Winter Sights in the Coast Range

In December we took our annual "Beach Trip" to Florence. Going to Florence is not unusual for us, but this annual outing usually involves "camping" (motorhomes) and another couple from the Valley. For this outing we form our caravan of 2 RV's with tow vehicles and head to the coast for "pioneering exploration" (that means good eats, shopping, sight-seeing, games and conversation). This year we wanted our good friends to stay at our River Vista condo and we were going to stay at another vacation rental we were purchasing in Old Town. Our plans changed a bit when our deal for the next condo fell through, and we "camped" instead at the Casino. The Casino welcomed us by making us winners, and serving us a nice meal at the buffet. Florence was as charming as ever, but decked out in red and green for the holidays. Shopping in Old Town was peaceful, no crowds. While weather in the valley was frightfully cold, Florence was pleasant. At 37 degrees and no wind, we were comfortable without hats, scarfs and mittens. While back in the Valley the wind was blowing and high temperatures were not over 30 degrees. The coast range had seen temperatures also below freezing for the past week or so and was evident by frozen water sculptures along the road way.

In Mapleton the Suislaw River had froze over and the high tide lines were marked by frozen water left at the rivers edge. We don't often get temperatures cold enough and long enough to have moving bodies of water freeze like this.

After a nice cozy stay in Florence, our challenge was to get home before the predicted freezing rain was to fall. Rain was starting to fall in Florence as we left at noon, luckily we stayed just ahead of the rain as it moved inland. By 6pm roads in south Benton County were slick with ice and multiple accidents were spread throughout the Valley. Most notably, at least 30 motorists spent the night in the their cars near Alsea, as both HWYs 34 and 20 were closed between the Valley and coast. We made it home safe and sound.

Rods, Rhodies and Fish

This weekend was the Rods and Rhodie's Car show in Florence. Festivities start on Friday, but the car show runs Saturday and Sunday on Bay street in Old Town Florence. The road is closed nearly the length of Old Town and hot rods of all makes and models, older than 1972, line both sides of the street for viewing. What a perfect location. I was amazed at the amount of cars (around 200), and the variety.

Plenty of people, and their dogs, walked the street browsing the cars and doing some shopping. If you go, you should know that many of the cars make more noise than a normal car, and others prove that they have the horsepower by squealing the tires now and then. This is most prevalent at the cruise in on Saturday night. For approximately an hour the cars take laps through old town so that you can hear their throaty rumble as the cars pass by.

Above is a view of the Cruise-In from River Vista's front porch. After the Cruise-In, the street fun continued with a street dance and live band.

FIIIISSSSHHH!

Yes, salmon are in the Siuslaw river! While the guys spent their time at the car show, I was riveted to the view from our deck. Saturday saw a dramatic rise in the number of fish in the river. More were jumping, and most importantly, I saw people catching them. Around 1:15 pm I saw the first fish caught. By 1:35pm I had seen 4 caught. Once the word got out, the boats flocked to the area. By the time dusk came, having taken time out for dinner and the Cruise-In, I saw about 7 fish caught for the day on my stretch of river. The fish continued to jump long after the last boat headed back to the dock.

The seals also were eating well. I spied one on Sunday that looked like a dead, bloated seal floating feet first downstream. Then he moved. He did a back flip and swam away. Later I caught one on video trying the same trick, only he was being harassed by a young seagull. The young brown bird thought that the seal should feed him and kept after the seal until he left. The mom seagull just follows the whole ordeal as it moves around.

Golf In Florence

At the end of July my friend Susie and I played the two courses in Florence, Ocean Dunes and Sandpines. We got lucky and were able to escape the valley temperatures of 105+ degrees with our timing. Our first day of golf was wonderfully, if not unexpectedly, warm and sunny. We played Ocean Dunes, on the east side of Florence first. Sandpines is located in the north part of town. We knew nothing about either course before we played them and they couldn't have been any more different from each other.

OCEAN DUNES GOLF LINKS: This was the more "economical" of the two course, costing us each $44 for 18 holes and a cart. Our tee time was 1:20pm and the course did not appear to be very busy (Tuesday). This course is well described in the free course guide that you are given:

"The course was designed with the wind in mind. To be played below the wind, along the ground, with shots that run up to open greens, as well as in the air with shots that fly. Ocean Dunes will challenge your ability to think your way around the golf course, as few others will".

It would have been nice to have read that description before playing the course. Most ground outside the narrow and dune surrounded fairways, could be considered bunkers with grass. A key guide quote:

"The secret to low scores here is accuracy. Keeping the ball in the fairway should be your primary goal".

My friend Susie:

Yes, it is helpful to know your primary goal before playing a round. Both Susie and I left many balls in the rough, but we still had a great time. Balls hit in the fairway had terrific runs, hope it's that way all the time. The scenery is beautiful and you feel like you are playing in an ocean-front town. I look forwarded to playing this course many more times, but I'll be smarter now that I know what my goal should be. More often than not, you are not able to see the green from the tee, due to hills in between.

Before golf we had a nice lunch in the clubhouse at "The Bistro", again, not busy.

SANDPINES: We had a morning tee time of 0830 hrs, so our start was just slightly fogging and cool. We knew the clouds were going to burn off and it could be another warm day. Our 18 holes and cart were $95 each. A course guide is available for $5.

This course was so much easier to play. The fairways are wide and forgiving, I don't think I played a dune once on this course. Every hole was like looking at a postcard picture, deer even roamed the sides of the fairways. I've never played such a scenic course, I felt like I had been transported to Scotland. This is a "must play" course, or a great place for a meal on the patico overlooking the 18th green. A course brochure hints at "twilight rates for Oregon residents", that's something to check out. But consider, you'll be dealing with more wind due to the "twilight" start time. Ocean Dunes considered after 1pm "Twilight". Due to the price, I won't play this course a lot, but when I do, I'll savour every moment.

Somewhere on the back nine:

Halfway up the 18th fairway, clubhouse to the right:

Whoa Nelly!

Today we took the boat out on Woahink Lake. Unfortunately, I forgot to take pictures. We took a drive around the perimeter of the lake to see what the real estate looked like. There are a lot of nice houses, and only one we could afford. Unfortunately, it is too small to be a rental, and I don't like all the wooden steps (maintenance nightmare) and the fact it's basically built on stilts. This would be a fun lake to vacation on. I also recommend Mercer Lake, north of town. Both places have vacation rentals available through Elson Shields Property Management company in Florence. Look them up at Florencerentals.com

Siuslaw River Run and Woahink Lake

Today we looked at Florence, and Mapleton, from the river. We put the boat in at the Port of Siuslaw in Old Town and began with a run to the ocean. It was fun to see the businesses, and our condo, from the rivers point of view. Other boaters were setting their crab pots while we made our way to mouth of the river. We turned around near the Harbor Vista campground, as the Coasties were doing training manuevers in the channel and it looked like there were south side swells fairly deep into the river this morning. So, eastward we go.

I've always wanted to see Mapleton from the river, and that was our next stop. The river channel was hard to see, but luckily we saw the direction from which other boats had just come from, and headed towards the road. Once into the narrower river, the channel and scenery were beautiful. The ride to Mapleton took about 20-30 mins if my memory serves me right. The ride is slow as there are frequent areas with boats docked, requiring "no wake".

A boat docked near Mapleton.

Florence Restuarant Review: Travelers Cove, in Old Town. After a spin on the lake we headed for lunch. We dropped in just after 12 noon, and unfortunately we missed a deck table by minutes. This was our first visit here and over all had a good experience. There's still a nice view of the river, even from a booth not at the windows. The food arrived fast and was delicious. I had the chili rellenos burrito, which has become one of my "take-out" favorites.

The next day we drove the boat around Woahink Lake. I have no photos of that event. It's a nice lake though, and I wished I had brought fishing gear. What was I thinking?

Blog Name change!

I decided today, on the spur of the moment, to change the name of this blog. I feel that the new name represents the actual topic of postings and my love of the area. River Vista and Old Town are part of that, but they are only a slice of the pie. I guess I don't have any way to change the address of the blog, so that will have to stay the same.

I dropped in last week to see what was new in town and drop off my stamps for the used stamp sale at Inkspirations!. It was a pretty day, with blue sky and sun. The wind was blowing, but if it's not raining, who cares?! The wind blew swell waves onto the river, giving it a whole new look, and me another reason to sit at the window and marvel at nature. Because of the wind, I didn't see any wildlife on the river from our window. I took a drive down to the jetty, and walked along the rocks for a closer look at the river. I have never seen the river look so tropical blue, I was amazed by it. While standing on the rocks, a seal came up and looked at me before rolling and diving back in. He probably was checking to see if I was going to be foolish enough to try fishing, or crabbing ,with something he'd like to steal from me. Sorry bub, I'm an experienced outdoors woman. There's no free food here.

Used Rubber Stamp and Scrapbooking Supplies

May is National Scrapbooking Month.

Looking for a good deal on stamping and scrapbooking supplies in the Florence area? Ink-spirations! is sponsoring a used sale Tuesday May 5th through Saturday May 9th. Good deals are sure to be found, so make sure you can stop by early for the best selections. I personally, am taking over many wood mounted, and some My Acrylix, Close To My Heart stamps. I don't want to bring them home, so prices will be good!

Ink-spirations! is located on HWY 101, just south of HWY 126.
Address: 575 B HWY 101, Florence.

I'm looking forward to my Florence visit next week. Watch for a new post shortly.

Florence: The Beach, with Options

It's been a while since I've been over to Florence and I miss the area. The other day I was thinking about all the thing there are to do in the Florence area and why going to the "coast" at Florence is different than other places. I came up with the slogan "Florence: The Beach, with Options" because of these reasons:

• You can walk on the beach and watch the ocean. Watch the surfers and windsurfers play in the water.


• The Dunes National Park offers a variety of experiences, including ATV'ing, dune buggy rides, sand board and good old visual interest.


• Florence is surround by lakes and rivers, with all the activities provide by such features. My favorite include a canoe/kayak water way trail, crabbing, salmon fishing, and trout fishing. One lake is home to an underwater SCUBA diving park!


• Cape Perpetua is just north of Florence and provides wonderful hiking trails with great views of the ocean and even a spouting horn! (hike the trail down to the ocean, near hwy 101 and follow the signs.

Art and Relaxation: Examples of both

Here are pictures from our last visit. I put up new art work above the soaker tub. I needed a nautical inspiration and found these 3 pieces in a local shop. They caused me to pause everytime I saw them, so I bought them. Next time I'm in town, I'm going to lower their level a little. Otherwise, I'm happy.

Two good kids. I'm not sure Charlie likes to share, but he doesn't have much choice.

Here Randy shows us how to relax. Notice that the kids are following his lead. What a beautiful day in Florence!

Happy New Year!

I was lucky enough to spend the last few days of December in Florence, and ring in the New Year from my favorite place in Oregon. The dog and cat made the trip over with me. The weather was great the 29th-31st. I took the dog for quiet a few walks and enjoyed them all...not much wind and no rain. My friend Susie, from Eugene, came over and stayed the night on the 29th. We put a puzzle together and enjoyed home cooked goodies, read magazines and "talked garden". Randy arrived on the 31st and we watched the OSU Beaver beat Pittsburg in the Sun Bowl. I can't say it was a terribly exciting game, the score was only 3-0, but at least we won. On the night of the 31st a big storm blew in and we were expecting winds to be 25-35 mph with gusts to 60 mph. I wondered how that was going to go over, but it really wasn't bad at all. I could hear the wind blowing, but without any trees nearby to fall on the condo, I wasn't that concerned. Only the BBQ and chairs on the patio gave me cause to worry. Despite my concerns the night was fine. We were treated to our own little fireworks show, coming from over the bridge, at 0445 hrs that morning. It was quiet pretty and I didn't mind the hour, Randy was up anyway to take the dog out for a doodle.
January 1st offered more wind and rain so the dog and I didn't get to go out much. When we did, I came back with a soaked jacket and he needed a toweling off. Because of that it was fortunate that Randy returned home that afternoon and took the kids with him. I got to stay another night and we had a bigger wind event. The storm peaked around 2am and I spent much time looking at the BBQ on the patio to see if it was moving. It held it's ground.
I spent the rest of my time cleaning up and getting ready to head home. It will be a while before I can return as our home away from home is being rented until mid spring. I look forward to a spring trip.