Head Over Heels in Oregon – Sister Trip + 1 – Sept. 2020

A friend at the gym told me about his rental on the Oregon Coast and since we wanted something different this year, we made a fortunate decision to go there.  The house offered privacy, social distancing, a beautiful beach and access to many places to hike/visit.  Jolee joined us this year and she added much to the frivolity.  We were lucky all the way around. (Click on a photo if you wish to see more detail)

An Ashland, OR park.  We didn’t know that Ashland had been hit very hard by a fire just a day or two before, but we learned that as we left town.  Entire neighborhoods had been burned to the ground.  Fire were still burning in the Cascades and other places that caused us to be diverted from our original route.  Jolee and her trusty phone rerouted us and we arrived at our house not much later than originally planned.

This road sign (on the street) is in Port Orford).  It greatly amused us.

Of course, we had to drive over the hill and check the view.  I’m sure the view is generally beautiful but, on this day, it was filled with smoke.

The landmark for our house.

The Tale of the Whale gate to the house.  (These photos were taken at different times and the smoke is more apparent in some than others)

View of the house from the gate.

Berries growing right beside the driveway.  They were tasty!

This house was so nice and comfy.

Our first tourist stop was the bookstore in Gold Beach.  Wow!  It gives Powell’s in Portland a run for its money.

Jerri & Elvis

The Gleesome Threesome in Bandon, OR posing with a sculpture made from ocean trash. We had fun visiting many cute shops.  Pretty smoky that day.

Jolee wondered if this farm actually raised dragonflies and turned off the highway to check it out.

We were met by the next sign shortly after our turn.  This was great cause for hilarity.

Eerie fog creeping over the highway.

Our visit to the Prehistoric Gardens was fun and a bit mysterious.

Jerri and Jolee are quite unaware of danger in the background.

All the little kids we saw were enthralled by these sculptured critters.

2 triceratops hatchlings

Jolee is too close to the mama triceratops!

3 serious folks waiting for a streetcar.

Wouldn’t want to meet this guy on a dark trail.

Our favorite place was Otter Point to see critters; otters, seals, dolphins, seabirds and some we hadn’t expected to see…a colony of giant slugs!

Shades of UC Santa Cruz – a banana slug!

A vulture (but we like to call them buzzards) flew over me but this was best shot available.  (Gracias, RDS)

An osprey having a fish dinner

Otter Point arch – The otters, seals and dolphins were just too far away and weren’t posing for us.

We even found a Jolee peeking out.

Beach view of our house. Sadly, we didn’t think to take one when it was sunny.

Jerri’s driftwood that Jolee hauled up to the house.

Pelicans flying along our beach. I love seeing then skim along the water surface.

Rogue River Bridge

Near the bridge is the Mary D. Hume, a steamer built in Gold Beach in 1881. She was retired in 1977 and then sank in the Rogue River in 1985 where she remains today.

We hiked to see the Thomas Creek Bridge, the highest bridge in all of Oregon…345′ tall. I was disappointed that this is all we could see without going down to the bottom of the canyon. My knees won’t do that any more.

Part of the trail was rough.

Three on the trail.

Jolee took a 4-hour hike on a steep trail on Humbug Mountain.

She said it was pretty along the trail along with obstacles to get around, such as this giant fallen tree.  Jerri and I stayed home, walked on the beach, read our books and worked on a jigsaw puzzle.

Back on our beach – the first sunny morning.

Looking north from the house

A beach plant surviving in the sand

Jolee enjoying a taste of the grape

3 weirdos on the deck

We had to go south to McKinleyville, CA on Hwy 101 in order to avoid the Oregon fires.  We were very excited to see 6 elk along the way.   Here is a grazing elk bull.

We took a detour on the way home to see a cousin we hadn’t seen in many years.  This was in Nubieber, CA.  Most folks don’t know about that town, but it’s east of Redding.  Cousin Lee took great pride in showing us his wood projects.  I must say they are really amazing.  These are working models, by the way.

Lee is holding his model of the metamorphosis of a tomato worm.  This is significant because his dad grew many varieties of tomatoes and, of course, had to deal with these pests.