Monday, May 28, 2007

Covered Bridges in Oregon

We read in a "tourist" magazine that there were three covered bridges in Lane County, Oregon which is where we are, so today we took off in search of them. I have to tell you that today was one of a few really nice days since we've been on the Oregon coast - the sky was clear and the sun bright. The temperatures were in the 60's, which for here is great! I can hardly wait for 70's and 80's again though as I feel like my fingers and toes haven't been warm for over a week!

OK, back to the bridges. We took off this morning determined that we would see all three and following the less than specific directions like "watch for big red barn almost on road" we found them.

The first bridge - Deadwood Creek Covered Bridge - this bridge was built in 1932 and is 105 feet in length. When you look at the picture, you'll notice that the bridge floor is banked. This is the first wooden bridge that I've seen built this way. The reason in the tourist magazine is "built with banked wooden floorboards to keep vehicles from sliding as the entered rapidly along the curve". I question the entering rapidly into a one lane bridge! Oh well, it certainly made it different from any other covered bridge I've seen.

Deadwood Creek Covered Bridge and Siuslaw River....



Next we were in search of Nelson Mountain/Lake Creek Covered Bridge. This is the one that included in the directions "watch for an enormous old red barn on the right, practically in the road". Gotta love the directions. No problem though, we found it after avoiding running into the enormous old red barn that was practically in the road - haha. This bridge was built in 1928, and then was rebuilt in 1984 after sustaining damage from flooding and log trucks. It's different because it now has a concrete floor.

Nelson Mountain/Lake Creek Covered Bridge....



On to the third bridge, Wildcat Creek Covered Bridge which was built in 1925 and is 75 feel in length. We were directed to turn on Stagecoach Road for a drive that will take us "back in time" where we would be able to "sense the ghosts of stagecoaches past". Whatever! I was driving and I'll tell you, I would not do this drive again in the dully. A small car, yes, a big truck - NO! The road was paved for about the first five miles then turned to gravel, but that's not bad. We followed a creek and the railroad tracks which we must have crisscrossed at least 6 times. When the road turned to gravel, it also became narrow, but the best was yet to come. About 2 - 3 miles further into this journey we climbed above the creek and railroad tracks on a road that was, in spots, just wide enough for our dully. I'm talking looking down on the right side about 30 - 50 feet straight down and no guard rails, no shoulder, and on the left side was sheer cliff. I just knew I was going to meet a log truck or worse! This went on for about 15 more miles with some spots with highway warning signs where the road had washed out on the right side - scary. Well, we managed to get almost to the bridge and sure enough, here comes a truck right at me. Thank goodness it was a regular size pickup and he was at a wider spot in the road. He literally was hugging the rock wall and I think my right rear outside tire was off the pavement as we passed with just enough room to place a sheet of paper between us. But on we went, now very determined to find this darn bridge, no matter what! Finally it came into view in all it's splendor - well, there it was anyway. We parked the truck and got our pictures. I looked past the bridge and don't you know it, there was the major highway from Florence - grrrr. Nothing was mentioned in the article that you could reach this bridge from the highway. Well, guess what? We opted to get on the highway to come back to Florence, instead of retracing our tire tracks. To bad though, as during the drive to the bridge, we passed so many different wildflowers that I was going to take pictures of on the return trip, along with small waterfalls that were running down the cliffs. It really was a beautiful country, make that a deep country, drive and one that I'll remember for a long time to come.

Wildcat Creek Covered Bridge....



Side view of Wildcat Creek Covered Bridge.....



Look at the size of these tree roots......





You can access all the pictures at : http://picasaweb.google.com/SchultzTravelPhotos/2007_05_28CoveredBridgesOfLaneCoWA

At least I hope the link works. Otherwise, you can access our albums by typing the address above only stopping after SchultzTravelPhotos.

Thursday, May 24, 2007

Oregon Hwy 101 - Florence to Waldport

Yesterday afternoon we drove north on Hwy 101 to Waldport for the purpose of taking some pictures. As luck would have it, the further north we got, the more overcast it became. Even though we did get some pictures, we decided this morning to drive back north as far as Yachats and then head back south, stopping at most of the State Parks and Waysides and a lot of the pullouts, which are on the west side of the highway. It is such a beautiful drive and even though we have driven it three times this week, I haven't tired of the views yet. At some points you are high up on a hill and when you come around the curve, there is the ocean below you. Absolutely breathtaking! I'm going to let this entry be more of a picture journal. The biggest problem will be in deciding which one to put here - well here goes.....

Seal Beach & looking north to Yachats, OR....


Wildflowers and the beach....


More wildflowers....


Devils churn.....at low tide....

Sea Lions - they love these rocks.....


This restaurant is in Florence, certainly different.....



And here we are inside enjoying a good meal....neat hot rod - huh?

This morning, we notice a fog out over the water while driving north. When we arrived at Neptune we saw this. It is a light fog created by the difference in the water and air temperature. It was very strange walking through it as you really felt no moisture in the air. The first picture has a fresh water stream in the foreground that is emptying into the ocean.


Just some beach.........


There is always a wind along the beach and therefore, a lot of the taller shrubs and smaller trees look like this one .....


This is another fresh water stream or creek (pronounced krick by the ranger) flowing down the beach to the ocean - very cold water!



Makes a very large fresh water bird bath......

We stopped at the same lookout as yesterday to check on the Sea Lions and yep, there were there....
The dunes at the south end of Oregon Dunes Natl. Park.
Thats all for now folks........

Sunday, May 20, 2007

Drive to Coos Bay, OR

Yesterday we drove south about 50 miles to Coos Bay. Our purpose was to get Dean's prescriptions filled at Wal-Mart since there are no CVS stores in Oregon or Washington state.



The drive was a very nice one, passing through several small towns, along lots of sand dunes, some glimpses of the Pacific Ocean and along several lakes. Going south we spotted another lighthouse which meant we had to stop for a picture. This one was at Yaquina Bay. It sits inside a state park by the same name. I was surprised at how many houses were in the lighthouse compound. If I had to guess, I would say at least 10. They all seemed occupied, and apparently they either work at the lighthouse or at the state park.

One thing that we have noticed is that Oregon has protected a lot of the coast line from commercial growth by establishing state parks all along the coast. This, in my opinion, is a wonderful thing. To many coastlines in the U.S. have been overdeveloped and the beauty is gone, but not here. Many of the state parks have campgrounds which we have not checked out yet. There are also a lot of day use areas. To bad more states didn't do this before it was to late.

The Yaquina Lighthouse - still a working one......

One of the many sand dune trails with the surf in the background.

We have seen several of these signs along Hwy 101...

Friday, May 18, 2007

A Cloudy But Nice Day

We decided this morning to take a drive north on Hwy 101, the coastal road. We had several reasons for doing this, one - sightseeing, two - stop to talk to the people at the RV Service Center that is going to do the repair on our Dometic refrig., and third - we wanted to see Whalers Rest, the 1000 Trails park that we have scheduled for two weeks, over Memorial Day Weekend.

I'll start with # 3 first. We're so glad that we decided to check out Whalers Rest. It's not a really bad place if you don't want to set up your Datastorm or DirectTV dish. Also, in most all of the park we had no cell service. We did find about 4 sites that maybe and that's a BIG maybe, we could get signal for the internet/TV through the trees. There were several sites that also were very close together and I don't like that. After we left the park we began talking and now I believe, if it works out, that we will stay in Florence at S. Jetty until after Memorial Day. Our site here is perfect with a clear shot at the southern sky for the dish and great cell service. I'll let you know how it works out.

Next is reason # 2. We wanted to check this service center out before taking our 5'er there. The reason - we wanted to be assured that this was indeed a reputable center and also we needed an idea of how long it would take for the "fix" to be done. Everything here looked good and we do have an appointment. Of course, we will have to change it if we end up staying at South Jetty!

Now on to the priority reason - sightseeing. As you saw a few posts back, we did find a beach area just north of Florence. Up to that point, Hwy 101 was in the mountains/hills and we saw no Pacific Ocean. Well, I'll tell you that after leaving Florence and driving north just a few miles and around a couple more hills, bam, there was the ocean. From that point on up to Newport, Hwy 101 was a beautiful drive. Ocean, cliffs, towns and even two tsunami warning areas - yes, you read right, tsunami. I'd never seen a highway sign warning like that before. I was going to stop and take a picture of the sign on our way back, but the rain had set in and it was just to cold to get out in it.

On our way north we came to the Sea Lion Cave attraction. Of course, since I was driving, we stopped. Well, it was worth it to see the Sea Lions in their natural habitat. There must have been about 200 of these creatures lying on the rocks, below the lookout and several in the cave. To access the cave they have an elevator that takes you down 400 feet to the cave. I'm posting a couple of pictures of the Sea Lions - click on them to enlarge them. Unfortunately, the one in the cave is just a bit blurry but you can still make them out. In the cave picture the Sea Lion on the right was a male and that was his rock and no one got on unless he wanted them there, and oh yes, no other males were allowed, only females. There is a nominal charge for this attraction, but well worth the price.
This sign has some interesting information about the sea lions..
All the brown, tan, white spots are sea lions....

The big guy on the right - he the man! The little lady on top of the rock was hollering for attention.

Looking south down the coast from the Sea Lion Cave...
Heceta Head Lighthouse, just north of Florence....
Yaqina Head Lighthouse, just north of Newport....
Check back often as I don't know what else we will be doing while in this area. The weather report for the next 10 days isn't really great - cool temps in the low 60's, so that may determine what we do. Till next time.....

Thursday, May 17, 2007

Posting Error

The two previous posts are in reverse order. Hope I don't confuse anyone to bad, but if I do, well, welcome to my world - haha.

Jet Boat Ride In Grants Pass

We met Susan of http://roadtraveler.typepad.com/happytrails yesterday afternoon to take the 4 hour Hellsgate Jet Boat tour on the Rogue River. I have to tell you, I was really looking forward to this adventure, but at the same time, I had heard that you get really wet and I wasn't looking forward to that. The driver was very informative and we saw so many different birds, plants, nests and some animals. I was amazed at how much he knew about the plants and trees along the river. I was further amazed at how well he knew the river, which was a good thing as there were a lot of areas that the rock were only inches below the water and as he told us, hit one of those and the aluminum boat would just roll up like the top of a sardine can. Boy that analogy really made me feel safe. We actually travel 16 miles up river to a area called Hell's Gate, then came back down river a short distance to a open air lodge for a wonderful meal that included a relish tray, salad, BBQ ribs and chicken, veggies, potato's, cornbread, biscuts and dessert. It was all served family style and trust me, you had plenty to eat. After dinner, we boarded the boats for the return trip to Grants Pass. On the way back the driver did about four 360 degree spins. Sure was fun until the water came over the side of the boat. Fortunately, I was sitting in the middle so I didn't get real wet, but Susan had her right side dripping. He, the driver, also opened throttle and we were probably hitting close to 50 mph at one point - talk about fun! I would do it again, only on a warmer day.
Here is a picture of the boat arriving from the late morning run.....



Here's Susan, she is sitting on the right side facing front and yes, she did get wet, but this was taken at the dock before we left.......


Some of the ripples on the water - there were area's of more white water, but from where I was sitting it was hard to get a picture of them.....


This was so cute, 6 adult geese with soooo many babies. It was fun watching them keep them all in line.....


This is the Hell's Gate area of the river - narrow and very, very rocky. You really have to know the river to go through.......


This is the open air lodge where we enjoyed a delicious dinner.....


On the way back to town, the driver kept telling us to watch for the goats. We spotted them along the hillside - the brown one is female and the white one is a male........


We had met Susan for a late breakfast at Denny's and that was a treat. I just love when you can put a real person to a name that you know from a blog or email or whatever. It was great meeting her and I'm just sorry that her husband, Jack couldn't be there also. We look forward to meeting up with them again at some time in the future.

Grants Pass to Florence, Oregon

This morning we began our journey to the Pacific Coast. We traveled north on I-5 for about 40 miles then took a cut-off road to OR 38. Of course we had a lot of ups and downs again on the interstate, I think there were four summits, all with 6% downgrades - fun. After getting off the interstate, the going was a lot smoother, some small hills, but nothing big. On both roads we were in the valley's following a river. It was really pretty with the hills filled with various trees and the fields and the river. On Rt. 38 we came to an area that had signs for elk viewing. Well, we had been seeing signs for miles to be aware of elk so we really didn't pay attention and didn't stop. Well, just a short piece down the road, there they were - about 20 elk laying in a field! Fortunately there was a pull off and dean was able to get in and stopped. I took a picture but again, I need a better zoom lens.

When we reached Hwy 101, the coastal road, I figured we would begin to see the Pacific Ocean - NOT!!! A lot more hills and millions of pine trees as we traveled north about 30 miles toward Florence.
We found the 1000 Trails South Jetty Preserve without any problem and were directed to a great site where we had no problem getting internet and tv signal with the dish.

After getting set up and having a bite to eat, we took a drive through Florence to see if there was a Wal-Mart and what else might be there. No Wal-Mart, but we came across our first Fred Meyer's store. I really liked it and will return before we leave here on Sunday.

This weekend is the Rhoddy, (Rhododendron) Festival in Florence and we will probably go see what it is all about. The area is absolutely filled with the beautiful flowers. I'll try to get some pictures to post with the Festival pictures that I'm sure I'll take.

OK, now to todays pictures....


View of the river as we were driving along side......



Another view......further down river...


The elk laying in the field - click on picture to enlarge it....


There is an ocean on this side of the country.....


Our site at South Jetty 1000 Trails.....


There is much to do in this area, but the weather will have to warm up before we venture out to do much. Check back to see what we decide....

Tuesday, May 15, 2007

Drive from Fallon, NV to Grants Pass, OR

Monday morning we bit farewell to Fallon NAS, NV heading for Chico, CA for the night. This meant that we had to cross over Donner Pass in CA. The climb really wasn't that bad, and we knew that the road was clear - it hadn't snowed there for over a week. We stopped at the rest area where I took these pictures. As you can see, there was still some snow in the area.

This morning we left Chico, CA heading north toward Oregon. The scenery has really changed - no more desert brown and rocks. Now we are seeing more green fields, lots of orchards and trees - wow - real trees! The drive north on I-5 is very scenic, but also it has a lot of ups and downs. Dean, fortunately, does most of the driving while towing but today I said that I would take over if he wanted a break. Dumb me!!! I took over the rig driving before we left CA and little did we know what was ahead. I don't remember the name of the pass, but it was climb, climb, climb then down, down, down for about 12 miles at a 6% grade or more. That was the last time I offer while we are in the mountains.
Now, back on track. We passed by Shasta Lake and I snapped this picture while on the go. The lake is quite large and very pretty.
Then this came into view - Mt. Shasta at over 14, 000 feet high. What a beautiful sight it was, pictures just do the same as seeing it in person. You don't get the same perspective. But since your not here, I hope you enjoy the pictures.
Our first good view....
A little closer....
Even closer....
It was so pretty, even the other side as we drove around it....
Took these picture from the rest area on the north side of Mt. Shasta. Notice the aircraft in the second picture - there was a airstrip right by the rest area.
We are now parked at Jakes Landing RV Park in Grants Pass, OR. Will be here for two night. Tomorrow we are doing a jet boat tour of the Rouge River. We are also meeting Susan, another RV'er whose blog I follow, for lunch. Unfortunately, her husband, Jack, will not be joining us as he is visiting his father. I'm really looking forward to meeting Susan though and someday we will meet up with both of them, somewhere down the road.
Check back soon for more of our adventures.