Going Farther South...

Heading south of Florence, about 18 miles, I passed by Gardiner.  I caught sight of a cemetery on a hill off to my left, so I pulled into a turning lane the next chance I had, drove past the police station and up a steep hill, over another street, and down a ways, to pull in front of it and take a look.  Years ago, My husband and I had traveled through Ferndale, CA, and I was awed by the cemetery on the hill.  When the boys and I went to the Redwoods for Spring Break in 2009, one of the stops I wanted to make was to see that cemetery again.  It was not as I remembered, but nonetheless, it was quite intriguing and the three of us enjoyed roaming all over it for a couple of hours.   So that is why I had to make the stop, and check it out. 

While there a police cruiser pulled up on the street and stopped for a while.  I didn't think he could really see me up on the hill, so I don’t know if he was watching me, or if he was in a position to check out the van, but he stayed for while, and then took off up a hill.  I moseyed around and took some pictures.  The visitor's booklet I have says there is a walking tour of the town that takes you past several historic homes.  That would have been nice, but I had already gotten the feeling that I may not have been welcome in this little town, so I decided to head south again.  As I passed another part of town, as it runs along the highway, I saw the cop stopped, vehicle running, talking to someone in the street.  Just a few moments later, he pulled onto the highway and followed me.  He came up closer for a while then backed off.  I had the feeling I was being escorted out of town, and he was just making sure I was not planning to stay for any length of time.  I could have been paranoid for no reason, but it truly felt rather weird, and since I always try to follow my instincts in these situations, I didn’t plan to stick around.  As soon as I was over the bridge and into Reedsport, he pulled off onto another highway.

Later when I went down that highway to see the Elk Viewing Area, I saw that the police station was down in that area.  So that does explain why he might have pulled off there, but still. I decided not to stay in Reedsport either as there didn’t seem to be any comfortable stealth parking spots, where being a small town they would know if a vehicle didn’t belong, and I did not want to be hassled.

However I did go and check out the elk, but there were no elk around.  Rats!  I was thinking it was the right time of the evening for them too.

Reedsport is reportedly a "Wood Carving Capital" and they have competitions on Father's Day each year.  This "statue" was in the park next to the carving grounds.

I went on to Winchester Bay and paid for a camping spot.  It rained off and on during the night and was really pouring down in the early morning hours.

:)