Good-bye, Soouth Beach, Hello Honeyman

We packed up camp this morning and headed for our next destination--Honeyman State Park, just south of Florence. While Steve was dumping the tanks in the Palms, I did a quick run into Newport to the Rogue Brewery for some Dead Guy Ale to go and a stop at the Edge Gallery, the glass blowers who did all the cool glass at the Coast Aquarium Oddball Exhibit. It's a small gallery on the south edge of town, with large, happy glass-petal flowers "planted" among real wildflowers in front. Inside is a working gallery--glass art for sale in the front, and the work area in back, separated by a clear glass window with seats lined up, inviting people to watch, which I did. I watched as the glassblower dipped his rod into a tub of molten clear glass, then rolled the glob around in a tray of crushed colored glass. He then poked it into the furnace to melt the colored shards, then started blowing and shaping with various tools. I watched him make a vase and a little figurine of a stylized, rearing horse. I got to talk to the artists too--two very nice guys in their twenties--and told them how much I enjoyed the Oddballs exhibit. They seemed to have had a lot of fun doing it, and have a lot of enthusiasm for their work in general. They teach glass blowing classes there too--wouldn't that be fun!

The 50 or so miles from South Beach to Honeyman State Park was the most beautiful drive I've done in a long time. Highway 101 hugs the coast here, giving clear, unobstructed views of the ocean almost the whole way. We saw long, broad, expansive beaches, high cliffs, rocky bays with waves crashing in, dunes, and a lighthouse. It was almost like the whole coast condensed into this one area. Just spectacular. I took some pictures but haven't gotten Steve to load them into the computer yet; if they turn out, I'll add them next post.

Highway 101 turns inland slightly just below Florence. The state park here is at the north end of the Oregon Sand Dunes Recreation Area, which stretches south another 47 miles or so. The park is located at the inland edge of the dunes, and there are actualy two miles of dunes between us and the ocean. Instead, the park is located at the edge of three little freshwater lakes. Although the campground is much larger than South Beach--over 400 campsites as opposed to less than 300--it has a much smaller, more intimate feel. We are in the woods, with Sitka spruce towering over us, and there's lots of lush greenery between sites, so even though the sites aren't necessarily larger, they feel more private. There are more loops in the campground, but the loops are much smaller--maybe only 12 to 15 sites per loop; most of them are well off the main campground road, so you don't get a lot of traffic in your particular loop, only the folks who "live" there. Still, there's a lot going on. A very active junior ranger activity program, evening ranger talks, daily walks and hikes. You can rent paddelboats on a couple of the lakes or take a kayak tour or swim or climb the dunes and roll down. There are other lakes and rivers nearby to paddle, and trails to hike. Florence is just a couple of miles away and it looked to have some good seafood restaurants and fish markets. Oh, and two quilt shops! We're here until the 12th, so we have plenty of time to check it all out.