Another family vacation

With no big plans last weekend, combined with our inability to sit still, we packed up the car on Saturday morning and headed south. Having never seen the southern part of the Oregon Coast, we decided it would be fun to explore. We drove south to Corvallis and headed west, connecting with Hwy 101 at Newport. We stopped in Florence to have lunch with Andy's cousin, Pat Dunphy, and then explored the sand dunes just south of town. There are not many times in my life when I wish I had an ATV, but this was one of them! We camped for the night at Umpqua Lighthouse State Park and enjoyed some great seafood in Winchester Bay. Andy ordered perhaps the biggest oyster shooter we've ever seen. Secretly, I think he prefers the little ones at the Corbett Fish House! We woke up to a sunny day on Sunday and soaked up some rays at a beautiful beach at Sunset Bay. Andy was brave (or stupid) enough to jump in. Nick and I opted out of that adventure and decided to stay warm instead. Just south of Port Orford, the fog and drizzle set in. We hiked down to a deserted black sand beach at Sisters Rock - it was amazing. It's crazy how you can be a mile off of 101 and feel like you're in the middle of nowhere.

We pitched a tent just north of Brookings at Harris Beach State Park and prepared to get soaked. Lucky for us, the rain held off and we woke to find ourselves nice and dry. Monday we enjoyed a great hike through a redwood forest along the Chetco River. We drove south to the border before turning back north through Redwood National Forest on our way home. It was a beautiful trip!