We took a weekend trip back in March to Sisters OR to enjoy the winter wonderland of the Cascades. Sisters is a small town northwest of Bend on the eastern side of the Cascades. The Hoodoo Ski Resort has a tubing park, which sounded like a ton of fun. We enjoyed our time here. We saw one of Oregon’s covered bridges along the way.
The Oregon Dunes NRA spans for almost 40 miles between Florence and Coos Bay. It is the largest expanse of coastal dunes in North America. The area boasts dunes that rise up to 500 feet, but there is much more here than sand. Lakes, streams, and forests add diversity to the landscape. We have only explored the northernmost section of this area and look forward to making our way farther south soon. The area is popular for ATV use, but there are sections designated for hikers only.
This trail, in the Siuslaw National Forest of the Coast Range is east of Florence near the town of Mapleton. The day we were there, we did not see another human. I’d love to return here soon. I’m sure it is even more beautiful now with the lushness of spring!
It has been a while since my last post. We have been living on the central Oregon Coast since December. December was a challenging month for us; we had just moved into the RV and were adjusting to the nuances of the RV lifestyle. There was an onslaught of Pacific storms that seemed never-ending. We received double the average rainfall in December, a whopping 24″. With all the rain and wind gusts of 20-30mph, we were finding leaks in the RV and were beginning to wonder what we had gotten ourselves into.
After December, the weather settled into a more normal pattern. It still rained a lot, but there were breaks from the rain. During the breaks we were often blessed with gorgeous, sunny days, and occasionally, these days aligned with our days off work! The length of days has been something to adjust to, being so much farther north. In the winter, the days are painfully short, but in the summer, the days seem to go on and on. We have adjusted well to small town coastal living and the RV lifestyle. We live in the big town of Florence, population 8,466. Within a 30 min drive we can be hiking along one of the most beautiful stretches of the Pacific coast, in the largest area of coastal dunes in the nation, or we can lose ourselves in the forests of the Coast Range. We are just 5 min away from Heceta beach, which is our go-to spot for a refreshing walk. The images below were all taken along the Oregon coast between Florence and Yachats, including the Heceta Head Lighthouse and the Cape Perpetua Scenic Area. They were taken over the winter months, with a few taken in the spring.
