Views of Sequim, the Olympic Peninsula. . .and beyond
In last Thursday’s post it was impossible to see the Heceta Head Lighthouse from the beach below. As we drive south on the coast it came into view. Here’s a black and white shot. It was raining at the lighthouse as I took it.
Here’s a longer view of the coast near the lighthouse, a rugged landscape typical of the northern Pacific Coast. This area gets over 70 inches of rain a year, so it was no surprise that hats and rain hoods were necessary.
In Florence, Oregon last month we drove past the public library and spied some yarn bomb whimsy of the Oregon variety.
I couldn’t let it go unphotographed.
Our first couple of days at the central Oregon coast last month felt a lot like home. That is, it rained. And then it cleared. And then it rained some more. Some of the more striking views we had were through the veil of rain squalls. Not the best for photographs. This is the beach below Heceta Head lighthouse. The lighthouse is hidden behind trees to the left of the keeper’s house on the hillside. I’ll post shots of the lighthouse in the next few days.
Here’s the coast between squalls. Well, it was dry where I was standing.
Here’s another sunset from Florence, Oregon, straight out of the camera.
Okay. We didn’t go to the Florence you’re thinking of, unless your mind immediately went to Florence, Oregon, located on the central Oregon coast. We took a trip there last month to meet up with a friend from California, Marie, whose photos you see posted today. She captured one of our evenings with such elegance I had to show you two of my favorites. (Thank you, Marie!)
Florence is located at the north end of the Oregon Dunes National Recreation Area, the largest coastal sand dunes in North America. The dunes stretch for 40 miles along the coast and vary from typical beach dunes with low grasses to inland parabola dunes that edge forest lands. This view is along a manmade jetty that edges the Suislaw River as it spills into the Pacific Ocean.
Marie is considering moving to Florence. What do you think? Should she do it?
I love watching clouds in the broad skies above Sequim. Especially after gloomy days of wall-to-wall overcast in June, puffy clouds in a blue sky excite me. It wasn’t until I looked at this shot on my computer screen that I noticed the head of a poodle scampering on the right side. See it? Or have I looked at too many clouds?
It started out as 12 yards of glacier sand trucked in from Silverdale on June 7th, poured into an empty lot next to Adagio Bean and Leaf Coffeehouse. This is what it looked like as of July 4th, after about 100 person hours of work. The artist is Kali Bradford of Sequim, who has been constructing it in anticipation of the Lavender Faire and Festival. As you can see, it’s quite detailed.
Bradford has sculpted in sand competitions around the world and intends to finish on July 17th, by which time another estimated 100 person hours will have gone into in the work. To prevent erosion, the piece is sprayed with nine parts of water to one part of white glue. Though one would think rain would melt it, water runs through, packing more tightly the flat surfaces of the sand granules. Bradford suggests that the piece could last until the weather freezes.
