First stop outside of Florence was a short one. I was intrigued by the brief descriptions I had read about the Darlingtonia Botanical Gardens, home to the Darlingtonia californica plants commonly called Cobra Lily (or Pitcher Plants). These carnivorous plants lure in insects that are trapped in the plant's hood, where they are digested!

The botanical garden is in a wonderful old natural area, just off Highway 101. There is a nice parking lot, bathrooms, and instructional boards, with a short, well defined path that turns into a boardwalk right through the sunny mass of flowers. I had no idea there would be so many.

And the forested area you walk through is very appealing, in and of itself. The huge old western red cedars and other trees are dripping with mosses, and again provide some delightful bird watching. (I saw a cinnamon-backed chickadee here.)

 

 

   

Back on the road, 11 miles north of Florence, is the very entertaining (and very smelly) Sea Lion Caves. Two large parking lots lead to a very pretty ocean overlook with a path to the gift shop, where you can buy tickets to go down to the caves. The day we were there, the sea lions were not in the caves (out fishing, we could see them in the ocean), so the ticket was discounted. The ticket admits you to an elevator, which descends 200 feet into a fenced-off observation chamber, where you have several perspectives on the caves and some terrific outlooks up and down the coast. From the lookout, you could see our next stop, Heceta Head.

A short drive took us to the Heceta Head lighthouse and cove. The lighthouse was built in 1896 and is still operational, so we couldn't go inside.

Just before reaching the town of Yachats, we stopped at the Cape Perpetua Scenic Area, where on a clear day you can see 150 miles of north-to-south shoreland. But this was not a clear day, with the clouds and fog heavily rolling in from the ocean. A short walk down from the visitors center put us into tidepool territory. I had never seen a tidepool, so I found these large pockets of water brimming with colorful creatures absolutely fascinating. Purple sea urchins, green anemones, pink and purple starfish--and you can (gently) touch them.