Oregon Coast

After our fishing trip, it was time to do a bit of serious touristing. John and Karen both made fun of my tourist outfit.

We piled into John's new truck and headed North for a view of the shoreline around Reedsport and Florence.

There are so many beautiful spots, that one could never see them all on any trip. We drove up to the Dean Wildlife area to see the Roosevelt Elk that were out in the field, resting up from the recent breeding season.

The Roosevelt are the biggest species of Elk, weighing in over 1000 lbs for the Bulls.

I kept waiting for that "sneaker wave" that would drench this guy.

 The grain on this stump was really remarkable. I "think" it was a Monterrey Cypress. It was more than 6 feet through at the base.

This area is just below Yachats. You can see the coastal fortifications on the brow of the hill behind John.

 On our way back we stopped in at Winchester to pick up some more Oysters for our evening dinner.

Our next excursion was to Shore Acres, a formal garden that was put in the former estate of the Simpson family. Here is a copy of a description of the estate found on Bing.

" Shore Acres began as a private estate with luxurious gardens featuring trees, shrubs, and flowering plants brought from around the world aboard the sailing ships of pioneer lumberman and shipbuilder Louis J. Simpson.
Simpson developed the summer home into a showplace three-story mansion complete with a heated, indoor swimming pool and a large ballroom. The grounds contained five acres of formal gardens, including a Japanese-style garden built around a 100-foot lily pond.
When fire destroyed the mansion in 1921, Simpson began to build an even larger replacement - two stories high and 224 feet long. However, financial losses in the 1930s caused both house and grounds to fall into disrepair. In 1942, Simpson's beloved Shore Acres was purchased by the state of Oregon for use as a public park."

One of the first places that we went of course was to the bathrooms. Karen found this hat, that had obviously been left behind. I suggested that she wear it, so that if the owner saw it, she would have a chance to reclaim it. Karen refused as she has a problem looking ridiculous. I, of course do not have that problem, so off we went on our tour.

finely back in the part that features only new Roses, was a bench with four women resting there. One, an older lady, perked up and exclaimed  "He has my hat". I of course being of a suspicious nature, made her describe it in detail, as I didn't want to give it to the wrong person. We all had a good visit and laughs.

Yes, I did smell the Roses.

Then it was time to visit the shoreline.

The trees are all very large and interesting.

We had some great weather for our visit. We also went "clamming" on the flats at Charleston. The tides weren't all that low, but we had no problem in gathering our limits. I dug some "Empires" along with the bay clams. Empires are the biggest variety available, some going some 6 or more inches long. They live in the mud about 2 feet under the surface. I found the next day some evidence that I might be getting on in years when my mud fingers were swelled up and sore. Sigh! Oh well, nothing lasts forever.

Finally on Friday the weather changed, and a storm started moving in. There was a storm warning for winds up to 50 MPH sustained, and it began raining. I was sitting there listening to the rain and watching reruns on TV, so we decided that it was time to leave. It was a great trip, and we all enjoyed it a lot. Karen decided that she had eaten enough fish to last her a while. John and I were still eating Oysters and Bass, as well as clams on the half shell.