A Walk in the Park (Florence, OR)

I'm still not done with Newport.  Before we left, we planned to walk Beaver Creek State Natural Area.  I was hoping to see a Green Heron or two, but I guess I'll have to wait for another day to see one.  This is a good birding area, but the wetland trail is seasonal and now was not a good time.  The trail was muddy and flooded.  I did manage to see a couple of birds during the short time we were there.

I saw one Cedar Waxwing sitting at the top of a pine tree.

This little guy started following me down the trail.  I must have been close to a nest, but he wasn't making a lot of noise about it just keeping his eye on me.

 At one point, he came down to eye level and just across the trail from where I was standing.  He seemed very curious...

A little disappointed that we could not walk the trail, we stopped by Ona Beach State Park and walked along the river.  There were quite a few Chickadees hopping around in the pine trees.   

Of course, trying to get a good photo of them was quite a challenge.

We spent one day driving east of Newport on Hwy 20 then southwest on Alsea Hwy 34.  We were looking for more covered bridges.  We found two: Chitwood Bridge and Harris Bridge.  We made several stops along the way to see the river and parks.

By the way, the bushes in front of the above bridge are very ripe blackberries.  We picked a lot of them.  They were so ripe that the ones in the bottom of the little baggie we put them in had turned to mush by the time we got home.  So sweet and delicious!  My fingers were dyed purple from picking them!

I'm slowly getting caught up with all my online items.  I still have a lot of emails to answer and blogs to visit, but I'm getting there.

On The Cutting Board

In between our road trips and moving, I have finished appliquéing the petals onto the lotus quilt and all the quilting has been done.  Now, I'm ready to start the binding.  The more I work on it the more I like it.  The colors are bright yet soothing.

 Well, I better get started on the binding...
Happy Quilting!

Covered Bridges and Long Walks (Newport, OR)

I'll be keeping this blog short.  We are enjoying our new location, but our new site doesn’t have a good WiFi connection.  So, I want to say upfront –Thank You to all that are leaving comments.  I will try to answer back or visit blogs as soon as I can.  The campground has a center with free WiFi, so I’ll probably be visiting there every couple days.  I have to admit it is not the easiest place to concentrate on reading or writing.  If I don't make it to the center, I may not be posting for a week or two.  I hope to catch up with everyone soon.

I recently found out that the western Oregon area has quite a few covered bridges.  We visited the Drift Creek Covered Bridge that is privately owned now.  We might try to look for a few more before we leave here.

Drift Creek 1914

 A few views along the highway.  Can you blame us for driving up and down Hwy 101?

We walked the Cape Lookout trail.  It is 4.8 miles round trip with 400 feet elevation.  The toughest part was navigating the big tree roots and thick mucky mud...yuk...but the views were fantastic.  We were a little disappointed when we got to the point and could not see both sides, but it was still worth the hike.

Path among some interesting trees

View along the way

yep, another view from way up high

Looking down and to the north

I think elves live here.

Well, I hope to post again soon because I have a lot more to show you.  In the meantime, I'll be busy quilting and exploring more of the Oregon coastal area.
Happy Trails!