Trip to Florence

We visited Jennefer's mom in Florence, Oregon, which is near the coast, about an hour drive from Eugene. We took Mandy with us on the airliner, and as usual she was an awesome traveler. Our rental car turned out to be an Audi Q3 crossover, which delighted me, as a friend at work bought one several years ago, and raved about it, and I've been wanting to try one out.

Sorry I can't get to my photos from the trip, from where I am right now, so I've added some hyperlinks to get you to some pertinent information and pictures on the net.

We went for a few outings to explore the area. The surrounding forests and river give the area a calm and peaceful feeling, and we enjoyed a few walks there. We visited downtown Florence, and the Bay Street restaurants and shops on the Siuslaw River waterfront, and took too many pictures of the Siuslaw River Bridge, which carries Highway 101 across the Siuslaw River, not far from where it meets the ocean. Of course, we also visited the River Roasters coffee shop several times.

We visited the Heceta Head Lighthouse, read some good information posted on the walls, and learned from some local rangers, who were there to talk to visitors about the area. There is a nice trail to get up to the lighthouse from the beach, and we followed it a little farther, as it continues on to the top of the hill and beyond. We enjoyed the lush forest and some awesome views of the beach below.

We enjoyed chatting with Jennefer's mom while having breakfast in the mornings. Jennefer fixed dinner for the three of us, almost every night, so we found ourselves at Fred Meyer grocery store almost every afternoon, on the way home from whatever adventure we'd had that day.

Jennefer's niece brought her family to visit one day. We walked to the nearby North Fork River and hunted for crawdads to catch and release. Then her niece prepared a delicious Paella dinner. I didn't think I liked Paella, but I love it, the way she prepared it.

We got our fair share of overcast and rain, considering that we were on the Oregon coast in the Fall, but we enjoyed that, too. On the really wet days, we relaxed in the living room, with the wood burning stove going.