Reedsport and Florence, Oregon (Day 4)

This morning we woke up and drove back up 101 to an elk viewing point we had passed the evening before when driving into town. The night before at dusk we were able to see a number of elk close to the road, but by 9 something am when we arrived, they were all quite far away, back by the tree line. Thankfully I had binoculars so we could see them a little bit better, and I put my phone's camera against the binoculars with zoom on to get some blurry pictures of the elk.

Elk viewing point

Elk, spotted through my binoculars

From there, we navigated to the Oregon Dunes National Recreation Area which actually took us to the headquarters for the area instead of the area itself. That said, I was glad it did because while I was looking at the signage outside of the building (it was closed due to COVID-19), a lady came out and helped me figure out where we should go.

We headed out for Umpqua Lighthouse State Park where she said we would find a parking lot with a great view of the dunes that didn't require any hiking. We drove through some windy roads of beautiful woods before poof! Just like that, the trees cleared and we saw the little white lighthouse, more trees below the cliff, and the angry ocean.

Umpqua Lighthouse

I was bummed that we couldn't really see the dunes from the spot, so we drove on to see what else we would find. Our next stop in the park was at South Umpqua Jetty. We parked in a mostly empty lot and made our way to the beach. It DID NOT disappoint. The beach was totally fascinating, covered in driftwood... really drift-trunks! When you looked back toward the parking lot you could see the forest, sand, then grassy area, and all of the driftwood. It really was amazing. 

Driftwood on the beach at Umpqua Lighthouse State Park

mom and dad on the beach

The ocean had a whole angry thing going on--the water looked CRAZY and so white! I'd seen when checking the weather that there was an advisory to basically not go out on the water today. That said, we could see a coast guard helicopter hovering over the water very close to the shore and when I walked down to the beach and up over some dunes, there was a ship below it! Someone else on the beach said they thought it was the coast guard.. but boy I was happy to not be on that ship, it looked like it was in danger of crashing into the jetty, running ashore, capsizing.... something bad.

When we finished up at the South Umpqua Jetty we went back to continue down the road along the beach and see if we could find the dunes... and we did! Oddly the dunes had been behind us, between the forest and hills and the beach. This area of sand stretches for 40 miles along the Oregon Coast and is extremely popular for riding ATVs and sandboarding--we saw a group of ATVers go by during the few minutes we were there, even though it's the offseason.

After seeing the dunes, we made our way back up to Highway 101 and headed north for Florence. On the way, we stopped at a trailhead that turned out to have a great view of the dunes, evergreens, and water.

The map as we continued our drive was pretty fascinating--there was water going all over like little capillaries throughout the land.

When we got to Florence we stopped at Heceta Beach, hoping there'd be something pretty to see. There wasn't, just a normal-looking beach but cold and with low visibility, so we continued on.

We stopped at a couple of scenic overlooks, then finally arrived at Heceta Head Lighthouse State Scenic Viewpoint where we grabbed our trekking poles for the .5-mile hike up to the top of the cliff. Even though the weather was totally different than it was in August when I first visited, it was still gorgeous and so worth it. Amazingly you could still see blackberries of every stage on the vines--green, red, black, and shriveled-up black!

This time the little room at the base of the lighthouse was open which was nice, it had some brochures on the area and info. I also noticed something I hadn't the time before--there's a trail that runs above the lighthouse on the cliff! I decided to climb that trail and mom went with me--I was SO grateful for the trekking poles that allowed her to do a hike she NEVER would have been able to do without. Those things are amazing! The view from above was beautiful. We could see the Fresnel lens of the lighthouse pretty well and get beautiful pictures of it against the water.

Angry waves

Heceta Head lighthouse from above

Heceta Head Lighthouse from above

On the way back down we stopped by the gift shop and mom grabbed a postcard+stamp to send to her sister. Then back at the base, I walked up the beach and a little way up the river to see the other side of the bridge--something I had been dying to do back in August. While the high tide was scheduled for 4 pm and it was 2:40 something, there were still a few moments where a strong wave would come in and push upstream against the river.. and one big wave sent me and the one other person on the beach running for higher ground to miss getting our feet drenched!

mom hiking up above the lighthouse

mom and me

the trail to go above the lighthouse

the beach

the beach

After Heceta Head, we backtracked a little bit to the Sea Lion Caves. I was relieved they were still open, but SO disappointed to learn that the sea lions are still gone! It seems they leave in August, return in December. So I JUST missed them with each of my trips. Nevertheless, we got tickets and made the journey 300 feet below Highway 101 to see the caves.

Heceta Head Lighthouse in the distance was swallowed up by fog

Trail down to the sea lion caves elevator

After we finished there, it was raining pretty hard so we went back to Florence, booked a place to stay, and dropped dad off while mom and I went to a couple of thrift stores. We finished off the evening with dinner at Waterside Depot, a restaurant Vidur, Rachel, and I had tried to go to back in August that was cram-packed and fully booked. If you ever want to go there, regardless of the day or time of the year, make reservations! We were lucky enough that they fit us in but for a bit thought we'd be turned away. We finished off the night sharing a wonderful banana split.

banana split

Sweet Creek Falls and Florence, Oregon (travel and Day 1)

Flying to the Vegas area has always been one of my favorite flights because of all the scenery along the way. I stay glued to my window while flying over deserts, canyons, and other captivating terrains I can't even name. I hadn't gone above Utah until this flight and oh my goodness was it gorgeous on my way to Oregon.

On my first full day in Oregon, my friends Vidur, Rachel and I set out for Florence, a coastal city about 60 miles from their home in Eugene. They've only been in the state for a few months but from my experience are already expert tour guides, and had planned a stop on the way at Sweet Creek Falls to break up the drive.

We stopped and hiked around a bit, first mistakenly in the wrong direction, then we turned back and found the top of the falls, and finally made it to the bottom. The water was SO cold.. I would have told you it was an ice bath from the feel of it if I hadn't been able to see that there wasn't any ice in the water! We waded around for a bit and their dog Finley even tried it out.

I was amazed that despite riding in the front seat, the mountain roads we drove on got me carsick! We quickly discovered that that must be the case for many visitors of the area because the gas station we stopped at was out of Dramamine. We went down the street to a convenience store and they were out of the non-drowsy kind I insist on.. but had the regular kind, so I bought that. Once we reached Florence, we found a grocery store and checked yet again for non-drowsy Dramamine... totally out! They didn't even have the regular kind. I was a bit fascinated while we drove up to the grocery store--there were HUGE sand dunes behind it! As though it was built at the start of a massive desert.

On our way to our first destination in Florence, we stopped at a scenic overlook for a gorgeous view of the coast, dunes, and we got to PICK BLACKBERRIES! I was SO excited, not sure why picking fruit (like my apple picking in 2019) fascinates me.. but it does!

After our quick roadside stop, we drove over to Heceta Head Lighthouse State Scenic Viewpoint for some even more gorgeous views and (drumroll please)... more blackberry picking along the way! There was a nice concrete trail along the cliff that was built in the 1920s to replace a wooden boardwalk. Once we got to the top, the lighthouse was understandably short, being on a cliff, and what a stunning view. The Fresnel lens of the Heceta Head lighthouse is the largest English lens of its type and brightest light on the Oregon Coast, seen as far as 21 miles at sea.

Once we were done taking pictures and taking in the gorgeous view, we headed back down with a quick stop at the gift shop. Our next destination was Sea Lion Caves, America's largest sea cave, and one of the largest in the world having a floor that covers two acres and height as high as 125 feet.

Unfortunately, the sea lions aren't there this time of year, but it was still fascinating to see. The cave was created by fractures in molten rock from volcanoes twenty-five million years ago.

From there we found a busy downtown Florence with a long wait at the restaurant where we had planned to grab dinner, so we tried another place. After dinner, I was elated when we decided to go see the dunes I had quietly been wishing we would see since spotting them behind the grocery store. We followed a random "dunes" sign and were oh so happy with what we found. We climbed wayyyy up the dunes to reveal a gorgeous beach sunset on the other side. Rachel and Vidur stayed put but I had to run down the dunes to see the view of it all from the water.

Once the sun went down, we headed back to Eugene where I would try Crumbl Cookies for the first time--YUM!

Khamlia, Lalla Mimouna, Dades Gorges and Todra Gorges, Morocco (Day 5)

The next morning, Hajar and I got up so we could walk out to the dunes and take pictures of the sunrise.  Now, I'm typically NOT a sunrise person, I prefer sunsets.  A. I'm not a morning person, B. there's the risk that you drag yourself out of bed, get all awake and then it's a boring sky, or overcast or something.. so I typically go with sunsets.  But when it's what I've got, heck yeah I'll get up and do it!  So we waited.  It got lighter.  There weren't any colors.  There wasn't a sun.  We were very, very confused.  Eventually we realized that what we had thought was the moon... was actually the sun.  What the heck?

Sun posing as the moon

After breakfast, we got back into the car with Hassan and Hassan to start our day's journey to Ouarzazate.

A few minutes down the road, tour guide Hassan told us that children in the area like to catch desert foxes to play with and show to tourists.  Learning my lesson after the monkeys, I believed him this time.  Sure enough, a few minutes later we pulled over on the side of the road to see a group of children and a fox.  They handed it to me through the window and Hajar took a few pictures.  After handing it to Hajar and taking a couple more pictures, it started freaking out and scratched her.  We gave it back to the kids and got out of the car to take the rest of the pictures.  Once we paid the kids and got back in the car to leave, Hajar told me that Hassan had asked if she was bleeding, and said if she was we would have to go to the hospital!  Thankfully she wasn't.

Desert fox

This is a good time (since I'm still alive and healthy) to take a minute to laugh at something.  Before leaving for Morocco, I went to the doctor to get any needed immunizations.  The nurse asked if I would be interacting with any animals.  I said no, so she said "ok great, just avoid any you see then."  But here we are, I've petted Hajar's dog, ridden a camel, and held a wild desert fox just a few days in... Whoops.

A little farther down the road, we stopped to hear a concert by Groupe des Bambaras in the village of Khamlia.  We walked into a big room and were poured some.. you guessed it... Moroccan mint tea, and the concert began:

So cool.  I couldn't believe this performance was going on just for Hajar and me!  They invited us to dance with them for a bit of it.

Groupe des Bambaras

Playing heavy iron castanets, "qraqab" or "krakebs"

Dancing with members of Groupe des Bambaras

After 10-15 awesome minutes of listening to the performance, the (obnoxious) American father/daughter duo from the night before came in.  Even though the music was loud, we could hear them over it.  A few minutes later, Hajar and I purchased a few of the group's CDs and got back in the car.

Shepherds and their flocks

Camel crossing sign

A little later, we dropped driver Hassan off; he had come with us to get a ride to a town outside of Merzouga to visit family.  Our next stop was at a little fossil museum/store.  We looked around for about ten minutes and I bought a long green stone necklace for my mom there.  After that, we stopped at Musee des Sources de Lalla Mimouna where we were taken on a tour by the curator, Mr. Zaid.  Ziad had built the museum around an abandoned natural spring and focused the museum on Berber agriculture and culture, displaying tools, clothing and jewelry of the group.

"Agriculture" in Arabic and French

Natural spring bubbling

Natural spring in Musee des Sources de Lalla Mimouna

Arabic alphabet

Musee des Sources de Lalla Mimouna curtor, Mr. Zaid

Musee des Sources de Lalla Mimouna

Water clock: the smaller bowl fills/empties every six minutes, the fronds help track of each six minutes

We spent around an hour at the museum, then got back on the road.  We grabbed a quick lunch with Hassan in a little restaurant along the way, having Moroccan mint tea, a tajine and some other great food.

Restaurant

Tajine

As usual, we stopped a couple of times to take pictures.  Gorgeous!  On one of the stops, we saw another group of children selling camels made from palm leaves.  This time, one of the children came up while I was taking pictures and put the camel he had made in my hand.  I tried to tell him I didn't want it, so did Hajar, but he insisted it was a "gift."  Clever kid.. guilt trip!  We kept telling him no, but he refused to take it back.  He never would take it back, so we got in the car with it and left.

On our way to the gorges, we drove through a village to take pictures with what Hassan called monkey fingers in the Dades Gorge.  I tried to take pictures of the surroundings and people as we drove by, and Hassan told us that sometimes the people throw rocks at cars if they see a camera!  He seemed to think it was funny so would just drive by them quickly and let us take pictures.

Dades Gorge's Monkey Fingers

Dades Gorge's Monkey Fingers: Hassan and me

From there, we went to the Todgha Gorge and Hassan let us out so we could walk through it.

Vendor selling in the Todgha Gorge

Donkey taking a break in the gorge

By the time it was dark, we reached the Valley of Roses, and then finally our destination, the gateway to the desert: Ouarzazate.  Wonder what that town name sounds like?  Basically: "Where's this at."  Our destination for the night was Kasbah Riad Bouchedor and as usual, we had a wonderful and filling dinner.

The itinerary for today in an email from Hassan:

Day 2: Merzouga-Rissani-Todra Gorges-Dades Gorges.  Wake up for sunrise lovely pictures, and breakfast in open air.  We return by camels to the hotel for shower.  Then, we depart to Erfoud which is known by fossils' preparation.  Drive through palm trees groves.  We stop for lunch, then we take a short walk in Todra Gorges.  We head our stopping point Boumalne de Dades.  Dinner and overnight in the hotel.