Florence, Oregon

On Friday we finished packing up the Duchess and left the Four Seasons RV Park around 10 AM. We only had 130 miles to travel today, so we were not in any rush to leave. We continued north up Highway 101 and were able to find a gas station with diesel that we were able to get and out easily. One bad thing about Highway 101 is that there are not any truck stops along the highway (at least we have not found any yet). We came across the bridge into Florence, Oregon and then located our next stop: Pacific Pines RV Park & Storage. This is a small park with about 50 sites that are close to one another. We have Site 45 which is a pull through site with full hookups.

Siuslaw River Bridge that leads into Florence.

Site 45 at Pacific Pines RV Park & Storage

After getting set up and eating lunch, we did some grocery shopping at the local Fred Meyer's Store which is located about 1/4 mile from our RV park. It was sunny but very windy.

On Saturday we went to Old Town Florence which is the oldest part of the town located on the harbor/port on the Siuslaw River. There is a short boardwalk along the river and buildings along Bay Street have been restored and now house retail shops and restaurants. There was a arts & craft fair going on along the boardwalk that we visited along with several shops along the street. We also ate lunch at Mo's but were disappointed in our crabs and clam chowder. 

Of course Connie had to go into this shop.

Boats in the harbor.

Boardwalk with arts & crafts tents.

We also stopped in a local thrift store and bought a couple of beer mugs along with finding some rain boots for Connie.

Connie's "new" boots

Sunday we took it easy: I watched the US Open golf tournament and then grilled a whole chicken on our gas grill.

Monday I spent some time on the phone with the manufacturer of our Oasis Hydronic Heating System. After doing some testing it was determined that the fuel pump for the diesel portion of the heating system needs to be replaced so they will ship us one that I will install next week.

In the afternoon we visited the Heceta Lighthouse which is located 10 miles north of Florence. We found out that lighthouses are located approximately 40 miles from each other along the Oregon coast and that each one has a unique lighting feature (it may be the color of the light or the seconds between pulses). This lighthouse was built during the 1890's along with lighthouse keeper's houses (the head lighthouse keeper got his own house while the two assistants shared a house) at a cost of $80,000. The lens in the lighthouse was lit by a kerosene wick from its founding until electricity reached this area in the 1930's. It is one of the most photographed lighthouses on the west coast.

Heceta Lighthouse

Connie on the 1/2 mile hike up to the lighthouse.

Only one of the two original lighthouse keepers houses remains: the other was sold for $10 once there was no need for it due to automation after the introduction of electricity.. The house was used as educational facility for a local college from the 1970's to the 1990's after which it was turned into a bed & breakfast by a couple from Portland who owned a restaurant there, Mike and Carol Korgan. Today is continues as a bed & breakfast run by their daughter, Michelle. We took a short tour of the downstairs portion of the house and learned about it's history. During World War II there was 75 soldiers stationed at this location to guard the coastline.

Heceta Lighthouse Bed and Breakfast

After finishing up at the lighthouse we drove about 1.5 miles north and took a short 1/2 mile hike along the Hobbit Trail The trail leads from the highway down to the beach. The trail is named for the Halflings of Middle Earth in the Lord of the Rings. Along the beach we saw lots of crab shells. We looked this up once we got back to the park and found out these are the "molting" of female crabs this time of year: creating a new exoskeleton and leaving the old one.

Several trails start from the same parking area.

Crab exoskeletons along the beach.

We are going to Eugene, Oregon tomorrow to get our bedroom slide repaired. Hopefully the solution that Newmar diagnosed after our phone calls with them solves the problem.