Nomad Life - Day 108

Even though the weather was forecasted to be much improved (60 degrees and sunny), I still started my telework day at 0430 (alarm needed).  I took a break for breakfast at the Quality Inn (Florence) and then had a series of meetings.  Along the way, Erin called to tell me she'd already address 70 (!!!!) of the 100 Christmas Cards - that seemed so amazing to me!  Meanwhile, I kept working until 1330, even though I was itching to get outside.  As I was packing my car (at the time of the late checkout), I talked to the cleaning staff about their favorite hikes - they recommended several nearby.  When I checked on a few of them, however, I grew concerned that I'd get stuck in muddy holes because of the remote locations south of the Mapleton Highway.  There was also the distance to be concerned about; what if I drove all the way there and couldn't actually hike?  Instead, reluctantly, I decided to stay close to town.  After departing the hotel, I stopped for lunch at Dairy Queen at 1405 (I ate my meal inside the restaurant).  I'd noticed a strange-named park nearby, Exploding Whale Memorial, and decided to investigate.  It wasn't far out of town but it had some great views of the dunes across the Suislaw River from town.  There was some interesting signage about the King Tides (I'd heard about these at Umpqua Light but the info here was more technical).  Unfortunately, there wasn't anything to indicate why the park had such a strange name!  Starting at 1435, I walked around on the trails nearby until I encountered a local lady who explained that "about 50 years ago someone thought the only way to remove a dead whale in the river was to dynamite it."  The resulting carnage of falling whale flesh/blubber sounded like something out of an SNL sketch...  Since the weather was still so fine, I went off in search of more hiking.  It seemed like the closest and "guaranteed" spot might be in the Oregon Dunes NRA so I crossed the Suislaw River and turned off of US-101 and on to South Jetty Road (AKA Sand Dunes Road). Starting at about 1505, I drove all the way to the end of this road and was not disappointed by all the birds and wildlife (Sea Lions) that I saw in several different places.  There were also some HUGE waves at the South Jetty and I decided to walk out as far as I dared on the rocky promontory.  There was a young lady thinking the same thing - I'm not sure if I creeped her out but I kept my distance and looked through binoculars at all the interesting scenery.  There were beautiful beachfront homes, fishermen fighting the tidal current, flocks of seabirds and other folks braving the surf on the North Jetty (Florence side).  I ended up walking about half way out on the jetty but stopped as soon as I noticed waves had started to crest over the rocks on both sides of me.  After making it safely back to shore (1555), I took a side trail towards the beach and spent the next hour walking along the shoreline.  The waves were very impressive (there must have been a lot of sand bars near the shore) and I found lots of interesting flotsam/jetsam (e.g., long strands of kelp, huge Redwood trunks, stranded jellyfish, etc.).  Since I was in a good photo spot, I ended up staying until official sunset - the videos I took don't do the scene justice...  Afterwards, I walked back towards my car and detoured again to the local dock, where lots of people were fishing and crabbing.  I talked to them about their techniques (they were very open about this information) and learned that a $35 trap might be a better investment than one that cost $200.  On the other hand, the Harbor Seals and/or Sea Lions were literally lurking nearby, their heads barely visible, waiting for someone to catch a crab so they could steal a tasty meal. One of the crabbers told me he'd recently seen two Orca whales in the Suislaw River but he admitted that no one else believed him.  Still, I saw the two huge crabs he was departing with and know better than to question a fish story...  Altogether, I walked about four miles in Florence and at Oregon Dunes.  Outdoor adventure completed (1655), I headed back to US-101, crossed the river and headed north to Fred Meyer again.  This time, it wasn't about walking - I'd learned they actually had some of my elusive HP printer cartridges and happily procured one!  While there, I also bought some groceries and got a bunch of bonus points towards lowering fuel prices.  Done at 1730, I headed back to the hotel, where caught up on a LOT of printing, finances and other organization.  Along the way, I made/ate dinner in the room and was working on my computer until until almost 2100.  For the rest of the evening, I watched movies on my tablet and finally turned out the lights for bed at 2230.  Today was the epitome of a perfect day on the Oregon Coast!