50 before 60- Florence to Crater Lake June 27. 2016

My husband had to get up before 5:30 to conduct a 2 hour business call with a committee back in Florida. I managed to sleep until he was finished, because he was considerate enough to do it in the car!

We ate the breakfast he had picked up in the grocery store, saving the leftovers for tomorrow. We were on the road at 9:19, almost 20 minutes later than planned (1608). It was overcast and cool, 59 degrees. As we continued our drive down 101, we were amazed by the gigantic sand dunes to our right. Many were taller than a one-story building! 

We soon headed inland and it started spitting a little. At 9:50, we pulled into the Dean Creek Elk Viewing Area on Route 30 for a pit stop (1631). When we noticed something in the distance, we decided to take a real look and were rewarded with the sight of several elk grazing. Hard to say if the pictures will turn out due to the distance.

 We got back on the road at 10:03. We were driving in the Umpqua River Valley. By 11, we had full sun and views of tree- and field-covered mountains. It was really a lovely drive.

Even when we got on I5 southbound, we had nice vistas. We got off at exit 99 at 11:38 to use the rest area, with the odometer at 1725. It was well-kept and had nice views. We were back on the road in ten minutes.

At 12:45, we saw Mt. Loughlin and just as we were wondering what it was, there was a sign with and arrow and its name! How cool! And it had snow on it!

 At 12:59 (1799), we checked in at the huge main store of Harry and David for our 1:45 tour, paying $5 each.

 On the employee's recommendation, we walked down the shopping center to TOGO Sandwiches for lunch. The original was founded in San Jose in 1971, so it is a chain. We split a 9" California Club, 2 bags of chips and a soda. Unfortunately, it had to be regular Dr. Pepper, because the only diet soda they had was Diet Pepsi, which we don't like. The sandwich was quite full, with avocado oozing out of the sourdough bread. It was good, but we had to eat fast to get back in time. 

At 1:45, we were on the Harry & David bus with 7 other people. The driver was friendly and we started out with a video of the history of the company on our way to the corporate campus. She gave us a restroom break, before taking us upstairs. My husband made sure I always rode the elevator.

 We saw people boxing chocolates, but the line was not full.

The work on Christmas starts up in 2 months and runs full tilt until early December. They will hire 6-8,000 people for Christmas, some of them retirees who come back year after year. The pears will take 4 months of intensive work. The trees start producing at the age of 20 and are pretty well done at 40, at which times they are pulled up.Each tree produces 80-85 pears. The ones that are not pretty enough are sent for juice. 70% of their Christmas gifts go to east of the Mississippi and all are sent from here in Medford. 90% of their waste is recycled, often into new boxes.

 We saw the room with the giant wheels for measuring ribbon. Then, we saw supervisors tying ribbons around boxes as they sat on 4 quart pads. Fascinating!

She told us about the subsidized lunches and how boxes can earn extra by exceeding their quotas. There is a place to pick up food and clothing, if needed, which is open to the whole town. Fields for playing games are available. However, with the majority of the workers being employed from just July or August to December, that is not a great job to pay the bills. It would only be good for a person who worked fast enough to earn the bonuses or who only wanted to work a few months.
We watched the workers making cinnamon buns from incredibly long pieces. of dough.

 We went to the Candy Kitchen and saw chocolate being prepared for all kinds of goodies. We watched the making of Moose Munch, which was particularly interesting to us, because I give him Moose Munch every year. Facebook friends liked the photos of it.

At the end of the tour, she gave each of us a small box containing a dark mint chocolate candy that was delicious and a cookie, which we saved. 

The tour finished at 3 and my husband started in the store. I went to check on a sewing store, but it focused on quilting. I checked the Birkenstock store's sale, before going into the Medford Info center, where I bought postcards and a pin and had a nice chat with the clerks. For coming in, I was given lip balm, Medford notepad, and a no drip pourer for wine!

I joined my husband in the store, where we spent an hour picking out things for ourselves, as well as others. The store had fresh fruits and vegetables, some of which we'd never seen before.

My husband got about 1/2 pound of cherries for us to have tomorrow morning. We got enough items to qualify for the 25% discount sale they were having, which meant I didn't need my email with my 15% birthday discount.

We were on the road at 4:06. Our drive took us through yellow grassland and mountains that had trees, but were not high. It was unplanned, but totally like us, to stop at 5:23 (1859) at the Rogue River Gorge Viewpoint. There were actually several vantage points that we used to take pictures. There were informative signs, too, which we like. All in all, an excellent stop.

 At 6:10 (1877), we reached the Crater Lake fee station. There was no attendant, but we are honest people. We dug out the $15 cash, filled out the form and then my husband had the fun of stuffing it in the slot into the small box. Soon, we were on our way, passing the now closed Visitor Center. We arrived at the Crater Lake Lodge at 6:26 (1884) and were assigned Room 103, which was a handicapped room, which was the last available, when he booked it.

 We put the luggage in the room and took some pictures, before heading out to eat.

The earliest reservation at the restaurant in the lodge was 8 and we were too hungry to wait. We took the short drive over to the Rim Village Cafe, arriving at 7:05. They were cleaning up, even though they didn't close until 8. Not much to choose from at that hour. So, we picked up  a roast beef pre-made sandwich for my husband and a ham one for me. We got chips and a large cookie to share and 2 Cokes. Oh, and a juice for me for the morning. The total was a jaw-dropping $34.85. We ate there and then went through the shop, picking up some souvenirs.

 We were back at the Lodge at 8:10 (1885). We learned they'd had 4 days of snow around June 18, so the damaged dock was delaying the beginning of the boat trips in the lake until Wednesday. I saw that as God's way of keeping me from the strenuous hike involved in getting to and from the boat. It had been buggy at the shop and was so bad here at the Lodge, that we couldn't stand being out on the porch to look at the lake.

We sat in the Great Hall drinking 2 wines for $20.50. My husband read, while I played a game on my iPad. The keyboard that I had for it just wouldn't link to be able to do this blog. There was no cell coverage and the wifi was slow. Our room was nice, but had only 1 chair, which is not  good for 2 people. 

It was a good day!

50 before 60- Astoria to Florence, Oregon June 26, 2016

We got up at 7, due to the long day ahead of us. After breakfast, we stepped out the doors of the breakfast room to take pictures of the harbor behind the hotel. It was bright, with a brilliant blue sky. I took a video that took forever to post to Facebook. We could hear sea lions, but couldn't see them. We figured, they were over by the boats.

 We got way at 8:58 (1370 on the odometer, which was almost a half hour later than planned, but it didn't stress us. It was comfortable and lovely. We got a good parking spot near the Promenade in Seaside at 9:30, having driven 19 miles.

We were both wearing shorts, but the wind convinced us that jackets were needed. That's when my husband realized he had left his in the Hampton closet. We discussed options, as we walked up to the circle of road at the beach. He finally decided, he would drive back to get the jacket. I stayed to take pictures, collect sand and walk the Promenade as planned. He left at 9:47.

 I watched a little of the Footvolley game below me and learned you could use any body part, except hands and arms. I took a fabulous picture of a cloud encircling the seaside portion of Tillamook Head to the south.

Facebook friends were as amazed by it as I was. I finally walked down the steps, which were better than usual, perhaps because I did the steps at the hotel before and after breakfast. There was a women's restroom/ changing room on the side I'd gone down. Men were on the staircase on the other side.

When I stepped on the sand, I noticed an immediate difference from Cocoa Beach - the sand was firmer and my ankle didn't turn the way it does at Cocoa. In many ways, it was as if this sand had been covered by the ocean and just dried out. The wind was nippy and I felt cold through the jacket, but my legs were not cold in the shorts. It was about 0.2 miles to the water's edge. Along the way, I saw smashed seashells, including sand dollars, and bird feathers. The edge turned out to be tidal pools.

It was still further to the water washing ashore in lines. The water was not as cold as I expected, but, then again, I only dipped fingers in the edge. I'd gotten my sand on the dry part, watching as the wind created new crests in the sand. I found one intact shell. The tidal pools would have been a good place to learn about water erosion, especially what I learned about rivers in high school. A few people were laying out, several walked dogs and a few were slightly in the water further down the beach. The tidal plain was really quite broad. The water made interesting patterns on the sand that it did not cover.

The only rocks, were large stones. When I got back to the stairs, I had walked .6 miles.

The Promenade didn't really have much going for it, especially since it was shaded and thus colder.

 I walked down the street we'd parked on and found a shop selling nice photos. I found some gifts and got myself a prism with sand and shells that had been made further down the coast. As I was finishing up, my husband called and we agreed on a meeting spot. He picked me up at 10:59 and we drove onward.

We found US 101 to be fascinating. We saw a sign saying "Mushroom Kits", which is not a sign you see every day. If you looked inland, you saw fir trees and no sign of the ocean to your right. So different from Florida!

At 11:20, we parked at the public parking at Cannon Beach (1435), hoping to see the Haystack and puffins. The huge rocks in the water were not the Haystack and we went back to the car disappointed, even though we had been able to sort of make out the Tillamook Light.

 We were on the road at 11:38. We saw one of many Tsunami Hazard Zone signs, which either said Entering or Leaving, depending upon where you were. The mountains all had trees on them and the road was usually lined with tall conifers.

We were just four miles down the road, when we stopped at a viewpoint at 11:45. Took terrific pictures first northward then southward of the coast, before moving on at 12:08.

Just 13 minutes and 8 miles more, there was another viewpoint and more pictures. We only stayed 10 minutes this time, though.

 As we drove through Rockaway Beach, we saw a sightseeing train on the tracks. We also saw this little shop. We saw these all over the place, different brands each time:

I dozed off soon after that and woke as my husband turned into Tillamook Cheese (1475) at 1:20.

 What a madhouse! He says a million people come here each year and it felt like they were all there today. Just getting a parking spot took work. We decided to eat lunch first. He found a table, while I ordered a Centennial Grilled Cheese for $9.49, a Cheese Supreme ( with bacon and tomato) for $7.49, both of which came with fries, and a soda for $2. They give you a number to put on your table. It took about 20 minutes for the food to show up.

I'm not big on grilled cheese, but the sandwiches weren't bad. After lunch, we went on the self-guided tour. I was able to climb the stairs to the viewing area. We saw blocks of cheese in various stages on the conveyor belt and thought it odd that they would just leave them there. Then, workers started showing up and we realized it had been lunch time. We watched  the large blocks more through the slicer, which cut them into 4 blocks and then sent them to be wrapped in plastic and vacuum sealed. On the other side, we saw the curds extruded in plastic bags, which were wrapped around them tightly, before they were sent to be aged. There was an ice cream shop up there, which was less busy than the one downstairs.

We went downstairs for our free samples. I liked the sharp cheddar best.

Then, we split up to buy things in two different shops. We bought no cheese, of course, but he picked up cheese bags and fruit jams. Meanwhile, I got a pin, postcards and a sticker in the other shop. Afterwards, I settled in to watch the videos, while he went upstairs to get us ice cream. I got Chocolaty Chip Cookie Dough and he got Oregon Black Cherry, 1 scoop each for $3. Very creamy. I liked his better than mine, perhaps because my mind has an idea of what cookie dough ice cream is and this didn't quite match it.

 At 3:58, we left, very behind schedule. I vetoed more pullouts before we would reach the things we were trying to get to. Then, I fell asleep, which is what often happens in cars and more so, when I am having trouble at night. About 5:27, we stopped at a Chevron in Newport (1545). The attendant did the pumping. We got 13.63 gallons @ 2.599. We then went next door to Burger King to use the restroom and get a Coke Zero Lime for $1. We set off again at 5:41.

Our next destination was the Devil's Churn, which we reached at 6:15 (1572). Had it been earlier in the day, we would have gotten a day pass for the Siuslaw National Forest, but their center was closed, so we just parked and went most of the way down the path. It was windy and cold, but we got some good pictures. I was even able to get pictures of the wind-deformed trees, which we'd been seeing lately along the road. The trees in this area were not the tall conifers from before.

I was looking for Thor's Well on Cape Perpetua. But, we found the road up Cape Perpetua and drove up it to get to the highest point accessible by car on the coast. We arrived at the top at 6:43 (1574) and we had a pretty good view in spite of the clouds that were moving in. The day pass would have covered here, too.

We headed back down at 6:47, passing a bizarre sign saying it was a single lane of traffic for buses and trucks. Where would you go to get out of their way?

We never saw a sign for Thor's Well. We did see Cooks Chasm and a little action from the Spouting Horn that is there, when we stopped at 6:52 (1576). I even got some video.

 At 7, we moved on, but stopped after 4 minutes to take pictures of the bluffs to the south from Neptune North. That took only 2 minutes. Our next stop was 19 minutes later (1589) at Heceta Viewpoint. We could see the lighthouse across the curved beach. We also saw a sea lion, which turned out to be very good. It was terribly cold and windy.

At 7:30, we reached the Sea Lion Caves, that we'd planned to visit, but had closed at 6. You can't see any sea lions from up above, but there is a foul odor. So, it was a good thing we'd seen the other one.I was able to point a family to the viewpoint so they could see one. It was now bitterly cold and my breath steamed my glasses as I walked into the wind. We stayed only 5 minutes.

In Florence, we pulled into a Fred Meyer parking lot to check on the location of the hotel and to pick out somewhere to eat. There was the tallest dune I'd ever seen at the end of the side street. I'd glimpsed others through the trees in the last few miles.

We drove into Old Town and got a spot in front of Bridgewater Ocean Fresh Fish House and Zebra Bar at 7:58 (1601). We got a table inside, but the open door kept it chillier than I would have liked. I had the tenderest sea scallops I've ever had. They were seared and drizzled with a cherry balsamic reduction and came with black rice and vegetables for $22. I had an $8 glass of Evolution, Sokol Blosser, Oregon, which was pleasant. I convince my husband to go for the Shellfish Ciopino and he loved it. Lots of different seafood to make him happy. He washed it down with Worthy Eruption Imperial Red Ale  from Bend, Oregon for $4.75. He still isn't used to seeing a bill without a sales tax.

While at dinner, he missed a called from the hotel checking to see if we were still coming. We left the restaurant at 9:02 and at 9:10 we were south of town at the Park Motel (1603), which is 50 years old. It smelled a little musty, but it is one of those old-fashioned motels from back in the day. We'd been upgraded to a double room, because someone stayed later. It is literally two rooms that were joined together. I can't imagine how a single room could have been worth $112, but there you go.

My husband did make a run out to Safeway to pick up breakfast items: Orange juice for me, 2 bananas and 4 marionberry muffins. Total: $6.55. Cheaper than a restaurant.

Another day of amazing scenery!