Day Eight – Berry Good Day

We gave ourselves the luxury of sleeping until 7am and then enjoyed two cups of Tom’s artisan, handcrafted coffee. We debated on which route to take and decided on heading south through the Willamette Valley and the Siuslaw National Forest and avoid the coastal tourist towns.

The valley was filled with orchards, vineyards and various crops.

We passed a covered bridge.

Soon we rose into the hills and the road became curvy and forested. Fun!

For part of the ride we were on the Marys Peak to Pacific Scenic Highway. It was beautiful.

We stopped for lunch at Deb’s Cafe in Alsea. Deb was the hostess, the chef and the busser. Busy lady but she took time to explain the various routes we could take. Then she told us that she handpicked all the berries for her blackberry crisp and of course, we had to try it… out politeness. OMG, it was delicious!

As we geared up to leave the cafe, we visited with a group of bicyclists. One of them was from Georgetown which is near our home. We passed them on our way out of Alsea.

Right after we passed the bicycles, a committee (we looked it up, that’s what a group of vultures is called) flew up from the side of the road. We narrowly missed them.

We followed the Siuslaw River into Florence.

We checked into our hotel and made arrangements with Cathy’s cousin, Don and his wife Jackie, to meet for dinner.

We went to a favorite restaurant of theirs and enjoyed a fantastic meal. Tom had a Marionberry lemonade. Delicious! We had a fantastic time catching up with them. We also had fun meeting Houdini, their darling Basenji.

After dinner we walked along the river and met some very curious seals.

Tomorrow we head to Ashland where we will spend two nights and see a show on Friday evening. Here’s tomorrow’s route.

Today’s Barn Pic