Oregon Coast – Replay

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We are leaving the Oregon Coast tomorrow for the Redwood National Park in Northern California.   We enjoyed our two months here starting in Astoria, Oregon and traveling south 362 miles on Highway 101 seeing soaring ocean cliffs, sea stacks,  forests, farmland and gigantic sand dunes ending at Brookings, Oregon.  We had great walks on the beach, hiking in the forest, running the river rapids, and challenging golf.  For the last 50+ years, Mike and I spent summers in our hometown with desert heat over 100 degrees in the summer.  The coolness and green of the Oregon Coast has been a nice change.   It’s easy to understand why the Oregon Coast made it on the list for “1,000 Places To See Before You Die”.   It is a treasure.
Under the shade of a salty pine, our gnome is saying good-bye to the Oregon Coast.

Port Orford's Secret

Port Orford, Oregon is a small, unassuming town located on the southern Oregon coast.  Most people quickly pass through as they travel Highway 101 missing one of the most impressive views on the Oregon coast.  Starting at the Coast Guard Museum, the Port Orford Heads State Park has trails leading out to several high viewpoints.  The weather on the Oregon coast has been unpredictable, but today the wind was relatively calm and the coastal fog lifted--allowing you to see for miles in all directions.  Along the trails are strategically placed benches donated by others who also enjoyed this view.

It is obvious not many people know about the views at the headlands.  We were the only hikers allowing us to leisurely sit and soak up the sun.  You can tell from my picture on the right that trails are carved right into the side of the steep hills. 

Today's weather put a smile on Mike's face.

Safari

I know it is a tourist trap, but we paid a visit to the West Coast Game Park today.  And we were pleasantly surprised.  They are serious when they say you walk through free roaming wildlife.  We were able to pet a lion cub, wander through llamas, rams, donkeys, goats, and reindeer.  The park has lions, tigers, snow leopards, bears, chimps, black panthers, cougars, lynx, bison, camels, zebras, elk to name a few (we didn't walk through these guys).  Notice the snarling lion cub in the picture.  This little guy was very calm as each person stroked his back, except for poor Mike.  That snarl was all for Mike.

The emus were pretty cool, too.

Beautiful Bandon By the Sea

Old Town Bandon is charming with turn of the century buildings housing lots of restaurants, art galleries, and typical beach trinket shops.  The old buildings have the wide wood planking on the floor and high ceilings--lots of character.  And I love the occasional walkway through the middle of a block styled with cobblestone, flowers everywhere in pots and window boxes, and the little shops displaying their inventory in the window.  We liked one shop in particular, C'est Vert (meaning "it's green")--we bought their wild rice (grown and packed in Oregon).  The owner, Clyde, told us about a scenic drive back to Highway 101 and a little history of the town.  After a downturn of the lumber and fishing in the area, Bandon re-invented the town.  From the looks of it, they've done a good job.

We took the drive recommended by Clyde and confirmed that Bandon has a gorgeous beach with rock "sea stacks".  You can walk to the rocks at low tide (picture upper left). 

Back at our home base in Port Orford, we discovered the view here is breathtaking.  Looking forward to our hike at Port Orford Headland State Park later this week.  It'll include more Port Orford ocean views like this one.  (picture right)

Tomorrow is a long day--the 104-mile trip up the Rogue River.

Windy Winchester Bay

Winchester Bay is now a memory; a cold, windy memory.  The place is stunningly beautiful, but holy crap is it windy, foggy and cold!  When it is 54 degrees and windy, the wind chill factor is just downright chilly.  We stayed three weeks and every day was windy with 20+ mph gusts.  The wind would calm around midnight each day, but sure enough by 9 a.m. the next morning the wind would be howling.  See...our poor gnome in the picture...he can't even stay upright.

We are now located in Port Orford, Oregon at Camp Blanco RV Park.  Cute little park and very clean, but it is tight.  Port Orford is central to several activities we want to do this week before leaving the Oregon coastline on August 2.  On Wednesday, we have a 104-mile round trip jet boat ride up the Rogue River.  The rest of the week is planned with a hike at Port Orford Heads State Park, a visit to Bandon Old Town, another hike at Humbug Mountain, a  visit to Cape Blanco lighthouse, and maybe a golf day at Bandon, Oregon.  Bandon has several well-known courses.

Should be fun (and less windy!).

Beginnings

A reader asked for some information about our rig and why and where we started our full-time experience.  I can tell from her comment that I haven't done a good job describing some of our background.  So, here goes:

Mike and I grew-up and worked in the Tri-Cities (Richland, Pasco, Kennewick), Washington.  It was a great place to grow up and we still have the majority of our family and many friends there (and we miss them, terribly).  It is not a small town; the population between the three cities is around 100,000+ so you have some good shopping and conveniences that come with a medium size city.  But, the area is a bit isolated--you drive quite a distance to get out of the desert or to a large city.   Hunting, fishing, golf and water sports enjoyed in the Columbia River are the primary sources of recreation in the immediate area (when the weather obliges).  It is considered a high desert (yes, Washington has a dry side with no trees) and the weather can be harsh--cold in the winter, extremely hot in the summer, and dust storms in the spring (picture tumbling tumbleweeds), but the fall is wonderful from the beginning of September through the end of October (that is when we plan to visit!).  We were ready for a change during our retirement, and we also knew we wanted to see and experience new parts of the country.  Full-timing in an RV was and is an economical and fun way to satisfy our wanderlust!

Our choice was to sell most everything--house, furniture and some of the toys.  For us, this decision was very freeing.  Nothing to worry about 1,000 of miles away, more disposable income on the road; and to be honest, we aren't sure where we want to end up when we do settle down again.  It works for us, but I know it is not for everyone.

After researching RVs, we decided the one for us was a 5th wheel.  It gave us more livable space than a motorhome, and we already had the truck (2004 Ford F350).  More specifically, we wanted a Doubletree Mobile Suite--it is well insulated, quality finishes (both inside and out), and structurally seemed to be very well built.  We stumbled across a new 32-foot Doubletree Mobile Suite at Russ Dean RV in Pasco, Washington the summer of 2008 and it was listed at a great price.  Most folks want a 36-foot, but really the 32-foot is all we need.  Plus, we did not want to overtax the truck with too much weight. 

So, there you have it.  In future entries, I'll describe how we decided to furnish our RV, organizing, and our favorite technology on the road.

Today, we found a nice trail around Lake Marie (see picture above) not too far from our RV park at Winchester Bay.  Hiking in the woods gave us a reprieve from the windy bay--very calm among the trees. 

We're very happy with our new lifestyle.

Bee Movie

The Myrtlewood Gallery looks to be a small shop from the outside, but when you walk through the door, you are amazed at the volume and variety of "things made of wood".   There are a number of fine art woodworkers selling in the gallery with everything from small wooden spoons to rocking chairs. My favorites included a floor lamp shaped in art deco style, a coffee table shaped as a crab pot with a carved octopus inside, and wall art textured as coral and fish.  There was so much, it was difficult to take it all in.  So much imagination and talent.  http://www.myrtlewoodgallery.com/

A short walk from the Myrtlewood Gallery is the The Bee Hive.  Once inside the store, we quickly learned there are many, many flavors of honey--blackberry honey, kvik thistle honey, Smith River berry honey--to name a few.  You're able to sample them all, and Smith River honey was our favorite.  Behind a discrete door on one wall of the shop, is a bee hive behind glass; the bees enter the glass hive through a small outside pipe.  As you leave the store and walk past the side of the building, you are blasted by the bees racing to and from the pipe.  It was like Highway 101 for bees.  There are "Bee Crossing" warning signs (which we didn't see until we were bombarded with bees).

Again, Reedsport was sunny and warm; yet two miles away Winchester Bay is foggy and windy.  It's beautiful here, but this wind has to stop.  Please.

Rescue At Sea

There is a Coast Guard station located at Winchester Bay.  We often see them around this little town, but today, we got a special treat from the crew.  They were practicing their helicopter rescue right in front of our RV park.  One guy would go in the water and then another would lower down from the helicopter and pick up.  This went on for over an hour.  It was windy; but in spite of the weather, the pilot held that helicopter precisely on target.  Incredible skill. 

Sometimes the most everyday task can be difficult when you're mobile.  I took the big plunge and found a place for a haircut.  Over the last couple of days, I've been scoping out the locals for someone who had a good cut.  I finally asked a cute gal at the bank, and she recommended a salon only three blocks from our RV park!   I got a great cut and some highlights.  Yeah!  I guess it's the little things in life that can make your day.  LOL!

Umpqua, say it" Ump-kwah"

The Umpqua Lighthouse State Park is located about 6 miles south of Reedsport, Oregon.  We took the short drive to the lighthouse and viewpoint.  One of the easier lighthouses to get to and the dome was really interesting--it looked almost like Russian architecture with its onion shape.  

It is still amazing to see the huge sand dunes around here.  After doing a little "googling" on the dunes, I found that Frank Herbert based his book research for, "Dune," and its sequels on this area.  These are probably the best science fiction books of all time (my opinion).  I've read the books, seen the movie, and re-read the books.  I admit I take a geek "Dune" tour whenever we drive through the sand hills that stretch from the beach back several miles to Highway 101.

Our walk today consisted of a visit to the marina.  There are two large marinas in Winchester Bay; one is a public marina, and the other for commercial boats only.  Boats are interesting--some well cared for and others nesting material for the gulls; and if their owner is nearby, he/she is always excited to tell you all about the twin diesel engines, the maximum speed or today's catch.

These pictures are a little deceiving.  If you take the picture towards the east (which these are), it is blue sky; but a looking west, you guessed it, it is still foggy!  So strange.

The Fog

The fog hovers all day here, the low clouds look like smoke weaving in and out of the RV units, keeping the temperature down to a cool 60-some degrees.  It feels good to breathe the moist clean air blown off the ocean.  I like the fog, but we've been waiting all week for a sunny day to go down to the beach.  Well, we went anyway for our daily hour walk this morning.  That was some thick fog, let me tell you.  Our hair was wet, the hair on our arms had dew, and I've never had my eyelashes so saturated before--my mascara smeared everywhere.  But, it wasn't cold; it was a warm, humid type of fog.  In a strange way, we enjoyed our walk.  It felt like you had the beach all to yourself--you couldn't see another soul.

Today, we planned spaghetti for dinner with some freshly made bread from the local bakery.  It is an easy bike ride to most everything here including the bakery, the post office, the market, a few restaurants, and gift shop.  We rode our bikes to the bakery and picked up some warm bread and garlic butter (which smelled very good on our ride back through the fog).  The bike path takes you by the marina, over a little wooden bridge and around a few small homes.  It seems very....European.  So, with that last thought I'll say, Au Revoir, until tomorrow!

Golf Fix - Reedsport, Oregon

Reedsport, Oregon has a nice 9-hole golf course called Forest Hills Country Club.  Mike took off at 10 this morning for 18 holes.  Not only was the price reasonable at $30, but the weather was sunny and warm.  Reedsport is only 2 miles from our location at Winchester Bay, but the difference in temperature is remarkable.  It can be from 5 - 10 degrees warmer in Reedsport and usually clear skies while Winchester Bay typically stays foggy until mid-morning.  The picture on the left is a deer casually eating lunch near the 5th hole.  Our home town golf courses (the dry side of Washington State) usually have wild life in the form of rattlesnakes and coyotes.  I think I like the deer better.

While Mike golfs, I'm using the time to reacquaint myself with sketching.  It has been years since I set aside time to draw and I find it very relaxing and rewarding.  I'm horrible, but I am hoping I will improve with time and practice.  I can't bring myself to sit in front of a "live" subject and draw--I'm too self-conscious.  So, I grab my trusty little digital camera, take pictures of persons, places and things that might be fun to sketch and then work from the photos.  If the drawings become recognizable, maybe I'll post one now and then.

Show Us Your Rack!

We've had plenty of occasions to see herds of elk in our home state of Washington.  They are still an awesome animal to see up close.  Just down the road from us is an elk viewing area.  It's a beautiful meadow, and it is easy to understand why the elk hang out there.  This herd was all about the guys--take a look at those racks.  Pretty impressive.

Diesel fuel has been getting cheaper since we've been on the road.  I don't get it.  You would think the BP crisis would send it the other way.  We paid $2.96 a gallon today--back in May we were paying around $3.20 a gallon.  When you are filling up a 55 gallon tank, pennies really do make a difference.

Just Dune It!

Winchester Bay RV Park is an unbelievable location--to the east is a large marina with charter boats, large yachts, small aluminum fishing boats and to the north is a large bay and the ocean to the west.  Our park (and our spot) is right in the middle of all that beauty. Great views all the way around.  There are miles of walking and bicycle trails, not many hills, all easy riding.  This place has it all for us--very clean, quiet, spectacular views, easy access to walking/hiking/riding.

This is also a mecca for dune buggies and four-wheelers--enormous sand dunes are everywhere.  About twenty-three years ago, we each had three-wheelers and we camped at Florence, Oregon not too far from here (that's me on the right riding down a big one).  Riding up and over those huge hills of sand was a hoot.  I almost wish we had some ATV's now. 

Our camp host, Don, at Premier RV at Lincoln City took a picture of us (and the Gnome) before we left yesterday.   Bye, Lincoln City.

Two Birthdays--Twice the Fun

Whenever the Fourth of July rolls around, I always get a little nostalgic. Growing up, my family lived a short distance from the high school football stadium where the fireworks display was held. On the evening of the Fourth of July, my parents would round up all five kids and gather blankets, a cooler with chilled sodas, a few gooey peanut butter sandwiches, and we would all walk, albeit slowly, to the stadium. We would lay on our little backs on that warm summer night and watch the fireworks with lots of ooohs and aaahs. And they seemed to last forever. It was wonderful.

Since those childhood days and through the years, Mike and I haven’t done much on this holiday. Occasionally, there was a short vacation including the Fourth of July; but more often than not, it was a work day following the celebration and that meant getting up early the next day. Rarely, did we drive to the firework location and stay up late to watch.

Our retirement and new lifestyle have given us the time to again enjoy this holiday. This year we’re on the Oregon Coast and fireworks light up the night sky on the beaches. Without the stress and hurry-up that goes along with a career and work-life, suddenly, I’m a kid again--enjoying the fireworks with lots of ooohs and aaahs. And it’s wonderful.

Plus, it’s my mother’s birthday (pictures of my family/mom on the right; picture of mom below--she's 77 today--doesn't she look great?). I mean, really, can you have a better day for your birthday? When she was a kid, she must have thought the fireworks were all about her. How great is that?

Happy Birthday, Mom.

Happy Birthday, America.

I love you, both.

Clam Chowder, Mo' Better

It was time to seek out a great Oregon Coast bowl of clam chowder. We wanted clam chowder containing rich cream, cooked down potato chunks, a hint of bacon, and lots and lots of fresh razor clams. Mo’s restaurant is legend around these parts for their clam chowder, and it met all the criteria mentioned. (Painting on the left is the original Mo's in Newport, Oregon.)


We ate our perfect bowl of clam chowder at Mo’s in Lincoln City. With a warm misty rain falling outside and lots of sweaty little kiddies and hot, steaming bowls of chowder inside, the place was darn near foggy inside. To round out the whole experience, we had a few bottles of beer. I had the Mo’s Ale by Rogue.  I liked it! (Maybe it wasn't foggy...)

Cheers from Lincoln City.

The Joy of Shopping

Lincoln City probably has the best outlet mall, I've seen.  Any more, most of the outlet malls are just regular stores; you don't find any good buys.  But, I find good stuff at the Tanger Mall like the Gap jeans for $18, the golf shirt for $13, and Body & Bath body scrub for $4--this is good stuff!  I really wanted a Coach backpack purse, but no luck.  I'm happy, though.  Mike found a little, I mean little, Nikon digital camera for around $100.  It does everything--video, zoom--the whole enchilada.

The weather in Lincoln City, Oregon is wonderful today.  The rest of the day was relaxing in the sun on our patio.  It was around 70 degrees with clear, blue skies; and I'm digging it.  Not too hot and not too cold.  Just sat outside with a glass of chilled white wine.  Life is good.

Stop! It's Lincoln City.

We left Netarts Bay RV Park yesterday about 11 a.m. and arrived at our new location, Premier RV Park, in Lincoln City around noon.  What a nice park!  All the sites are pristine with a little patio and just the right amount of landscaping.  The office was efficient and modern.  Although, the park is located on Highway 101; we're near the back of the park and we don't hear any traffic noise.  At the end of our little "street" is a viewpoint of the ocean with a gas firepit and comfortable chairs.  I think I'm going to like it here.

Today was truly the first warm summer weather we've had since we started our retirement travels on June 1.  It's been a busy day--the 5'er got a complete washing, the truck got a wash, we walked the beach, Spanish Head, and lounged in the sunshine outside our clean house.  I think I'm going to like it here (I said that already, didn't I?).

Oh, I forgot to post our good-bye picture from Netarts Bay.  Our little "PC" Gnome says happy crabbing.

For The Last Time, I Didn't Sabotage Your Plane

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When I heard that the Tillamook Air Museum was built to house blimps during World War II, I remembered the movie, "Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow" which featured the Hindenburg blimp (today's blog title--it's a quote from the movie).  Dumb movie, but they had some cool special effects using the blimp and planes from the World War II era.  On our last day here, we visited the Tillamook Air Museum, called "Hangar B".  It is the largest clear-span wooden structure in the world and it is HUGE--my interior picture doesn't do it justice.  You can see the building for miles. Tillamook Air Museum includes not only World War II planes, but motorcycles, helicopters, and planes from the Korean, Viet Nam, and Gulf war.

I thought this would be another cheesy tourist trap, but it was nicely put together and well worth the time.  Walking through the exhibits you see pictures of our young pilots, descriptions of the women working in factories back home, the proud old planes, and all the while the 1940s background music playing eerily in the cavernous space--a little ghost-like.  It gave me goose bumps.

We spent over two hours at the museum, and still didn't see everything. 

Tomorrow, we relocate farther south to Lincoln City, Oregon. 

Consumables

When you live full-time in your RV, there is no room for extra "stuff".  So, when you shop it is either for food or you are replacing something (and it is important to toss the thing that you are replacing) or it is some wiz-bang electronic gadget that will make your life a little easier on the road.  We've found that most of our shopping has centered around food (consumables); and fortunately, it has been all about healthy food like fresh fruit, vegetables, and fish.  Tillamook has a small farmers market every Saturday; and during the month of June, we're talking about strawberries, cherries, asparagus, and onions. 

We purchased cherries, strawberries, leeks, and kalamati olive bread.  You just can't compare local fresh to the pithy fruit bought at the grocery store.  The strawberries were cut up and sugared for dessert tonight, and the cherries were quickly eaten this afternoon.  Sweet!

At one of these farmers markets, I'm going to break down and buy some flowers.  Every farmers market seems to have a booth and they are so beautiful.

Best Fishes!

Splat! We were crackin' and eatin' crab this evening so fast and furious that the shell and chucks of crab meat were a-flyin'.  (Seriously, it was in MY HAIR!)  Fresh crab from Tillamook Bay purchased this morning from The Garibaldi Cannery paired up with Nehalem Bay chardonnay wine--oh yeah!  It was hard to pick what we wanted at the place; they had oysters, halibut cheeks, smoked salmon, but it was the huge display of crab, yelling pick me!  The place is your typical fresh seafood store on the wharf--small, old...with an autographed picture of Steve Martin.  Wait! Steve Martin!  No, it wasn't original, but it was perfect.  Remember his poster signed, "Best Fishes" with a fresh fish poking out of his suit -- how funny. 

The Blue Heron French Cheese store located in Tillamook has all kinds of tasty cheeses, wine, mustards, jams, and candy.  We picked up a jar of champagne/sweet mustard, dill seasoning dip (for our salmon), and some Blue Heron Brie.  Before the crab frenzy, we had the brie cheese with slices of apple.  So good! 

Blue Heron also has a petting farm with small donkeys.  They look just like "Donkey" from the Shrek movies.  So cute.