27 October Saturday
Again, we woke up ultra early and today headed inland. The Oregon Caves have always been a place I wanted to see, being from the Northwest I had heard about them plenty. We paused at the base of the hill for the Caves visitor's center in addition to a latte and scone from a cofee shack. There was a National Parks fee of $20 or so, but we told our sob story to the ranger and she was kind enough to wave it for us. We were on a track to make up for the lost $80 by not paying when we otherwise would. We were fortunate enough to make just make it into the group that did not include the middle school field trip. Of course we had the obligatory talker in the group; there's always one who can't just listen to the tour guide and must crack jokes at every opportunity rather than take in the experience of being in the unique place. There was also a woman who donned her best fragrance for the cave tour, so pungent that I kept trying to cut in front of her in order to breathe freely. The caves were beautiful and spectacular but Fred and I agreed that we would rather go somewhere unguided. Somewhere we could wear our worst clothes because they would get so dirty, and go sloshing through the watery floor and squeezing through tunnels with carbide lanterns, if there are any caves left in that category. Fred has been in that type in the US twenty years ago, and I have only in Thailand.
The Oregon Vortex is another place I had heard about as a must-see, but yet had not. It certainly was all it is cracked up to be. We bought the scientific notes to try and further understand what we saw, but left the place bewildered and amazed!
Camped at Bullards Beach State Park
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