Beachy

At the end of March we took a few days off and ventured to the beach, the Oregon coast that is. I've shared a few things from that adventure, but I have some beachy photos I thought worth posting before too much time elapsed. First up are these warnings posted behind our hotel. I took them as sign that I was right at home, you know danger is my name...In front of the hotel were several large shrubs blooming with these intense purple flowers. 
I was pretty sure they were hebes, even though I've never seen ones with such large leaves growing in Portland. The larger the leaves, the less hardy they are.
A visit to the local nursery later confirmed my hebe diagnosis, and I think they're Hebe 'Autumn Glory'.
Quite striking!
Heceta Head Lighthouse, just a bit up the coast from where we were staying. We didn't venture any closer than this, the parking area was thick with unmasked people.
More skunk cabbage! Just because I can.

We pulled off the 101 so Andrew could try a little fishing and I went exploring. 
I adore lupine foliage.
He was down there somewhere, trying is luck and being whipped by the wind. I tried not to worry.
These mussel shells were up on a bluff, way above the surf, there were many others, several of them smashed to bits. I imagined that birds were bringing them up here to dine on the contents.
Another stop on another day. I had to get out of the car and photograph the glowing bark of this arctostaphylos (manzanita). In combination with the lichen it was quite showy.
Then what do you know but this little rufous hummingbird showed up and darted in and out of my camera frame. This was the best shot I managed to get.
The area we stayed—our hotel was in Heceta Beach, but Florence, OR, is the nearby city—is known for its mountains of sand. The Oregon Dunes National Recreation Area is just down the coast a bit from Florence and the whole area seems to have an economy based on renting motorized buggies/ATV's for tearing around in the sand. We did not partake but instead just enjoyed the area on our own two feet...
Accidental half-selfie, and yes I am wearing a mask. We were walking out a thin jetty with not much room to pass other people (think city sidewalk size) and so we masked up...
When I was really aiming the phone camera at the fishing husband...
I sat on the rock jetty and enjoyed the sun and the view.
And then we walked some more.

There was no shortage of driftwood.

A final photo from our hotel balcony. We were blessed with a couple of sunny days sandwiched in between grey rainy ones. Can't ask for much better than that in March at the Oregon coast...