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We only made it 120 miles up the coast today. This particular part of the Oregon coast is the most scenic part of the drive. You pass the Oregon dunes, jagged coastlines and panoramic views from hundreds of feet above the ocean. There are also a variety of galleries along the way and tourist spots like the sea lion caves. We stopped at the sand dunes at coos silt beach. There was a good hike uphill in the sand dune from the parking lot and then down the other side to some small dunes and a long walk to the waters' edge. There were only a few people walking on the beach. It is very windy along here, which is why there are so many dunes. Nobody swims or surfs along here because the water temperature is only 48 degrees F. I could easily spend a day in the sand here. It was a little odd walking in it because the surface of the sand was warm, but underneath it was cold. My brain doesn't compute sand + cold in the same sentence. A little farther down the road is the place where you can rent vehicles to drive around the dunes. We wanted to go in one vehicle or buggy together, but they didn't have any available, only single atv's. We carried on down the road to the next place, but they only have tours, so we signed up for that. It was 1 hour long in an open air buggy with 21 other people. We were wearing shorts and flip flops and the temp was 60 degrees. We fished another jacket out of the trunk and used another one to cover our legs. Our pants were in the luggage which was the last thing in the bottom of the trunk and we didn't really have time to get them out. I was completely in my happy place! The most sand that I have ever seen before this was in Barbuda. Even part the road in from the airport was sand, and their #1 export was sand. But this was unbelievable! There were huge dunes of sand that went on for 40 miles! In some places only the tops of trees were visible, having been buried by drifting sand. In other areas there were tree islands. Those trees weren't buried because the wind would blow and create a dune from the sand deposited on the beach from the ocean floor. When the wind got to the top of the dune it would create an air cushion between the sand dune and the trees. They planted sea grass to stop the sand from drifting so far. Now there is all sorts of vegetation and trees growing there and they are losing between 2-10 feet of sand per year. We drove on sand trails through the trees and open expanses of sand. Sometimes he would stop at the top of a really steep hill so we could all have a look, and then drive over the edge and down to the howls of the people on board. The tour was an hour long. Good thing we went that route because we wouldn't have found all the sights that the tour took us to. There weren't any signs and I wouldn't have had a clue how to navigate. It was totally fun! Except for the part where we almost froze to death! It would have been so much fun on a hot summer day. We had a late lunch at an A&W that still had drive up service with car hops bringing your food out to your car and hanging the tray on your window! Bring on the seafood for dinner! We went to Local Seafood for dinner. There was a 1/2 hour wait, so we went for a walk along the waterfront. This is where the fishing boats dock and unload their catch at the processing plant. They were freezing cases of whiting fish, also called hake. They use that fish to make imitation crab. You could also buy fresh Albacore tuna from a fishing boat in the harbour. There were a lot of sea lions lounging there as well, barking like dogs and lazily swimming around. Back to the restaurant for dinner. Started with some crab and garlic soup (still trying to warm up), followed by mussels and a Brazilian seafood stew. Delicious! Really a fun day.
- comments
Vera Wow that looks like a very cool place! Endless amounts of sand!! The dune buggy looks like a blast but how was it for sand in the face and eyes?
Bea Ching We were pretty high off the ground, so there wasn't any sand in our face. I kept looking behind us to see if there were huge cloud sod sand and dust, but there wasn't, even though it was really windy. When you rent an arc, they lend you googles and a helmet.
Vera Well that would be fun then.