I can't say it in any other way, other than we started with a climb. Continually I have melody in my head along the lines of 'it started with a climb' - I think I would prefer the kiss most mornings. Up to Heceta head we went and through Cape Creek Tunnel. A gentle descent brought us down into Florence we were had our first Fred Meyer experience. This place is huge! It gave me a headache just looking for carrots and an onion. That said it provided us with much needed camping fuel so we were happy.
Through Florence we cycled along the Oregon Dunes National Park, enjoying fairly level ground and a brief lunch stop. A few more climbs brought us into Gardiner - a sparse town of two or three buildings, and later Reedsport with yet more commercial sprawl.
At Reedsport our light lunch caught up with us and our climb to Umpqua Lighthouse State Park seemed insurmountable. On arriving I inquired as to the availability of yurts (having already been asked if we wanted the hiker/biker section). At most campgrounds they look at you as if you have three heads for asking for a luxury that can be booked six months in advance. This time we were in luck. A funny three way conversation ensued between myself, the host and Tim a few metres away with the bikes. There was one deluxe yurt supplying all you could every want and enough beds to sleep a football team (just in case that wasn't part of all you could ever want). At $65 Tim said no he wanted a basic yurt. No worries, the lady told us they had a cabin. No, a yurt Tim said. Yes there is a deluxe one. No, I want a basic one. Of course we didn't realise the basic yurts and cabins were considered the same. At any rate - there was one deluxe yurt and one cabin with my name on it!
Through Florence we cycled along the Oregon Dunes National Park, enjoying fairly level ground and a brief lunch stop. A few more climbs brought us into Gardiner - a sparse town of two or three buildings, and later Reedsport with yet more commercial sprawl.
At Reedsport our light lunch caught up with us and our climb to Umpqua Lighthouse State Park seemed insurmountable. On arriving I inquired as to the availability of yurts (having already been asked if we wanted the hiker/biker section). At most campgrounds they look at you as if you have three heads for asking for a luxury that can be booked six months in advance. This time we were in luck. A funny three way conversation ensued between myself, the host and Tim a few metres away with the bikes. There was one deluxe yurt supplying all you could every want and enough beds to sleep a football team (just in case that wasn't part of all you could ever want). At $65 Tim said no he wanted a basic yurt. No worries, the lady told us they had a cabin. No, a yurt Tim said. Yes there is a deluxe one. No, I want a basic one. Of course we didn't realise the basic yurts and cabins were considered the same. At any rate - there was one deluxe yurt and one cabin with my name on it!
This has to be one of the best places we have stayed yet. The cabin overlooked a tranquil Lake Marie, set in woodland. After a brief pause for sustenance (read tea), we walked down to the lighthouse and attempted five minutes of whale watching - needless to say the fruits of our endeavours were not repaid, and promptly walked around the lake and back to our cabin.View from the lighthouse
Interesting how the '&' looks like an afterthought
Smugly, we settled down to dinner on our veranda, swigging wine from the bottle. An hour or so later an RV pulled into the pitch next to us containing a lovely German couple (Sabine and Axle), on their last legs of a round the world trip. We spent a good hour marvelling with them at the size of RVs and American breakfasts. They had hired the smallest RV they could at 22ft, and yet Axle was still too tall to sleep in the bed without his feet hanging over the end. They did however have every gadget you could ever care for.
No comments:
Post a Comment