More firsts in Oregon

The past couple of weekends have been raining ... no big surprise living in the Pacific Northwest. But, the weather was changing on Saturday and we decided it was time for a trip somewhere. There's been a lot of snow falling and slides and down trees in the mountains, so we voted for the coast. We do want to get some snow time in this winter, but we weren't even heading out until noon so we were looking for a shortish day trip. Eugene is 1 hour east of the coast. Instead of stopping there, we headed south to see a new part of the coastline. We stopped in Coos Bay, had a bizarre lunch (the guidebook claimed it was a quaint European bistro ... it really was just an odd German Denny's), and hung out on the beach for a bit. There is a protected cove there, so some folks were surfing. The fun part of the trip came on the drive home. While the guidebook's reviews of restaurants blow, the general outdoor activities are pretty accurate. Dave read that if we took a different route home we'd pass an elk refuge area. There's something like 1,000 acres of protected land. The elk hang out mostly in the forest, but in the early morning and around dusk they come out to the meadows to graze. We stopped at the elk visitor area and didn't see a single elk. They did have a very informative learning area (did you know that the Roosevelt Elk can run at a speed of 48 mph and can run at a speed of 26 mph over long distances? I've got more if you are interested). They also had some of the cleanest restrooms. We figured the bathroom was good and we'd try to see elk another time and hit the road. There were 2 more areas that didn't have a big parking lot like the 1st place, but where you could just pull over on an extended shoulder. Dave was "keeping his eyes peeled", but we didn't see anything at the next viewing area. As we approached the last area, I thought I saw something near some trees - but I was driving, so I was trying to keep my eyes on the road. Dave said he didn't see anything. I pulled over anyway because I could see the elk. There were about 20 to 25 elk right on the side of the road! There is a fence to keep the people out (it doesn't do much for the elk b/c they can jump over 8 ft ... another fact I learned). The elk eyed us for a few minutes and then went back to their business. Those are the first elk that either of us have ever seen. Here's what they look like (we forgot our camera, so these are internet shots--but, they did look just like this):