9-6-2014 Drove from Newport Oregon to Winchester Bay Oregon

We got up in the morning and worked for a couple of hours in Newport.  Then we headed south along the coast.

Our first stop was Seal Rock.  This place has a nice tidal pool and fun stuff to check out.

Seal Rock

There were lots of big rock outcroppings

This is a panoramic picture of above

Seal rock has a very interesting beach to check out

I am no geologist, but this rock seemed different than the rest

Close up of the rock from the picture above

Notice the seals on the rock in the middle?

Great place for some beach combing

These green anemones fill with sand, but then when the waves come they can get rid of it

the rocks are encrusted with creatures that are withdrawn into a protective shell until the waves come

They were playing skip rope with a big piece of Kelp

The seals had a great spot

They are hard to see, but there are lots of birds on the rock.  Guess why the rock is all whitish?

There are tons of little pools to check out

There was a nice trail on the rim of the cliff that overlooked Seal Rock

We should have brought a picnic

After Seal rock we headed south and went to Heceta Head Lighthouse.   We parked near a very cool bridge and went off for a hike to the Lighthouse.

This bridge was very important for the area.  You will see why in some of the pictures that follow.

They had a beautiful beach to explore

There is the bridge you saw up close from above

This shot is from the trail to the lighthouse

Back in the day, they had a lot of trouble traversing north to south.  That bridge is said to open up the area.

the lighthouse was in great condition

Unfortunately, we just missed the last tour of the day, and we weren't going to be there the next day.

On the trail we saw a whale in the bay.  If you click on the picture it will blow up even more

We watched the whale for 30 minutes or so and it would blow hard ever 3rd blow

With such a rocky coast I bet you really felt safe as a mariner to be able to see these lighthouses

this was the keepers quarters but is now a Bed and Breakfast

Nice view of the lighthouse from the trail

Then we headed to the next stop

Next we rolled into Florence, Oregon.  This is a very nice quaint spot and it would have made for a great overnight place.  There were several restaurants and shops.

They had lots of cool statures in town

We must have been there for hot rod day

They had lots of public spaces to enjoy and picnic if you want

You can click on the picture to see it bigger....it is amazing how they built this bridge.  It was started in 1934 and took 20 months

After Florence we headed south to Winchester Bay.

Winchester bay has about 4-5 restaurants.  We ate pizza here.  The consensus is that when you get rural than the quality of the restaurant goes down.  Of course this is not a hard and fast law, but it is a generalization that we have noticed.

Winchester is a great place to access the big dunes.  These are federal land and you can ride buggies and atv's on them.  People come from all over to do this.

You can't see it very well but past the water is a HUGE RV park that has access to the dunes and ocean.