Coos Bay - Part 3

As I have mentioned in a previous post, I have thing for Covered Bridges.  I have no idea where the obsession came from but I just love them.  In one of my Oregon Tour guides, I found that there was a covered bridge tour over in Cottage Grove.  It was a fun drive meandering through the countryside from Reedsport over to Cottage Grove. This is one of the better roads that I have been on since being here in Oregon.  A lot of roads that I have traveled have been very narrow, very windy, and have no shoulder.  This one was much more mellow, there were actually shoulders on the road, and the lanes were wider than I have seen in most areas here. I decided that this would be the road that I will take when I pull the trailer over to Eugene to pick up Kyle, it seems like it will not stress me out as bad as the road through Florence would. I think for my first time pulling the trailer, it will be best not to be super stress out.   Plus there were several towns along the way, which are always fun to drive through.  

It took me about 2 hours to get over to Cottage Grove, and I was pleasantly surprised to see that the tour was well marked with the Oregon Scenic Route signs.  The tour is about 20 miles long, and there is actually a bike path that would lead you through the entire loop if someone wanted to do that.  I thought that it would be a blast, but realized that might be just a little bit far for the pups.  Not sure they would be able to walk after running along side a bike for 20 miles.. 

The first part of the tour took you out of Cottage Grove over to Dorena Lake, and would wind around the entire lake. The  first bridge that I came to on the way to the lake was the Mosby Creek Bridge, a single lane bridge that I got to drive through. It was fantastic. This bridge was built in 1920 and is the oldest one in this county. 

The next one was the Currin Bridge, and is the only bridge on the tour that is two-tone, with barn-red sides and white portals.  This bridge is actually on the side of the road, and somehow I almost drove right passed it before I noticed it. Guess I should be paying better attention :)

After driving around Dorena lake, I came to the third bridge, the Dorena Bridge. This bridge was built in 1949, and was the longest one that I saw on this tour.  The Row River was running underneath it, and it was a perfect place to the the pups out and wander around a bit.  We did a little bit of exploring underneath the bridge, and the LBD's did a little bit of swimming.  I think the water must have been REALLY cold, the first time Trigger got in she let out a big groan, like she was saying "oh man! That is COLD!" It cracked me up.  

I discovered after leaving the Dorena Birdge, that I was actually doing the tour backwards, which worked out well in my favor because I never had to compete with other gawkers to take my pics.  I followed the signs to the next bridge and started wondering if I had somehow gotten lost or read the sign wrong.  I was driving around for what felt like an eternity before I finally passed through an area with a lot of houses right before getting to the bridge.  I feel like if I had been coming from the other direction this one would have felt easier to get to. I have a feeling that this bridge is a frequent victim of vandalism, as it was posted that there were video surveillance in the bridge.  This was the Stewart Bridge, built in 1930, spanning 60 feet across a creek.  

The last bridge that I visited was the Centennial Bridge, which is a pedestrian bridge in Cottage Grove.  It was built in 1987 to commemorate the city's 100th Anniversary.  It was built with repurposed materials from two other bridges in the county.  

Just outside of Reedsport, is an area called Dean Creek Elk viewing area.  This area is a common hang out for the Roosevelt Elk, which are the largest of the four North American Elk species.  When I drove by that morning I didn't see any animals so I just kept driving by. I expected to do the same that afternoon but ended up making a u-turn on the highway to go back into the area when I saw them.  There were about 15 bulls bedded down maybe 30 yards from the road! I couldn't believe it.  It was one of the coolest things that I have ever seen.  I have been around elk my whole life, and they never lose their majestic presence in my mind. I have seen larger herds of elk, but never this many bulls all together, and never all still in full velvet.  It was a beautiful sight.