NPS 4: Day 6 (June 3)

Is there anything more magnificent than Bandon at sunset? Yes... Bandon at Sunrise!!! We were there right as the sun welcomed the waves for the new day. The bummer part about sunrise shots in June is that sunrise is (yawn) early. I spent my foggy-brain efforts trying to get some interesting long-exposure, dreamy water movement...

As I progressed down the beach, I noticed a group of men digging in the sand... clam digging, I suppose? One guy was riding around between everyone on a bike; seemed like a nice way to start the day. I wish my regular morning routine involved riding in the wind of the sea.

While the man visited with the other guys, his bicycle perched perfectly for a reflective portrait in front of face rock.

We kept heading north along 101 and found made a stop at the Sea Lion Caves near Florence. At first, I considered it a touristy indulgence. I mean, any place that charges admission & sells popcorn should be considered a tourist trap, right? But, after seeing the 2,000 sea lions basking on the sunny rocks, I found myself clicking away with fury. I think I dropped over 200 frames in this place, and it was hard to narrow it down to just a few ...

Along the way we spotted the Heceda Lighthouse... isn't it so cool? We plan on heading back one day, making the lighthouse trail tops on our destination list!

Hmm, this one might be out of order... too many places in one day! We briefly drove through a sand dune park, and briefly took a few, brief pictures.

Ok, so, somewhere in our NPS 4 brains, this plan made sense: Leave Newport, Oregon, at sunset and drive to Cannon Beach, Oregon. Its only 2.5 hours away... we can be there before midnight! It will be dawn at 5pm, so we'll sleep in the car! No seriously, what were we thinking? Oh, well, these are the times that create the best memories.

The drive north was pretty much a straight shot, no stop, no nonsense kind of drive, with one exception. We could not pass up the very last bit of light dipping below the horizon and pulled over for few quick frames. I liked the shape of the rock; to me, it looks the silhouette of a wolf howling at the crescent moon.

Aww, sunset.