BY CHANCE: A SHORT DRIVE TO FLORENCE, OR

Saturday, July 27, 2013

A SHORT DRIVE TO FLORENCE, OR

The Oregon Sand Dunes Recreation Area northern boundary is a few miles south of Florence.

The Siuslaw River near it's entry into the Pacific Ocean.

With the last of our appointments taken care of, yesterday morning was more on the relaxing side, instead of the hurrying & scurrying mornings of the previous 3 days. The last thing to be taken care of, was a house water filter for Nancy that had to be ordered. When that was installed, we drove over to the TA truck stop to fill the diesel tanks. Due to a problem with the fuel desk's computer, we both got the P.U.C. cash price of $3.69 a gallon, rather than the posted $4.08 credit price. In Oregon, the trucks pay 30 to 40 cents LESS per gallon, and in Arizona, the trucks pay about 8 cents MORE per gallon. The logic & rules regarding heavy vehicle fuel prices in these two states is completely opposite. Go figure.........

Our destination was the Florence Elks RV park which is located about 5 miles north of town. It was only about 75 miles from Coburg to Florence, and we were on the coast in in about an hour. The last several days in the Eugene area have been hot, with temps in the 90's. When we arrived in Florence, the temperature was 68 degrees, but felt cooler due to a pretty good breeze.

After getting parked at this very nice Elks campground, we drove back into town, continuing south on Hwy 101 to the South Jetty Thousand Trails RV Park. It's been several years since we last stayed at this T.T. park, and I wanted to see if there had been any improvements. It's still heavily wooded, so satellite TV is iffy, but there were several sites that had been improved to 50 amp. Of the 6 TT parks on the OR, and WA coast, this is the one that's the most southerly.

Adjacent to South Jetty, is one of the staging areas (entrances) for the sand dunes. We watched the 4 wheelers running up and down the dunes, and the effort to get a pickup unstuck from the top of one of the dunes. We left before they got it out.

We had a late lunch, early dinner in Old Florence at Mo's, famous for their clam chowder. It was good, but we've all had better. After dinner, a quick stop at Safeway, before we headed back to the motor homes. Today, the girls are continuing their quest to set a Guiness World Record, for the most patronage of quilt/yarn/fabric shops. I think I'll stay put, and clean some Alaska dirt off the Jeep & motor home.