Wildcat Bridge, Florence and the Seals

We got off to a hot start but didn't start this fire on the way to the coast.

We did however find this covered bridge.

It's the Wildcat Bridge over Wildcat Creek in Lane County, Oregon. The Wildcat Creek Bridge is located west of Eugene in Lane County, Oregon on Highway 126, near Whitaker Creek-Clay Creek Recreation Area. The covered bridge was built in 1925. It is a Howe type bridge. So we all wandered around taking pictures and taking in the scenery.

We even walked through the bridge to taste a bit of it's history.

I got this one of Jim taking a shot while the mini-musemobile waited in the background.

Then I took my usual oddball picture of the railing.

We arrived in Florence and before anything we drove around near the Siuslaw where it empties into the Pacific. I liked the contrast of the dry sand dunes and the wet plush river.

Next we ate some lunch at this combination Fish Market and restaurant.

Then off we were to the Darlingtonia Botanical garden for a walk and another look (for us not Jim and Doreen) at the Cobra Lily plants.

I liked the dark and dank woods on the trail with eerie looking trees covered in moss that are part of the gardens.

Then a short time later we arrived at the Seal Caves, a privately owned attraction, on the coast north of Florence. With a great view of Heceta Lighthouse.

I couldn't resist a picture of the Seal family statue on the walk down to the caves.

There is a long walk (by my standards) to the elevator that takes you 300 feet down into the cave.

In the cave the view is spectacular. The only other time we came it was the wrong season and there were no seals to be found. That wasn't the case this day. There were plenty of seals there to full the cave.

The don't allow flash photography so everything was shot on time lapse but I did get a couple of clear shots.


What a lovely day -----until the elevator stopped part way up when we left. It was only for a couple of minutes but Sharyn got off vowing never to see the caves again. Of course she meant if it meant taking the elevator.


Walking back up I caught these three seals cavorting with the sea gulls and cormorants but for the life of me I wish I knew how they climbed the 50 feet of sheer cliff to get there.


Quote of the Day (note the time with our friends Jim and Doreen has been very special so I found this quote I always loved for them both and the visit to Wildcat Creek Bridge)

"This bridge will only take you halfway there, to those mysterious lands you long to see. Through gypsy camps and swirling Arab fair, and moonlit woods where unicorns run free. So come and walk awhile with me and share the twisting trails and wondrous worlds I've known. But this bridge will only take you halfway there. The last few steps you have to take alone." ~ Shel Silverstein quotes (American poet, cartoonist and composer best known in children's literature for his poetry, 1930-1999)