Florence

 I need to keep more current on this blog, I forget what we did last week, what we saw, what we thought, what we ate!    

Today we're in the front row at Harborview RV Park in little Garibaldi.   This is a great small park with well tended grass and gravel sites, wonderful management and a fantastic view out the windshield. 

the historic coast guard boat house, viewed from site 24

scenic train on it's way

We're near train tracks, but they are a pleasant addition to our experience.    A small, scenic train pulled by a steam locomotive takes passengers around the bay in vintage passenger cars.    Instead of the normal roaring diesel and blasting horns  we're treated to the sounds of the old locomotive and it's steam powered horn signals as they pass by and out of sight.   

Our drive here from Florence on Friday was extremely unpleasant.   Dave dealt with rain, wind, ocean mist, narrow roads with sharp drop-offs right on the white line and plenty of traffic (Fifth wheels, loaded log trucks, etc.) 

We arrived in a downpour and Dave had to angle Beluga sharply in the site to keep us from stepping out into a rapidly forming lake......

We've enjoyed a mixture of heavy rain, fog and even some breaks of blue sky and warmth.    Our stay isn't a long one and we really only had one decent day to explore the area.    The forecast was for a short break in the precipitation so we decided not to take the 60 mile Three Capes Scenic Loop.   No fun trying to see through the fog/drizzle and no hopes of getting out to hike to the viewpoints.      

Garibaldi harbor seen from across Tillamook Bay

As we drove into the area on Friday I saw a HUGE building in the distance.   AIR MUSEUM was painted on the rusty side and we wanted to go back and see what it was.

It turns out that this museum is housed in an original Navy air base dirigible hanger.    We drove back to check it out more closely.

It was enormous!   I looked at the list of planes on display inside and we both decided it wasn't for us.    The planes were nothing out of the ordinary and the museum didn't look very well kept or interesting.   I may be wrong but at any rate, we continued on our way.     We realized that we just aren't motivated on dunkel days...we seem to be more apt to pass things up rather than exploring under grey skies.

We drove past the Tillamook Cheese Factory but there was a ridiculously long line of folks waiting outside and we're still not in to sharing experiences with that many other folks so we continued right by. The recommended Blue Heron French Cheese Company didn't look much better.   sigh.

Luckily the skies cleared late yesterday afternoon and we enjoyed a sunny happy hour, loving our  view from Beluga's front seats (it was too chilly to sit outside).

We had a yummy dinner (take-out) from the Garibaldi Portside Bistro, just a short walk away.    Today, surprise, it's raining again so we're staying in and taking care of business.    We leave in the morning, heading for Ft. Steven's State Park, near Astoria (fresh Tuna fish and chips at the Bowpicker - drool)    It will be our last stop on the Oregon Coast.

So....Florence.   This post is titled "Florence" so let me go back to it.....

We've been there many times before, it's one of our favorite places.   Plenty of ocean beach access, the Suislaw river,  fantastic, changing sand dunes, pretty Adirondack looking lakes, good grocery shopping, a number of great restaurants (ice cream too at BJ's) and a relatively short drive into Eugene (for their legendary farmers market)  plus, the sweet spots available at the Elks Lodge's dedicated campground (Judd Huntington Recreation area) make it a no brainer for us.

pretty but smelly Broom frames the high dunes

birds are not safe on the ground when Lew is around....

Bascule bridge over the Suislaw River in Florence

   

I never tire of  patterns in sand

he chases sticks too!

dunes to the river

Heceta lighthouse through the sea mist on the beach below

spooky Darlingtona Californicas - protected carnivorous plants

beautiful fungi growing up a tree trunk

beside the river

first course outside one of our favorite restaurants (1285 Restobar)

first course at another favorite spot 
(dates stuffed with hazelnuts under balsamic drizzle)

oh Dave.....

fragrant beach roses

sticks are made for throwing or...chewing

Eugene Farmers Market

nearby

pretty Mercer Lake

whatcha lookin at.....

cave study in black and green

So, that was Florence in pictures.     Stay tuned for Astoria.

beauty even in the rain.....