In late morning, she took us to Spencer Butte - apparently it is the best hiking close in to Eugene. She had us so freaked out about the poison oak, even David was on edge. I don't think I've ever had poison oak, but I remember friends in California being completely out of their minds about it, too. It must be horrible.
I found a funny blog posting about this hike with lots of pictures: check out the subtitle of the blog - that's hilarious.
To me, there's nothing like a tall coniferous forest with elegant ferns carpeting the ground - I keep the image of some of the side trails we did there in my mind during yoga meditation.
Enough of that! On to the Emerald Coast. We drove over in the late afternoon, with no reservations or plans. We tried to get out to look at the coast around Florence, but the wind blew us back into the car. You can't really see the view with sand in your eyes... Well, we had to make plans anyway. We took a bet on a place called Overleaf Lodge. It was definitely pricey by our trip's standards, but really, paying just under $200 to have a balcony right on the ocean, where you can leave your patio door open and listen to the waves crash all night, isn't so bad. The room wasn't super fancy, but everything was pretty much just as it needed to be.

The weather was perfect (although chilly!) the next morning to take off on a long coastal cycling adventure. We cycled from Yachats (where we were staying) to Depoe Bay, where we had a tasty lunch of fish and chips - they better have been good, because it was the worst service we experienced the whole trip. We took a few detours to taste wine, see the lighthouse at Yaquina Bay state park (where I saw the seal I had demanded to see), and take in some views. The whole trip clocked in at just barely under 80 miles, my longest ride to date.
This is probably too many pictures, but it really is a beautiful place...





























