Oregon’s South Coast

During Memorial Day weekend we visited Shore Acres State Park, the Umpqua Lighthouse, Sunset Beach, and Heceta Head Lighthouse Scenic Viewpoint.

Shore Acres State Park

I’ve visited Shore Acres on a few occasions and always enjoy photographing the flowers.  There are several gardens to wander through and a trail to Simpson Beach.  Another trail leads to the estate’s former tennis court located on a sandy, rocky cliff overlooking the ocean.  We found tadpoles in the fresh water that must have been left by all the rain we’ve had.

Shore Acres Signage

Red Flower Captured with a Lensbaby

The Gardens

Pagoda Overlooking a Serene Pond

Water Fountain

Gardener’s House

Simpson Beach

Pond on a Rocky Ocean Cliff

Umpqua Light House

Amber and I enjoyed the very informative tour and museum at the Umpqua Lighthouse that is a current US Coast Guard station.  It’s also the only lighthouse in Oregon that visitors may climb up into the light to view the beautiful prisms.

Umpqua Lighthouse

Brief Info about the Lighthouse

Tour Guide at Umpqua Lighthouse

Climbing into the Light

Lighthouse Prisms

Red and White Prisms

Red Prisms inside the Lighthouse

Umpqua Lighthouse Museum and US Coast Guard Boat

Original Umpqua Lighthouse

Beaches

I spent some time experimenting with the Lensbaby Composer Pro with the Sweet 35 optic and Breakthrough Photography’s X4 10 stop neutral density filter.  I’ll have to go back to the beach to get some more experience and take their tutorials with me.  The neutral density filter could be addicting!

Sunset Beach

Cape Creek

Foggy Sunset Beach

Cape Creek at Heceta Head Lighthouse State Scenic Viewpoint

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Sutton Campground – Siuslaw National Forest, OR

Tucked safely into the campsite.

Amber and I went to Sutton Campground near Florence, Oregon last weekend.  It was our first attempt at taking the fifth-wheel to a national forest campground, and it was well worth the 3 hour drive.  The campground roads and sites are tight, but we were able to get into our pull-through, site A13.  Sutton Campground is beautiful and well maintained.  Most of the sites are surrounded by foliage providing campers with a great sense of privacy.  While we were in a pull-through site and close to the road we couldn’t see other campsites beyond ours when we stepped outside our door.  As typical of NF campgrounds there is a lot of space between sites, so even though we were close to the road we didn’t feel like we were trailer on top of trailer.

We decided to take out the dutch ovens and try the new dutch oven table we found at Sportsman’s Warehouse on a discount night.  Then we got a further discount because it was the last one left and didn’t have a box.  Amber’s the dutch oven fire starter and loved her new toy.  The baking powder biscuits, sausage gravy, eggs, and maple sausages were yummy!

Breakfast

The best baking powder biscuits made with butter and cream of tartar.

The new dutch oven table and baking biscuits.

We’ve always camped on the coast, but usually stay at Honeyman when we’re near Florence.  This last weekend we wanted to stay at a NF park, go kayaking and explore other places in the area.  It ended up being too windy and cold for kayaking, but we found three lakes we want to try next time we visit.  Mercer Lake, Sutton Lake and Alder Lake were all close by.  Then Cleowox Lake is at Honeyman State Park just a few miles south of Florence.  We went out to North Jetty, but the wind was making the sand sting as it hit us, so we didn’t stay long.  Instead we found Harbor Vista Campground that appeared be a quiet place for camping.  It’s a small park that I believe is operated by Lane County.

While walking through the campground we found the Darlingtonia Walkway.

Darlingtonia Walkway

Before going home on Sunday we practiced backing the 5th wheel into some other sites.  I also took several pictures of the campground and some sites we might be able to use for our next visit.