August 2012 Oregon Coast Trip (3)
Day Three at the Oregon Coast for us! This morning, we decided to do something a little different and went for a short hike in the Culver City Wetland Preserve. Culver City was an early coastal settlement that became part of Taft early in the 20th century. It was a fishing village at the mouth of the Siletz River and amazingly, this plot of land was never developed into canneries and/or home sites. This little gem is only about 3 blocks from the cottage where we stayed! It is a mix of salt marsh wetlands and higher areas with spruce trees and native rhododendrons that are over 15 feet tall. Here are a few pictures:
Here are some spruce branches draped in moss in the early morning sunlight:
Here is DH looking up at a tall native rhodie:
Here is a shot looking straight up through the rhododendrons toward the top of a towering spruce tree high above:
These wetlands wouldn't be complete without a few "shrooms":
And lastly, one of the spruce giants of this special place:
Unfortunately, our dog-sitter had an emergency and we needed to leave a day earlier than expected and had to make a quick trip home. It was very windy in Eastern Washington as we were headed home and all the wind turbines were whirling away. This is the first time we have seen them all turning at the same time. It was almost twilight when we took this picture of a few turbines along I-90 heading east toward Vantage and George, Washington (yes, that is the correct name).
Hope you have enjoyed the pictures and a little snippet of the Oregon Coast.