken the Florence-to-Coast Route from home to Newport but to make a circle we went inland further north when our visit was over.

I've always wanted to go to Boston, but we left Highway 20 quite a few miles before we reached it*.  (US Highway 20 begins here in Newport and eventually  goes all the way across the country to Boston.)  *Newport is less than 100 miles from Eugene.

 

LINKING this week to the following sharing opportunities:  Thank you to the hosts.

MOSAIC MONDAY;   NATURE NOTES;  THROUGH MY LENS; SIGNS SIGNS; MY CORNER OF THE WORLD;    THANKFUL THURSDAY;  and SKYWATCH FRIDAY 

 

 

A few days in Newport

We spent another few days on the Oregon Coast last week.  This time we drove North on the Coast Highway to the busy port city of Newport.  The c0ast route between Florence and Newport is beautiful.  There are good views of the Pacific the whole way and   numerous places to pull off for a longer look.

  

 

Newport is one of the larger and busier coastal towns in Oregon.  Besides beautiful ocean and bay views and a busy fishing port, it is the home of NOAA's Pacific Fleet and of the Mark Hatfield Marine Science Center  (Oregon State University's oceanic research facility).  We packed a lot into our three-night midweek getaway.  Here's some of it.

 

 

This iconic arch Bridge spans Yaquina Bay on the south side of the city.  It opened in 1936 and is one of eleven major bridges along the Coast Highway designed and built during the same era.

 

 

Our first morning we drove to Cobble Beach hoping to do some tide pool exploration, but we missed low tide.  (I sleep really well whenever we're at the Coast and the morning low tide happened before I wanted to open my eyes.  Sleep seemed more important.)  But a day with a view of the ocean  and a walk along the shore is never wasted.

 

Two not very good pictures but from the beach.   By zooming way in, I could see a whole lot of pelicans on one of the rock ridges and a  colony of common murres on a couple of others.   

 

None of the birds were accommodating enough to fly in for a close-up shot.   On the next day on the Bayfront, we got a nice close-up view of another sea creature:   

 

You can get up close and almost personal here with a whole bunch of California Sea Lions.  The picture above is a jetty  across from a dock where even more of them hang out.  There are hundreds of them between the two places.

 

 

It's hard to get a picture of one single animal no matter how you focus. They really like to hang out together.

Really really close together.

We spent some time the next day at the Hatfield Marine Science Center visitor center.   I got to take some good pictures of  tidepools there -- probably much better than I could have gotten exploring the pools at the beach.

 

 

 

 

There was a whole lot to see and learn at the Center.  Along with other Newport activities I have enough for a whole other post.  Sometime soon because this one is already quite long enough.

Here's an evening view of the same bridge in the top photo.  This one is from the RV Park where we stayed:

 

 

End of another perfect day.     

 

Linking this week to the following sharing opportunities:  Thank you to the hosts.

MOSAIC MONDAY;   NATURE NOTES; THROUGH MY LENS; TUESDAY TREASURES;   MY CORNER OF THE WORLD;   THANKFUL THURSDAY;  SKYWATCH FRIDAY;  and  SATURDAY CRITTERS    

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

River Elbe Cruise Part 2 (after Prague)

In blogland (as opposed to real life here in Oregon) we are time-traveling back to June. 

After our days spent on our own in the Czech Republic,  the Viking River Cruise we had scheduled began with a  night's stay in the Prague Hilton Hotel and an evening tour in Prague (this post).   The next morning, we embarked by Viking bus  to Bad Schandau in the Saxon area of Germany.  Our ship was docked there on the River Elbe. 

We crossed the border into Germany less than an hour and a half after our bus departed from the hotel.      

Bastei National Park  -- above the Elbe in Germany's Sandstone Mountains.

 Before we reached our ship, we had about three hours to spend on an excursion stop at Bastei National Park.    We found good walking paths and some lovely viewpoints of the river valley from the top of the trail and admired the craggy rock formations  formed by water erosion over a million years ago.   

 

Bad Schandeau -- across from where our room was on the Beyla

In the afternoon, we boarded the River Ship Beyla.  The picture above was the view across the Elbe from our stateroom -- I never did find out exactly what this building was, but it certainly made us feel as if we lived temporarily in a very interesting neighborhood.   While we slept that night, our ship traveled along the Elbe to dock near Dresden where we awoke the next morning.

Not my photo -- from Viking Website

We spent all of that day walking around Dresden and I am sad to say I have no pictures to show because my camera ran out of battery while we were there (I'm pretty sure the pictures I took before I realized I was out of juice were the best ones I've ever taken).  I can't even find a picture  in the public domain which looks anything like what we saw. 

It was here in Dresden where the tragic events of WWII were most evident.    This beautiful city was nearly  totally destroyed during WWII -- over 25,000 people were killed in one day of allied bombing raids.  Almost beyond comprehension.  The museum complex and Halls at the Center of the City (where we spent most of our time) are still being restored.  This is partly because following  the war, when East Germany was absorbed into the USSR, those in charge definitely did not think  architecture and history were worth remembering or restoring.  In other parts of Dresden and all of the other cities we saw in the former east Germany, there are blocks of Soviet era housing and office complexes still standing.  I'll just say they are not photo-worthy.   

Zwinger Museum area Dresden (Not my photo, from Wikipedia)

 Here in the heart of Dresden, there was construction equipment working as we walked but also much of the re-created Baroque architecture, statues and so forth are completed so it is possible to imagine what it used to be.   

(Viking Photo, Elbe River ship)

Sadly, during the ship debriefing the night before, we had learned that the water  level on the Elbe was so low that  water travel between Dresden and Wittenberg (which was to be our next port of call) had been cancelled by River authorities, so our ship would not be able to proceed.  Viking has plans in place for this eventuality  however.   There is an identical Viking river ship which takes the exact same route only from the  other end of the cruise.  So at the point where water traffic was stopped, there would be a passenger exchange.   Both ships are configured exactly alike.  The night before, we packed the little bit we'd already unpacked on our one night aboard and put our suitcases in the hall.  Had a lovely meal in the ship's dining room, charged the camera, slept well and embarked after breakfast the next morning on a road trip instead of on the water.

 Our tour stop that day was in the town of Meissen.

 

Meissen Porcelain Factory

On arrival, we were met by tour guides for the Meissen Porcelain Factory and Museum where we had demonstrations of the steps  that go into the fine craftsmanship of these beautiful pieces.    

 

In the Museum, we admired  some of the more exclusive custom creations.   I had to tear myself away from admiring the birds. The picture shows only a portion of  this installation.   

View from our state room on the Astrild

When we arrived at our port in Wittenberg we found our luggage waiting on board the River Ship Astrild in what was exactly the same stateroom and location we'd had on  the other ship -- it was a little surreal but all well handled by Viking.  For the rest of our time on this "cruise,"  our stateroom and the entire ship really became a floating hotel as it remained in this dock and we traveled by bus and motor coach to the remaining destinations.

  

It's possible to see from these last two pictures how low the Elbe was -- the water is supposed to be at least up to the green and white pole you can see on this point of land.    It was disappointing not to enjoy cruising on this beautiful river, but we understood  that a boat could not possibly travel on this low water.  Also of course while understanding that it was not under Viking's control, it was fairly obvious to us that the company knew about the problem with the water level well in advance of our arrival for our river cruise.  We were still were able to enjoy all of the amenities of the ship. Viking does do an excellent job of that.  We were able to visit all of the ports of call and take the daily excursions, but did not get the river trip we were anticipating.

It is important, I think, to be flexible anytime in traveling, whether on our own or with others -- it's not always possible to plan for every eventuality. 

We know we are fortunate to be able to do what we do and I don't take any of that for granted. 

 

Sharing these first three tour stops with the following link-ups.  Thank you to the hosts.

MOSAIC MONDAY;   THROUGH MY LENS; TUESDAY TREASURES; MY CORNER OF THE WORLD;   THANKFUL THURSDAY;  SKYWATCH FRIDAY;  and  SATURDAY CRITTERS    

Summer before it sizzled

Eugene Oregon is seriously HOT  right now.  We are also under a hazardous air quality alert because of a  wildfire in the eastern sections of Lane County, so I'm posting some memories from the earlier and prettier part of the season.       

Just like for almost everywhere these days, extreme heat and wildfire are both pretty much normal now for at least part of our summer months.   The current fires are not a danger to us here in the City, except for the smoke and air inversion.    We can only offer hope for the people affected by the flames.  For our own health, we stay indoors as much as possible.  Instead of any new day trips,  one of us is planning for the future and the other is documenting the past.   As usual,  I'm the memory person and Bill is the planner, but we do work together on both.   

All of the pictures in this post are very recent memories.  I'm still working on some posts from our June trip.  The ones directly below are from our son-in-law and daughter's yard back in July:

 

The butterfly was quite cooperative taking its time at each nectar stop.  I'm usually not that lucky with these flighty beauties.

 

 

The pictures below are even more recent -- from our trip to the Coast earlier this month.  (We probably should have stayed there -- it is always cooler at the Ocean!)  To be perfectly honest, even without the heat and smoke we would probably be staying close to home right now anyway.  We actually do a lot of that -- I just don't often blog about it.

 

 

This is Simpson Beach at Shore Acres State Park.  The  eerie tree trunk in the center picture is along the path leading from the beach to the "tamer" part of the Park.

 

 

At the end of one of the forested paths from the beach viewpoint, you arrive at this small gate.  On the other side, in just a few yards, you are in the middle of the precisely landscaped gardens of Shore Acres.   The entire park, including the beach, forest, lawns and gardens, was once the estate of  the Simpson lumber baron family.  Heirs donated the property to the State for public use.

 

 

We were kind of between flowering seasons at the Gardens, but there is always beautiful color and the Japanese-style garden and pond are so calm and restful.    We visit Shore Acres almost every summer -- one of my favorite State Parks.  I like the combination of wild and tame.

 

Store front mural, Bandon Oregon

I am grateful  for the memories  and enjoy planning for future ones.  But this week I'm especially grateful for   not-so-simple things that don't get blogged about -- the shade trees around our home that keep the outside temperature a little lower than the official reading and  the air conditioner and air purifier that continue to keep it comfortable indoors.  

LINKING THIS WEEK (and next) to these sharing opportunities:  

THANKFUL THURSDAY;   SKYWATCH FRIDAY;   SATURDAY CRITTERS ; MOSAIC MONDAY;  NATURE NOTES;  THROUGH MY LENS;  and MY CORNER OF THE WORLD      

Present at the Oregon Coast ...

(... or a present of the Oregon Coast. ) 

I've been blogging about our June trip to far-away shores and still have more  to remember about that vacation, but this week is all about the present -- or at least a little closer to it. 

 

 

Yes, it's  the beautiful Oregon Coast -- we just got home from a perfect week at the Pacific Ocean.   It really was a gift (another meaning of the word 'present').

 

(not either of us on the kayak)

We camped in the tiny trailer, staying for three nights in Florence (Oregon) and then moving south to Coos Bay.  By doing day-trips from these two locations, we easily explored the stretch of Ocean Beaches and charming coastal towns between Yachats (north of Florence) to Bandon (south of Coos Bay). 

For context, Florence is only about 60 miles west of Eugene, where we live.  At the Coast, the distance along US 101 (the Coast Highway) from Yachats to Bandon is  less than 100 miles.  A lot to see not too far from home.  We are grateful for that.  

 

The sea lions and rocky beaches above are at Simpson Reef, south of Coos Bay.

 

Bandon Lighthouse 

The weather was pretty much perfect every day -- blue sky and not too hot.    Those kind of days are always a blessing -- but especially nowadays.   (The wind does blow -- it is the Coast after all.) 

Oysters!  

Top left is the Umpqua Triangle Oyster Farm south of Winchester Bay.  On the right two views of an oyster shell mound at Clausan's  near North Bend, where we like to go to enjoy a fresh seafood dinner right from the source! The picnic tables are empty because it was too windy to eat outdoors on that day --  thankfully they've recently added a few indoor tables.  Then, on the way home yesterday, we stopped at the Fisherman's Seafood Market in Coos Bay  to bring home a taste or two of the ocean (sign at lower left).  

 

 

 I really do like everything about the Oregon Coast.  Even this seaweed-coated rock under a bridge boardwalk in Bandon made me smile.

   Rocky Coast line near Bandon

A calm day  on the Pacific Ocean 

 

Sharing these gifts from the Oregon Coast with the following:  

MOSAIC MONDAY;   NATURE NOTES;   MY CORNER OF THE WORLD;  TUESDAY TREASURES; THANKFUL THURSDAY;  SKYWATCH FRIDAY; and SATURDAY CRITTERS

Thank you to the hosts.