Florence and Row River, Oregon

This was our third year in Florence, Oregon for the Rhody Days Festival. We had so much fun the last couple of times, and since Florence is sort of on our northbound route back to the Pacific Northwest, we added the stop to our travel route. Scott and Marcia Hicks together with several friends make Florence an annual pilgrimage for the festival and we were happy to join them again.
(Link to previous post about Rhodie Days)

Loop F, Site 259

Jessie Honeyman State Park is a terrific park, with many trails, a lake, and of course, the dunes. We've enjoyed staying here the previous times we visited but this time was different. There had been a lot of rain and this time our site was in the midst of tall evergreens, making it dark and damp and quite cool. 

The wet conditions bring out the Northwest banana slug. We came across a few on our walks.

our slimy Northwest banana slug

my boot to illustrate scale

Michael had a surprise the morning he disconnected the water hose to prepare us for travel.

The Rhody Days festival was not a complete washout. The weather cleared up for the grand parade through town on Sunday. We viewed the floats from the Hicks & Company's usual spot along the route.

Here are a few of my favorite paraders: 

two cowgirl princesses

Vintage Model T Ford 

Vintage Model A Ford

the Mexican horses and dancers are always fun to watch

perfect vehicles for  Oregon's sand dunes

tractors new

and tractors old

One afternoon when it was rainy, Marcia and I went into town to see the quilt show held at a local furniture store. I thought it was a clever way to display quilts draped over furnishings.
Here a few that caught my eye:

We walked along a few park trails looking for blooming rhodies.

We walked around Cleawox Lake.


There is a memorial to Jessie Honeyman we noticed for the first time.  She worked with Oregon's first Superintendent of State Parks to preserve Oregon's coastal lands.

We climbed the dunes to see how far we could see.  Kids were having a great time sliding down the dunes on flattened cardboard boxes.

 The ocean is about 3 miles away.

 We had a great view of the lake from the top of the dunes.

One gloomy day we accompanied Marcia and Scott on a ride along the coastal road. We stopped off near Yachats to see Devil's Churn, a narrow inlet . We watched the water rushing in, churning at the end, the waves crashing and spilling over. The grey skies created a perfect backdrop for this wild and rugged coastline.

Our reservations at the state park were through the 20th. We then moved over to the Elks a few miles north of Florence for a couple of nights. We heard good reviews about this Elks RV Park and since we were in the area, we decided to check it out.  It was a welcome option to our dark site at the state park. The grounds are large enough to accommodate RVs as well as tents in a meadow. We enjoyed our walk around the park. 
The following day, we went to the Darlingtonia State Natural Site, a botanical preserve we noticed along the road to the Elks RV park.  

A wooden boardwalk meanders across an expanse of mucky bogland blanketed by tangles of the Darlingtonia, a carnivorous plant native to Oregon and northern California. 

Two days later, we were off again, heading to the Hicks' annual Memorial Day weekend camp-out at their Row River property. 

Compared to the previous year, this was a cool and drippy week. However the rain did not dampen the fun and camaraderie. This was certainly the first time that I ate outside in the rain at the potluck meal we shared over Memorial Day! We were all huddled around a gas fire inside an outdoor gazebo canopy shelter, the rain pouring overhead, enjoying a picnic dinner. 

there were evening campfires - Michael took the opportunity to burn a bundle
of old checks and bank statements

a break in the weather and some welcome sunshine

We had a good time and met several more folks, several of whom are Marcia's friends from Sisters on the Fly camping club. Without cell coverage or internet, we truly felt like we were remote from the intrusions of civilization enjoying the great outdoors with good friends.
On Monday we continued to our next stop at Crescent Pine RV Park in Crescent, Oregon.