Oregon Coast Trip: Super Sand!

On Wednesday, we decided to head south to find some adventure.

Our first stop was beautiful Heceta Head beach.  Such a pretty place!

The boys quickly found a bridge to get over the inlet.

Nate finds a huge slug, but being older and wiser than Dylan, he does not attempt to eat it.

How much fun is climbing mossy green rocks?  Apparently, lots!

Caleb found a cave.

Tiny seashells crunch underfoot.

Observing the tiny creatures in the tide pools.

Light house above, crashing waves below, a big steep rock to climb.  Everything about this place is boy-awasome!

The mussel collector.

Um, Luke honey.  Please be careful!

What an amazing view!

I guess the top of the cliff was not high enough.  Dylan finds an even better viewpoint.

The lighthouse keepers' quarters.

Masses of blackberry shrubs surround the house and line the trail up to the lighthouse.  Alex and Luke search for the very ripest ones.

A tiny yellow spider at work on a wild rose.

I spot a monkey in the trees. Oh wait - that's just Dylan.

Oregon Lighthouse #3 - Haceta Head.

Waiting for the tour.

Man, I love these great boys!

The lighthouse has recently been restored at it looks beautiful - much better than last time we saw it.

The tour of the light house was very interesting. The largest lenses could be seen a distance of 21 miles. Why?  Because that is how far anything can be seen before the curvature of the earth gets in the way.

The light was rotated by a system of weights and pulleys that hung down the middle of the tower that had to be constantly wound like a grandfather clock.

The two sheds nearby stored the kerosene that was used to light the lamps.   It took 3 keepers to keep this lighthouse in operation.  They were very secluded here.  In order to get into town they had to climb down the sea cliff, wait until low tide to ride out the carriage out, and then it took a full day's ride to get to the nearest town Florence.  Visitors were always welcome.

Having thoroughly explored the beach, cliffs, and lighthouse, it was time to move on... south - to Florence.

A view of the lighthouse en-route.

So here is the thing.  I had read about the spectacular sand dunes that occupy miles and miles of Oregon's southern coast, and that grand adventures could be had there on dune buggies and the like.  But I had also read about something called sand boarding and I knew my boys would love it!  Tripadvisor and other sources had rated a place called sand land park as one of the top activities to try on the coast.  But it was really costly, something like $150 for a lesson for the whole family and then $14 each to rent the boards, and they wouldn't let you rent a board unless you had had the class.  Well, that was way out of our budget, so we wondered if there was another way.  When we got to Florence we found the sand park.  It was in a big lot behind the Fred Meyer store - not exactly picturesque, and the dunes didn't look nearly as big or exciting as some we had seen along the coast on our drive up.  We decided we might try to do better, or at least cheaper, so we went into the Fred Meyer and asked about boards.  They did not sell boards but offered us these orange discs and wax instead.  We bought 3 at $7/each and headed over to Honeyman State Park just South of town as was suggested by an employee.  Well we parked at the state park and made our way UP a break in the trees (it was quite a climb!)...

and up, and up, and up...

until we saw this!  What an absolutely gorgeous place!  The pictures, of course don't do it justice, nor do they do justice to how high or how steep the sand dune was.  Here Nate is only standing about halfway up it.

Dylan looks up at the top of the dune with anticipation.  Let's do this!

But when he gets to the top, waxes up his disc, and hops on, nothing happens.  He tries again and again, but he can barely get the thing to inch down.

Caleb gives it a try.  Nope.

These dumb orange discs are worthless!

They see a steeper dune further off and treck over there to try it, but not with much success.  Meanwhile, all around us people are having the time of their lives sliding down the steep dune on sand boards.  Nobody, nobody else has a stupid orange disc.  The kids were certainly disappointed, and Dennis knew something had to be done so he and Alex took off...

And returned just a few minutes later with these: 2 shiny sand boards and a sand sled!  He found a guy renting them just outside the park for only $5/4hours each.  Sweet!  Daddy saves the day!!!

Nate grabs the first one and waxes up the bottom with a hunk of regular paraffin wax.

Luke does the same on the sand sled.

Then Nate hits the slopes. He makes it down just fine.  Who needs a teacher?  Watch, learn, try.  That does the trick!

Like a pro.

So Caleb gives it a try and it it doesn't take him long to catch big sand.

Alex takes Luke on the sand sled which is super fast and fun, and much easier.

What a workout just getting to the top of the dune.  Whew.

Dylan tries the sand board out this time.  The kids is a natural!  He makes it look easy.

Getting your balance as you speed down the hill is tricky, but the sand is so fine and soft, falling is not a problem (though getting back up can be.)

Another perfectly respectable option is running down the dune.  So fun!

Derek grabs a board and gives it a shot.  

Oh yeah!

Did I mention that the only way to stop is falling on your bum?  Derek celebrates his run at the bottom. That was awesome!

The boys are having so much fun, Dennis decides to give it a try.  Only getting up that dune seems daunting. But he decides its is worth it.

Just like this, Dad.

Or that way is ok too.

Caleb not happy after a wipe out.

And while Dad works on his technique...

The twins decided to take a board back up to the steeper dune to see what they can really do.

Alex taunts me to put down my camera and give it a shot.

Absolutely!  You know I'm game!

It was a lot tougher than I thought it would be at first, and also a lot faster.

But after a few runs I got is down pretty good!  Super sandy fun!

Nate and Caleb discovered that the lake which looked cold, was actually a great temperature and perfect for swimming!

Nate swam clear across looking for these:

Newts, of course.

Go, Momma, go!

Little kid on a big sand dune.

Dylan is just too cool.

Sand was everywhere!

Look out!

Yes, even Dylan wipes out.

The newt collector.

What an awesome time we had sand boarding at Honeyman State Park! We were so glad we didn't got the pricy sand land park route!  The dune was huge and the setting couldn't be more picturesque!  It turns out we didn't need a teacher or bunny slopes.  We returned the stupid discs to Fred Meyer and in the end spent a total of $15 for what the boys all vote, hands down, as the funniest thing we did on the whole trip.

Afterwards we decided to explore the town of Florence, but most of the shops were already closed.  Not the candy shop.  So we stepped in for more salt water taffy.

Then we took a little walk before dinner.

The bridge was beautifully lit by the setting sun at this time of the evening, and the colorful flowers along the inlet were perfect!

Hey, aren't those guys those famous pro sandboarders?

Dinner was at Mo's, an iconic landmark on the Oregon Coast.

Great view of the river!

Mo's is famous for their clam chowder, so we had to try it sourdough bowls.  It was good, but all chowder is different, and we all decided we preferred the stuff we had back in San Francisco at Boudin.  Certainly their bread was better and their chowder creamier.  Joe's was much chunkier and thicker.  It was important for us to try both, I'm sure you understand.

A fun fabulous super sand day south of Newport! We are still getting sand out of our ears and the boys are trying to think of a place out in the desert where they can try sand boarding.  We do live in a place called "Bermuda DUNES", after all.