Beating the heat, we head for the shore! Time to make tracks, and make up for all our visiting time lost during Shelter-In-Place. We have places to go and people to see!
Driving up the coast, where highway 101 takes an abrupt turn left toward the shoreline, there is no road so beautiful!
7/2 - 7/5: We pull in to Orick and visit Nancy, Trevor, David, and Little Trevor. Porthos is with us this trip, and he gets all settled and cozy with his cousins Sadie and Diamond. Alexandra was also in town, so we got to visit with the whole family! Reunion dinner on the 3rd at Seaquake Brewing Company up in Crescent City, yum! For the Fourth, we were treated to a fabulous tri-tip meal prepared by Trevor, set out on the table overlooking the meadow on the front lawn. Absolutely magical!
We then drove out to Hidden Beach, where we were the only party on the beach! Trevor built a nice fire and brought some fireworks, and we just had such a wonderful time.
David showed us how it's done, with the sparklers.
On our way north, we headed back toward Crescent City, our next stop is Brookings. We stopped by the beach to just listen to the waves. We even saw an otter family making their way up the beach.
We stopped in Crescent City for tacos at Raliberto's taco shop. Yummy and cheap!
7/5-7/8 Onward, up the coast to Brookings. Visiting Mark and Jennifer, and of course, Mirabelle, their 3-year-old St. Bernard.
Porthos had such fun visiting with Mirabelle! We took them to Lone Ranch beach, Whaleshead Beach, and all over. After playing so much, they were both pretty tired.
The beaches are beautiful on the Oregon coast.
Loading into the car was always fun with the gang.
We checked Mark's crab cages, and sure enough, fresh catch. Pretty much every day.
It measures up!
Looking for Lucy, the sea lion.
Beautiful harbor.
We visited the Chetco Indian Memorial monument.
Mark and Jennifer took us to such fabulous beaches, including this "Secret Beach". The coast is beautiful.
Not too close to the edge, Porthos! The slope is straight down!
7/10/21 We bid our good-bye's, but somehow feel we will be back in Brookings soon. We pointed Lexy northward on highway 101, for a drive that tops all country drives, the southern Oregon coast, from Brookings to Coos Bay. It is absolutely stunning. We stopped for a stretch at the mouth of the Pistol River, and walked on the beach.
In Gold Beach, we went down to the harbor, and the sea lions were checking out some of the lesser-used docks.
Rounding up to the north spit of Coos Bay, we pulled into our campsite in the Bluebill National Forest campground. Our first dinner in the rv was of the caliber of a five-star restaurant, because Jennifer had packed two crabs they caught earlier that day into our fridge. It was the best crab dinner I think I've ever had! Saute'd baby potatoes and a vinegrette salad, melted sweet butter for dipping, with a sip of Malbec on the side. Are we in heaven? Thanks so much, Jennifer!
7/11/21 Morning greets us with sun at Bluebill campground! Phil makes breakfast, and Porthos soaks in a little sun rays.
We head north, and stopped at the Umpquoa River lighthouse for a tour. Fascinating! This lighthouse has a First Order Fresnel lense(size and design of the glass prisms). The light can be seen for nearly 20 miles. It had a light signal that included red beacons, which was unique on the west coast.
Sandy led us on a private tour. Up we go!
The light is lit with a single 1000w bulb, that is only a few inches long. Amazing.
I could stay in here all day. I am mesmorized by the shiny glass.
Moving northward, we pull into the Jesse M. Honeyman Memorial State Park, just south of Florence. This will be our home base for a few days. Porthos and I found the trail to the dunes.
The dunes remind me of a ski area. I kept looking, to register that this was not snow.
7/12/21 We head up to spend a day in Florence. First, we go north to the beach and the mouth of the Siuslaw River. The beaches are emmense! It is so windy, we opt to have lunch in the protective space of our Lexy, and look out fondly at the beach scene while eating our soup and sandwiches with no sand mixed in.
Then, back into Florence, heading right for Old Town. The Siuslaw River bridge was fascinating, with its art-deco archictural accents.
The riverfront was beautiful, with small luscious gardens filled with beautiful sculptures.
We walked around Old Town, had a bowl of chowder overlooking the docks, checked out a Rocks and Gems shop that had the most beautiful things.
And then had coffee at a little coffee shop by the harbor. This place was a feast for the eyes and the palette!
Even Porthos enjoyed it!
While staying just south of Florence, we were camped on the edge of the Oregon Sand Dunes Recreation Area. While in Rome,..... so we rented a dune buggy to take in the Dunes. That's me, in the passenger seat. Phil is ready for some fun!
Off we went, after our guide Ray led us out to the dunes. This is ominous, with huge sand drifts and incredible droff-offs on the leeward side of every sand slope. People actually do this for fun? Ray, what are you thinking right now?
My heart beating, we are again a family unit, all bones intact. Phew. Can we go back to camping now?
Our camping neighbor had just bought a high-intensity flashlight and was having fun shining it everywhere. So, at an oppertune moment, I snapped a pic when he was shining upward, of the trees at night. Thank you, neighbor!
5/14/21 Heading north from Florence, we return to the Suislaw River jetty and beach area before leaving town. We're on the river bank, just before the river meets the ocean. The beach is empty, awaiting our visit. Porthos runs and runs, checking out all the fresh-water streams feeding into the river bank, and every sand mound and depression, for a good mile stretch. To see him run with such absolute joy is so uplifting!
Our next stop is the Heceta lighthouse, just north of Florence. The old lightkeepers' house is now a bed and breakfast, run by the state parks division. We talked with the historian who is putting together the chronology of all the lighthouse keepers and their families from this lighthouse, to document the place in Oregon's history. Here is Phil, going to the door and asking for directions, lol! But, you don't get anywhere staying outside the fence, even if it says, not open to the public.
And, here he is, knocking on the window, to get the historian's attention.
The lighthouse is really quite a stunning piece of architecture!
The views from the area a spectacular. There are many species of birds nesting and feeding in the waters and on the surrounding rocks.
And the beaches on the Oregon coast are just spectacular; many are these little inlets that feel like secret beaches.
We reach camp for the night, at the Carl G. Washburn Memorial State Park, and Phil builds a campfire. Porthos volunteers his stick supply toward the cause. Also, I give Phil a haircut. Maybe a little shorter than he's used to, but we're traveling, so it will grow out before we get home :-). By the way, this is an absolutely lovely campground. We highly recommend it, if you are traveling northward from Florence along the Oregon coastline. Outstanding!
5/16/21 From the campground, there is a well-kept pathway 1/2 mile long, that snakes through the forest-inter-tidal botanical zone, lined with both firs and then ferns, and leads us right to an emmense stretch of coastal beach. The path even goes under highway 101 at one point. The beach is nearly empty, since the only access is through the path from the campground. Porthos loves it, because that means he gets to run off-leash.
the whole beach, all to ourselves.
Sadly, we head back to our camp and load up; it's time to move northward again.
While driving through Yachats, we notate that this is a cute little town that we need to stop in, to get an ice cream or something. A cute little beach town, for sure! But, onward, because we are actually looking for a laundromat, and Pachats doesn't seem to have one. Driving northward, we notice that the geology has changed; there isn't as many cliff drops down to the beach, in fact you might say it;s a pleasant stroll nearly from the highway right to the water, for miles to come. With that, we notice that there is a lot more consistant development, houses and little shops the entire route between Pachats, all the way to Newport. But for now, laundromat.... The next town, Waldport does have one, right next to the liquer store. Perfect!
We checked out Seal Rock. Its name is on account of its shape resembling a seal. After we looked for seals for a bit, we realized our mistake. The rocks were actually covered with numerous species of birds, which were entertaining to watch through the binoculars. Phil and I wandered through the beautiful park that led to the path down to the beach. There were members of a painter's club scattered through the park, and also down on the beach. One of the artists said she was using my hair for the female figure in her watercolor. I'm honored! Here is me, in the surf on Seal Rock beach.
Here is the beach. Phil and Porthos beat me down to the sands.
Interesting sand castles that kids make these days!
One of the painters situated himself in the beautiful grove of trees in the park.
We then drove into Newport before checking in at South Beach State Park. This is a town we need to visit again! We saw the lighthouse (that was decommissioned four years after it was built)...
A compass rose in front of the lighthouse, overlooking the bridge into Newport was a cool spot for cartographers....
We also drove down to Old Town. It was interesting in that the left side of the street was cute shops, cafe's, gifts, and other unique and cool places, and the right side (on the water) was where all the fisherman came in, to clean and process their catch. It was very much a working area, you need not dress it up, it was where the fish scene happened.
We went back across that high and scary bridge to South Beach and checked into our campsite. In the morning, we took in a round of frisbee golf, provided at the campground/park.
Phil and I tied for last. But actually it was Porthos that came in last, because as we walked through the course, his feet collected lots of stickers, and we called it a tie at the fourth hole when we had to carry him off the field and pull all the stickers out of his feet, and guide him to a safe surface to walk on. He still is very wary about stepping into a grassy field. Poor guy!
7/16/21 We had been watching the weather report, and it seems that the extreme temperatures inland had subsided just a bit. We wanted to visit the Wilamette Valley and visit Gary and Wendy in McMinville, so we left the coast and headed to Albany, in the center of a Wilamette vinyard region. We checked on Harvest Hosts and were welcomed in at the Emerson Winery for the night. Have I mentioned Harvest Hosts yet? This is an organization that puts farms, wineries, and other harvesting venues in touch with self-contained RVers, where they allow them to stay overnight for free somewhere on their property, in exchange for purchasing some of the produce they sell. And, as it turned out, Emerson was also hosting a music performance and invited a taco truck to come and offer all our favorite foods. We sat out on the grass with our lawn chairs, tasted the flight of wines that they were pouring, indulged in chicken quesadillas and tacos, and listened to BobKat (Bob and Kat, husband and wife duo) sing R&B, jazz, a little rock, and with lots of soul. Porthos kept us company, even as two black labs kept trying to get him to play with them. But alas, we didn't want the music to be upstaged by a loud dog act, so he had to pass on the invitation.
The vinyard was beautiful, the wine was nice, the food was good, the music was great. Wow, what a nice evening. The next morning, we took in the beauty of the place, as we walked Porthos around a few mowed hayfields.
How do you top that kind of camping experience? You go to a farmers' market! The next day, 5/17/21, we headed south to Corvalis and walked the farmers' market to pick up fresh vegetables, basil, bread, and of course to see what we could get for a tasty lunch. Pupoosas! Delicious, hand-made right there with masa, cheese and chicken.
Beautiful displays of fresh produce, mushrooms, everything Wilamette valley has to offer.
We then headed back north to the wine-growing hills, to figure out where we were going to stay this evening. Our fridge was full, our bellies were full, now a place to rest.
We called Red Gate Winery just north of Albany, and asked if they had any room for us to stay. Sure enough, they invited us up. And, they were having music this evening too! So, we got to listen to a group GRTR, all jazz, with a little rock just for the audience. They played a lot of original pieces and then Taj Mahal, a bunch of other jazz pieces I didn't know, but they did it with pazazz. And, talk about nice places to stay, check out our accomodations at Red Gate!
7/18/21 Sunday morning, and after much anticipation, we are finally going to see Gary and Wendy, up in McMinvilele! On the way, we drive through Salem, the state capitol. We pull into the Bush Pasture Gardens and enjoy the landscapes so nicely designed.
We want to train our apple tree to grow like this:
Then, on to check out the Capitol. It wasn't open, on account it was Sunday. We liked the bronze figure of a pioneer standing on the roof of the dome.
We took advantage of a nice shady spot to park, to fire up our wifi and get messages and such (it's amazing how many places we stay are so far out of range of cellphone service!). This spot was designated as media parking, right across from the capitol. Since there wasn't any newsworthy activity today, we felt okay to park there.
On to Gary and Wendy's place! What a delightful reunion, as we were treated like royalty, Gary sharing fabulous wines and Wendy preparing fabulous meals, oh my! The second night, Wendy led us on a tour of downtown McMinnville. The town is bigger than I had expected, but just the right size to enjoy a central place without feeling too hustled and bustled like a bigger city would feel like. We indulged in a delicious meal, and afterward a photo with a bronze of Ben Franklin seated on a city bench, took a tour of the local McMinnon's Oregon Hotel, which is a must-see if you are ever in town!
Then, as a special treat, in the morning Wendy treated Phil to a purple hair coloring treatment. Woohoo!
What do you think? It's pretty subtle, but cool!
Our trek then took us back westward, into the Coastal Range that borders the Willamette Valley. Oregon is so beautiful! We drove the Back-Country Byway westward.
We camped at the Alder Glen BLM campground, next to a stream. Each campsite had its own access to this stream, which was really cool. Here was our access route:
This stream even had a waterfall just 20 feet down-river from our campsite.
It was just so beautiful!
We had Porthos off-leash down at the stream, it was like we were all in kahoots, and he was a calm, happy puppy just hanging with us.
But, then after we left the stream and went back up to our campsite, he took off for the camapsite at the entrance to the park, because they had three dogs (all leashed). Our calls to him went unnoticed. The camper at that site saw him coming and saw us running after him, so she just greeted him and held his harness until we got there, her dogs all howling away at the intrusion! We apologized and she said, "no problem", ah so nice to us. So we headed back to our campsite, feeling just a little bit abused by our trusty pup; it reminded us that he's not really ready for off-leash all the time, and we haven't finished training him just yet! The funniest thing is that, once he is on the long leash, he always gets it wrapped around things, and then he feels trapped and begs us with his eyes to free him. We are glad that he's not quite smart enough to figure this out. If he was, we'd be in much bigger trouble.
Our journey continued back to Highway 101, and we veered further westward and drove to Pacific City. This place is hopping with modern beachy hotels and restaurants. And, what is this rock called???
Up the coast a little further up Pacific City Beach and went out to explore. Down a very rugged road, we parked before the road deteriorated in form. But, lots of more robust trucks could make the pass, and headed out onto the sands.
We kept on roads that hugged the coastline, and made our way up to Cape Lookout, where (lucky for us), the state park campground had a cancellation, and we got in for the night! The beach was just a short walk from our campsite. Now we are truly experiencing a beach vacation!
Back at our campsite, our neighbor Elliott decided that Porthos was pretty cool, and he visited with us whenever we were there.
After some time at the beach, it was time to move northward. We drove up 101 and took a lunch break at Oceanside. I loved how the houses were hugging the cliffs, most assuredly getting a fabulous ocean view.
And, we enjoyed some beach time here too! It was just too windy to fly a kite, although I gave it my all. There was another guy on the beach with two young children, I swear he was the spittin' image of Chris Hemsworth, australian accent and all. The two of us were failing miserably to get our kites in the air, but it was fun trying. Phil and Porthos took in the sites of the sea in the meantime.
We then drove eastward, along the shore of the Tillamook Bay to intersect with highway 101 again, and headed into the town of Tillamook. This is a cute town, but be ready for a hefty aroma of diary throughout the town. We pulled into the Blue Heron French Cheese Company, and went for some tastings. We had some lunch (fabulous sandwiches!), and then checked in as Harvest Hosts guests, and parked out on the adjacent grass field.
This place is really sweet! They have a large petting zoo, and we meet other boondockers parked out on the grass with us. Margaret and Steve are our neighbors for the night, and they share lots and lots of great camping spots and ideas with us, since they have been traveling for years in their PleasureWay Excel. They are truely inspirational to us!
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