I Bought A Cat!

 I figure that if one is going to be going to the Northwest, one should maybe start on the West Coast with the Pacific Ocean. I don't know that much about the coast so I picked a spot in what they call the Central Coast of Oregon. That way, depending on how the wind blows, I could go either north or south and get a feel for all things coastal. 

I settled on the town of Florence, a small little artsy town. The rhododendrons were blooming and the Rhody Festival was about to begin. The Rhody Festival has been going on since 1908. Down in the Old Town, Bay Street is where the trendy restaurants, souvenir shops and some pretty nice art galleries all exist.

The Siuslaw River Bridge
Built in 1936, it is a Art Deco drawbridge

He is a big boy - 14" tall and made out of clay.
I don't know where I am going to put him but I just thought he was very very striking. 

Down the road from where I camped, within walking distance, was Darlingtonia Wayside. This was the home of the flesh-eating Cobra Lily, named because it looks like a cobra.

  

Up the road a bit is Cape Perpetua. To get to it you need to drive along Highway 101 which is nestled between the ocean and some major big cliffs. Did I mention tight little curves that needed to be carefully navigated. I saw my first glimpse of the ocean as I rounded one of those curves – it was beautiful – at least for the nanosecond I was able to see it. One needed to really concentrate on one's driving if one wanted to survive the journey. It is times like this when it sure woulda been nice to have a copilot along. Cape Perpetua is part of the Siuslaw National Forest and as such, it had a visitor center. I resisted the urge to ask for a Junior Ranger booklet and chatted with the rangers about what I needed to see and do. They suggested that I hike down along the shore to see the tide pools and after that I needed to drive up the mountain to the very top because the views were to die for. Best views on the whole Oregon coast, they said.

I followed their suggestions – the tidal pools were empty but it was nice to be out and about, smelling the sea air and watching the waves crash on the rocks. When I drove up the mountain, the view was great until the fog rolled in.

Up there on that hill is where I'm going

Not too shabby of a view

Getting Foggy

The View
That is not blue sky, that is fog! Not much to see here folks!