Driving South to Florence

We wanted to get an early start this morning since we were leaving Lincoln City and driving to Florence. We also wanted to letterbox and decided to get those that were closer to Lincoln City first - that way we could always backtrack from Florence to get those we missed and it wouldn't be as far of a drive. So we loaded the car, had some breakfast and were on our way. We stopped near Kernville for our first letterbox. It was planted near a sign for the exit to Kernville off of Hwy 101. I didn't like where this box was planted. It was right on the side of the road and just wasn't appealing. On the other had the stamp was terrific. We continued down the road a ways and stopped at Bella Beach, unfortunately we didn't find the box but had a great time taking a little walk on the beach and watching the waves (there was plenty of action this morning). So then we continued south. Next stop - Gleneden Beach. We parked and took the short walk to the box. It was easy to find and our second nice stamp of the morning. We didn't walk down to the beach here but did enjoy the views from the park. There was another box in this area but we weren't able to go and get it - it is hidden at the Mossy Creek Pottery Studio. They didn't open until 10:00am so we just continued on. We arrived in Depoe Bay and found Fishing Rock Park off of Fishing Rock Street. We took a short walk along the cliff edge following the clues and easily found the box. We took it to an overlook and sat and stamped in with a beautiful view of the ocean. After stamping in I took some pictures and then rehid the box on the way back to the car.

We drove from Fishing Rock back to Hwy 101 and the drove across Hwy 101 into Fogarty Creek State Park. We quickly found Fogarty's Flower letterbox, stamped in, rehid it and the looked for a second box. We had some difficulty with the clues but eventually ended up making sense of it all. We think we finally found the right spot but we were unable to locate the letterbox, however we did find a geocache exactly where we thought the box should be. We were done with this park so we headed south again and stopped in at Rocky Creek State Park for Dinner? - I know I realize it was the morning and dinner is at night - that was the name of the letterbox. We took a little trail that had great views of the ocean at first and then entered a little forested area. We found the box under a cool multi-trunked tree. I stamped in and rehid the box and then returned to the part of the trail that over looked the ocean. The waves today were pretty rough and we watched them crashing up onto the rocks below. It was an incredible site. I took a few pictures and we were on our way again. We decided on one more stop before having some lunch. This stop was Beverly Beach State Park and its Nature Trail. We parked and then found the trail and quickly located the first box. As I was stamping in Thomas thought he would look for the next box since it was actually in the same area we were at. He returned empty handed. Once I was done stamping in and I got the box rehidden Thomas and I went to have a second look for the box he couldn't find. We reread the clues and searched different areas trying to make the most sense of the clues - we still couldn't find the box. So we moved on. We were looking for two more boxes and trying to locate the landmarks for both of them. We eventually found a landmark for one of the boxes and then found the box. I was stamping in and Thomas thought we should probably be near the other box so he started searching for the landmarks but didn't find anything. After we got the box I had rehidden we went to the end of the trail and started again. We never found any of the landmarks - as I read the clues I realized that this placer likes to think she is being clever with her clues but I have a hard time making heads or tails of them. So we tried again trying to reinterpret her clues to find something that remotely fit the description - but it didn't work - we had walked the entire trail three times and never were able to put two and two together. So we called it quits and went to find something for lunch. We had a nice rest and a good meal at Yaquina Lighthouse Cafe which was just down the road from the entrance to Yaquina Head Lighthouse. After we finished eating we headed up to the lighthouse. We had talked to a young couple on their honeymoon last night at dinner and they told us they saw gray whales at the lighthouse the day before. We were hoping to see some today - but no luck. We still enjoyed the lighthouse and the views. We even climbed the 111 steps to the top of the lighthouse and got to see the light. It is still a working lighthouse and is the tallest lighthouse on the Oregon Coast. After descending the stairs we left the lighthouse to find a letterbox. We made the short hike up a trail at the end of the parking area. We got to the spot and started looking for the box - after ten minutes we still couldn't find it so we decided to stop. We needed to move on if we were to get to Florence at a decent hour. We decided to take a break from letterboxing and went to the Oregon Coast Aquarium. We spent about an hour and a half enjoying all the exhibits - it was a really enjoyable visit. As we left the building we went to the farthest parking area to find a letterbox. We followed the clues but somewhere along the way we got messed up because we never could find the last part of the clue or the box - I don't know what happened everything was making sense but then all of a sudden it didn't - oh well. We left the aquarium and drove just a little ways to Aquarium Village to find 3rd on the 6th. I have found other boxes with this name and have tried to figure out what it is all about but I am clueless. I found the box easily enough and while I was stamping in I looked at the image and thought 'What does this image have to do with 3rd on the 6th?'. I realized it fit into the area where it is planted but it had nothing to do with any other 3rd on the 6th box I have found. Somewhere along the way I missed the joke about these boxes.

After getting this box back into its hiding spot we realized we needed to get to Florence. So there was no more stopping from this point. We enjoyed the views of the ocean from the car and made it to Florence safely and early enough to enjoy a nice dinner and get checked into the hotel. Not sure what we are doing tomorrow but I will be back to post about whatever we do.