We usually try to visit the Oregon Coast for a few days each year, either during a weather window in late Fall or early winter, or in the Spring before tourist season starts, bringing with it crowds and higher prices. In late 2019, the weather didn’t cooperate with any sort of weather window and the Spring of 2020 was, well, I think we all know how that went.
So it wasn’t until June that things opened-up enough for us to take the risk of traveling to the coast. We’ll see what happens in a couple of weeks. But the hotels we stayed at were as clean and sanitized as an operating theater, the restaurants offered either outdoor seating (the Waterfront Depot in Florence, Oregon is a favorite) or widely spaced tables inside, and social distancing wasn’t a problem because we didn’t encounter swarms of people anywhere we went (and essentially none on the three hikes we did). So we took advantage of the light crowds (a situation which is likely to change as the summer progresses) to visit a few spots we missed on previous visits, including Exploding Whale Memorial Park in Florence, Heceta Head Lighthouse, the Darlingtonia State Natural Site, and Whaleshead Beach in the Samuel H. Boardman State Scenic Corridor. We got to see some fun things that rounded-out all the nature we saw on our three hikes. 🙂
BOOTS on the TRAIL 
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