Still in Oregon--Aug. 25-Sept. 2

I am not keeping as good a notes as I was but somewhere during these days this is what went on with us. As far as the coach is concerned it is as finished as it will be until we get to Florida in 2011. The cargo door is new and silvery but it will be painted in Florida. We left the coach sitting at Monaco and drove to Florence which is on the coast. It is a lovely town right on the ocean. Bob and I just wandered around the shops and they also had some tents set up by the marina that was selling things. I finally bought me a french butter keeper. You can keep your butter sitting out and it will not get rancid. This was the least expensive one I've seen. A Baptist church had a small tent and was handing out things but the wind caught it just right and tore it up so we were holding things down so he could start taking it down.

We went on down the coast road just a little and went to the Sea Lion Caves. They say it is the largest sea cave in the U.S. It is a 2 acre cave. They have even put in an elevator that is 208 feet thru solid rock and this was done over a period of 2 years because they could only work on it when the sea lions were out of the cave. It is still privately owned and is very nice. The state or national talked of taking it over and the people of Oregon wouldn't have it. The owners have done a great job of protecting the Stellar Sea Lions. Their are also Grey Whales that pass thru the ocean in this area. A side note: the California Sea Lions disappeared from San Francisco Bay and many of them were tagged and they discovered that they had come up into this area in order to follow the fish into cooler waters. The sea lions have already had their calves and are beginning to go back into the ocean but there were quite a few mom and pups lounging in the sun on some rocks outside the cave. From their building property you could see up the road to the Heceta Head Lighthouse which is very pretty and still being used.

We drove on up the coast and then caught a road going inland and wandered awhile trying to locate a William J. Finley National Wildlife Refuge. We finally found it and drove thru a portion of it and at one point we parked and I hiked down one of their trails to the lake and saw some ducks and white pelicans and I think the back half of a red fox. There were blackberry briars and ripe blackberries so I went back to the car for my jug and picked a half gallon to take home. Back at the coach the next day before we left I baked a cake and added 2 cups of berries. It was good.

We left Monaco and drove north from Eugene toward Portland but stopped at Champoeg State Park and stayed for 2 nights. In the morning I got up and went for a hike on some of their trails while Bob went to Camping World. I got some good walking in and then after he returned we went over to McMinnville to the Evergreen Air and Space Museum and spent the rest of the day touring it. The main attraction is the Spruce Goose that Howard Hughes designed and had built and flew. It was very interesting. The next morning I went to the Pioneer Mother's Cabin which was closed and up to the Museum which was very interesting but I missed the garden but I also ran out of time. I also drove to the Butteville Store in the town of the same name. It is one of the oldest continuously operating stores. It began in the 1860's. I picked up a small Zucchini and Squash Receipe Book. We drove back to Portland.

We parked in front of Penny and Ray's again just for 2 days. My Dr. appt. went well and he cut my doses down so that was good. They had friends over for dinner that night and we showed them the coach. Nice couple. The next day Penny and I went looking at bicycles for us both. Neither bought but we have information at least. Saw Derek at the mattress store and tried out mattresses and then went home. That evening we treated Penny and Ray to dinner out in thanks for all their hospitatality. We went to the Portland Grill, a very nice place with a full view of the city. Great food and great company.

We left about 9:30 thursday the second and drove to Smelterville, ID and parked in a WalMart.