Road Scholar and Backroads of Oregon II - Day 1

I left home in Vancouver, Washington early Saturday morning, August 4, 2012.  I took I-205 and I-5 south to Eugene.  I purchased a Bacon, Egg and Cheese biscuit at Woodburn, Oregon at 8:30am.  I stopped to find a benchmark at a bridge 2 1/4 mi. NE of Albany.  

I took Hwy 126 west to Florence.   Florence's location halfway along the beautiful Oregon coast and hugging the river bank of the slow flow of the Siuslaw River is only part of its appeal.  Locals have restored the old riverfront buildings of Old Town. 

I had Afternoon Tea at Lovejoy's.  Florence, Oregon has had a Lovejoy's since the middle of the 1990s.  In 2005 Judith and Liam Kingsmill purchased Lovejoy's and since then Judith has aimed to provide a warm and friendly atmosphere in the fashion of English tea rooms and pubs of her early years in County Kent, England. Select from Light Tea, High Tea, Windsor Tea, Regency Tea or Royal Tea. Over 25 kinds of tea are offered.

I found a Benchmark and created a Tea Room Waymark in Florence.  On Wednesday, I found Mocha Cache (GC16TJG) - pg. 38 DELORME Atlas when the Road Scholar group visited Old Town Florence.

On November 12, 1970, a dead sperm whale that had washed up on the beach was destroyed with dynamite, the theory being that scavengers such as seagulls and crabs would consume the smaller pieces of whale meat.  Decades later, the resulting debacle became widely known via the Internet as the exploding whale story.

I crossed the charming Art Deco Siuslaw River Bridge on my way south on Hwy 101.  You can get a good view of this bridge from Bay Street. 

The largest sand dunes in the world stretch 40 miles from Florence to Coos Bay.  I did an Earthcache (GC1NBDP) - DELORME Atlas p. 45 at South Jetty OHV Staging Area at the mouth of the Siuslaw River.

On October 1, 1850, the schooner “Bostonian” owned by a Boston merchant named Gardiner was sent to the Pacific Coast in the interest of trade.  The ship wrecked on the Umpqua River bar in 1850.  Most of her cargo was salvaged and brought to this site. Known for years as “Gardiner’s City”.  A sawmill was built in 1864, another in 1877, and Gardiner became a noted lumber port.   From 1885 to 1918 the Gardiner Mill Company, with its logging camps and brisk sailing ship trade, made Gardiner one of the busiest towns on the Oregon Coast.   The large complex of mills was closed and demolished in 2000.  All that remains are some of these historic houses.

 I stopped for a great view of Reedsport and the Umpqua River (GC2CWJG) - DELORME p. 45.  The location would be more spectacular in the winter with the leaves off the trees.  Reedsport was named for a local settler, Alfred W. Reed, who founded the city in 1912.

The Umpqua River Lighthouse (NGS Benchmark: OA1170) stands at the entrance to Winchester Bay on Oregon's central coast.  It was built in 1890 and was illuminated in 1894. It has a first order Fresnel lens made of 616 glass prisms handcrafted in France and weighing two tons.  I visited the lantern room on Wednesday, August 8th.  The station is the finial atop the ball that is at the apex of the conical roof of the lighthouse.

I crossed the Umpqua River Bridge.  I found R.I.P. in Lakeside (GC35NPT) - DELORME p. 44.  I should have stopped at Strawberry Hill Lookout MP 169-170.

 I crossed the Conde B. McCullough Memorial Bridge over Coos Bay into North Bend, Oregon.  This 5,305-foot steel cantilever truss bridge, designed by master bridge engineer Conde B. McCullough, was the longest structure on Oregon’s highway system when constructed in 1936 at MP 234.03. Originally simply named the Coos Bay Bridge, this historic engineering landmark was dedicated posthumously in 1947 to its designer, Conde B. McCullough.

A WWI Troop Transport Boxcar used in World War I was donated by the French National Railroads and was on display in front of the Coos Historical and Maritime Museum in North Bend, Oregon.  It has a capacity of 40 men or eight horses.  There was also a Donkey (1902) (Virtual GCA373) DELORME p. 51. 

I checked in at the Red Lion Coos Bay.  I was given a room but it was incredibly noisy.  I was given another room on the second floor with a view of the hills.  There were two queen sized beds so after ditching the bedspreads I took the bedding off one bed to add to my bed covers.  I purchased dinner at Fred Meyer of a deli sandwich, Lays BBQ chips, and small cake which I ate in my room, watching television.