Wally and Rene's latest: Camping at the coast.. Florence, Oregon

Camping at the beach

Wally and I took the camper and the dogs to the beach this past weekend. The weather was beautiful, sunny and even warm (if you can call 54 degrees warm)... I took the opportunity to shoot as much as I could (like I ever go anywhere without my camera!)

I have always loved bridges and this one is no exception. I have several different shots of it and some different editing.. I really like the way it turned out..

You can't go to the beach and not get pictures of the beach!!!!!

The weather was really nice.. but if you turned one way you see grey and lots of fog. I was standing in the same spot when I took these 2 pictures.. First I turned to the left,, grey fog,, then I turned to the right and blue sky. Really... the same spot!!!!!

We even saw some fishing boats way out there!!!

And what is the beach without a bit of drift wood???

I really like this one!
Just the contrast...

Wally and I love to drive up and down the coast and just see what is there... We drove South on Saturday and ended up near Coos Bay. Wally showed me an area where there are elk that pretty much live here...

I couldn't believe it!!!! I have never been so close to such a huge animal in the wild. I could have reached out and touched him!!! Wally admitted later that he was kind of afraid I would do that and what the Elk would do if I did touch him.

I don't know why he would think that.. He has actually threatened to put a rope around my waist to keep me from falling off a bluff or into the water.

I was truly amazed by the size of these animals and how many there were here.. (lots!!!)

Now this photo was a one of those that you see something happening and shoot without looking at your settings... So you could say (no could about it,, it was a goof!) this was a whoops... I saw the geese flying and that tree was so pretty I had to get it.. It wasn't what I was originally going for,, but I think what I got was so much better!!! After looking at what I got and tweaking it just a little bit.. I love this! One of my favorites!!!!!

Now back to the drift wood.. This is a bit of a story... We were walking on the beach and there was this couple looking at this piece of drift wood. They were trying to decide if they wanted to snag it and take it home with them. I was looking at it.. I really liked the shape of the piece. The guy tried to pick it up and figured it was too awkward. They left and I took some pics of the piece.

I called to Wally and asked if we could bring it home.. he asked why and I told him for the front yard. (we have some really nice pieces in the yard) He said he didn't care,, so I grabbed it and started to drag it. So it was heavier than I thought....

So I got it to the dune and Wally grabbed it the rest of the way for me.. Love that man!!!

It was really really heavy!!!!!

As we were driving South we were going uphill.. Going around a curve and I see some blue.. It was beautiful!!!

I couldn't believe this place.. It was like a post card...

A valley hidden behind all the trees!!!!!

This boat just struck me as so odd where it was. We were in the parking lot of the marina. This old beat up boat was in the middle of that lot. Just so out of place!!!

So back to the valley.. we pulled off onto a side road and let the kids loose!! They had been so good.. All 3 stay in the back of the pick up while we are on a road trip.. (no mishaps this trip)

You have Harley in the lead...

Pixie in the middle and Trixie stayed pretty close to her daddy..

Harley decided that he wanted to be closer to me and came running!! Look at that tongue!

That's my boy.. He is just about 12 years old now.. Pixie and Harley are about the same age and Trixie has to be close to 14 years old now.. maybe even older...

My kids.. all 4 of them! Love them!!

We stopped at a couple different beaches along the drive... I don't remember which one this is, but the weather again was so different every time you turn around.

You can see the fog still rolling in....

Even tho it wasn't stormy the waves were impressive...

Wally is looking for whales.. Too bad we didn't see any this trip.. This is the time of the year, but I think it is really the end of the season. They will be going back come June..

Look at the waves.. amazing!!!

The fog and mist made it really hard to get good pictures of the seals.. but you can see them lounging on the rocks..

I am loving the waves behind the seals here!!!!

The sun moving across the sky made for some beautiful lighting!!!

We drove a bit further down and came across this spot and it was so beautiful we had to stop.. the mist and fog moving in reminded me of the movie "The Fog" .. that was a scary movie,, about pirate ghosts who showed up every time the fog rolled in..

BEAUTIFUL!!!!!

We got back to our camp ground and made it in time for the sunset..

I know the pictures are a bit out of order..

Here we stopped at Heceta Head Lighthouse.. We actually stopped on the beach below the lighthouse.

Wally and the kids watching the waves..

This beach was full of so many different things to see.. Tide pools, bridges, rocks, and downed trees..

This tree was huge!!! I couldn't tell if it fell from up top of this huge hill.. or what,, I can't imagine it was on the beach.. even close to the hill. The way it is leaning it had to be on the top.
Where ever it was and how ever it got where it is... it is huge! Just leaning on the hill side. The roots are really cool...

The roots look like they could get up and walk across the beach!!!

Speaking of walking across the beach... here are Wally and the kids..

Pixie sure loves her daddy..

The tide was coming in and they all had to run from this wave... unfortunately they all didn't make it out.. Trixie got a bit wet...

Here we have some beach pics... For some reason I really liked that log.

The waves rushing on the rocks were so beautiful and powerful at the same time...

This is a historic bridge (I would tell you the name if I could remember it!!) I have always loved the arches on this bridge!!

I saw this black bird just sitting on this piece of drift wood.. He looked at me as I was walking by.. I swear I heard him call me to take his picture.. he even gave me a profile!!!

So looking up on the hill you see the lighthouse. This is one of the most photographed lighthouses in the world. It truly is beautiful!

The lighthouse consists of the lighthouse itself.. the little house right next to it,, I think it might be a supply house. Then to the right of the lighthouse is the big house. This is where the care taker lives. He stays in only a part of the house. There is a downstairs that has a large living room and dining room. The kitchen is large and old fashion.. more like the 1950's style.. (at least that is what it was like a few years back..)

I got to stay in this house a few years back.. actually must have been about 7 years ago. I did a workshop here. There are bedrooms like cabins with bunk beds. It really isn't a fancy place but they do use the building for many different events. I actually had a good time.. I loved the grounds. We who were doing the workshop were able to walk around the grounds that was normally closed to visitors.