Latest Update from Karla

REEDSPORT, OREGON 4-7-01

In 1875, a ship named "Florence" sank about 40 miles NW of the Umpqua River. There was only 1 survivor. The following year, the Siuslaw area was opened for homesteading and a little town began to grow on the North bank about 4 miles from the river entrance.
A board with the name "Florence" on it was found on the beach nearby, and was carried to the town.
The board was first displayed on the front of a store, then later on a hotel.
The popular belief is that when a name was selected for the new city, the name "Florence" was chosen because of the board from the sunken ship.
Around Florence, you'll see wild Rhododendrons, daffodils, azaleas and giant ferns. There's also a good chance you'll see deer, brown bears, Roosevelt elk, bald eagles, seals, sea lions, sandpipers, snowy plovers and cormorants.
On the beach you may find driftwood, agates, jasper, petrified wood, serpentine, Oregon jade, shells and possibly Japanese glass floats.
You'll also see low-flying white-rumped Northern harriers (hawks), meadowlarks, and Northern flickers, plus rednecked phalaropes, tundra swans and Canadian geese.
North of Florence are the Sea Lion Caves. The Guiness Book of World Records confirms Sea Lion Caves as the largest sea cave in the world and is the only known remaining home of wild Steller sea lions on the North American mainland. The cave is as high as a 12-story building and as big as a football field. Sea lions gather in this cave during fall & winter. In the spring & summer they breed and have their young on the rock ledges just outside the cave. The Steller Sea Lion is a warm-blooded mammal which gives birth, nurses its young, and must breathe air. Bulls can weigh up to 1 ton.
Today I walked around 8 miles to Dune City and was planning on stopping there, but found out it was just a tiny speck of a town with no lodging. So I continued on and finally ended up in Reedsport and will stay here until Tuesday morning. If you want to call me, my ph# is: 541-271-2149 Rm 129. Take care! KB

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