Ashley, Eric and Senior Citizens

This eagle was one of the raptors on display at the Eugene Oregon bird hospital and sanctuary.  All birds on display can not be returned to the wild because of an injury or because they are too friendly to humans and would not last in the wild.

Carol is on the left and she doesn't give a HOOT!!

Eric is on the right and he wonders WHO???

Several real owls were at the sanctuary and all had names and a description of why they were there.  Many had wing injuries, were missing an eye, etc.  Eric will try to get me copies from his cell phone camera which was far superior to my little Kodak digital.  The birds can be "adopted" for a year with a donation relating to their size and cost of maintenance.  The sanctuary attempts to repair and release any bird that comes to their facility.

We took a quick trip to the Oregon coast to an area where Ashley and her Oregon family like to ride four wheelers on the sand dunes and camp out in one of the many campgrounds along the coast.  We wanted to get Eric and Ashley a ride on the really fast commercial "wheelers" but were too late.  We had to be in Portland for Eric's flight out at 8pm.  Maybe next time.

We stopped on the very cold beach where the otters had been digging up clams.  Note the hooded sweat shirts on some of the people.

Eric, Ashley and I CLIMBED up one of the dunes that separate the "protected" area from the ocean.  Old guys and loose sand on a steep inclined plane almost led to a heart attack!!!  I had to stop more than once to catch my breath.  The younguns did pretty good.  Of course Ashley (the light weight of the trio) went zipping over the top and was part way down when I finally made it to the top.  Nothing exciting except the endless ocean view.  Thought maybe a ship would be passing in the distance, but only the ever crashing waves from the Pacific Ocean.  Yes it was COLD  and WINDY!!  It is moving Ashley's hair to the back of her head, but Eric's "doo" is not bothered!!

We did stop at an antique store, but I forgot to take pictures.  We went to Mo's, the best known restaurant in Florence, Oregon.  The downtown area along the harbor is filled with touristy stores of all kinds.

Carol and Ashley are deciding what to have for lunch.

After ordering I did wander outside to record the neat bridge that crosses the river.  A sand dune is on the right side just under the bridge.  These are protected, but areas further to the south are open to the public for 4-wheelers, etc.  Most of them are equipped with special wheels to function in the loose sand.

Ashley was enjoying her seafood gumbo when I made her stop and do the "pointy" thing along with Eric.  A small boat was headed out to sea????

We did some touristy shopping and then headed back to Coburg, Oregon to drop off Ashley and then we headed back to Portland for Eric's flight back to Maryland.