Roadtrip Squared: Day 9: Forks in the Road

Mike suggested the title for today's blog on a hike along the Oregon Coast. So many choices today, both literal and figurative forks in the road, that ended with us in such a great place!

We started the day with plans to drive Rte 101, the coastal road in Oregon. We hit Florence and went up the coast to the Sea Lion Caves, supposedly the largest in the world. Pretty cool, we got to see Sea Lions and take an elevator 200 ft down into the cave, but Mike wasn't sure he got his $12 worth. Hmmm.

Anyway, we then headed toward the South and tried to figure out what to do for lunch. This became quite a ridiculous ordeal because all the parks in Oregon apparently charge a day use fee to use them. What? Of course, we didn't want to pay, and trying to be cheap led us to spend $30 at a cafe. Not sure how well that saved money, but the food was great!

At lunch, our waitress mentioned the hot springs. Mike started researching them on my phone (thank god, cause I was so done with my phone!) and got excited about the idea.

So after lunch we headed South again, and finally the sun came out! We decided to hit a trail, the Tahkenitch Creek Trail, a very buggy, sandy trail, to enjoy the sun. The trail was pretty and passed a bunch of sand dunes (not as impressive as I'd hoped) but incredibly buggy! We didn't really stay long.

We then debated how to spend the rest of our day- hot springs or coast- and decided to head to Jackson Wellsprings in Ashland. Mike enjoyed driving Route 42 (apparently more when I was asleep...) and we finally got here, pitched the tent for the first time, made some food and hit the hot springs.

The hot springs were pretty incredible and so relaxing after days in the car! Camping and the pools cost $28, but apparently Mike felt like he got his money's worth this time :).

www.jacksonwellsprings.com