Oregon III, Back to the coast

Saturday, September 6
We had a pancakes, eggs, and bacon breakfast with the group then went to Seaside for the Wheels and Wave event, which is old cars and kites on the beach. We have different taste in old cars. Don likes the hotrods and Dorothy likes the restored ones. Back at campground, more socializing, dinner and socializing.

Sunday, September 7
We had another breakfast of pancakes, eggs, and sausage. The LD people really know how to eat. We hung around almost all morning talking. After lunch and nap, we paddled the yaks on the lake. The evening was spent socializing, eating and socializing.

Monday, September 8
We said goodbye to everyone and headed to Portland. Carolyn suggested Clackamette City Park and we found it entirely suitable for our purposes, close to the airport and shopping.

Tuesday, September 9
We did our shopping and got KoKo’s oil changed. We spotted an IKEA from I205 and spent an hour discovering how to reach it. We had never been in one and wanted to see what it was all about. It has budget priced, you assemble furniture. Our purchases were five cardboard magazine holders for $3 which now manage the several camping books we carry. Plus four new salad bowls for 39 cents each. Big spenders.

Wednesday, September 10
Doug and Roxannne’s flight was delayed two hours, so we decided to drive down to Milo McIver and get two campsites and so we did. It turned out to be a good move as when we got back to the CG around 5, it was near full.

Thursday, September 11
We drove down the western side of the Cascades along the Clackamas River to Paradise, the same FS CG we had stayed in when we crossed Oregon a few weeks back. The campsites were right on the McKenzie River, where we had cocktails. Doug built a fire.

Friday, September 12
We got up early to drive to the coast. I feared that the CG we wanted to use near Florence would fill up early on the weekend. No worries. It was almost empty and stayed that way for the weekend.

In the afternoon, we took the Jeep on the dunes and in short order I learned that dry weather combined with high winds produces soft sand. I found a soft spot and we were stuck. It took several other “sand people” an hour to extract the Jeep. As soon as we would dig the sand out, the wind would fill in the hole.

Saturday, September 13
We put the yaks in a paddled to the beach. Doug and Roxanne took the trail to the beach where we met up. That afternoon, Doug & Roxanne paddled and we napped. Later we headed to South Jetty to show them Show Off Hill (now called Competition Hill). It’s fun to watch the quads and bikes go up and down. We wanted to show them Old Town Florence and once again, we found an old car show. Some of the best cars we have seen.

Sunday, September 14
We headed south on US101 to Bullard Beach CG at Bandon. We arrived at 11 and there was already a line of rigs coming in. We were able to get adjoining sites. Went to Old Town Bandon for the Cranberry Festival. We saw some beautiful woodwork and pottery. We bought wine and marinated mixed garden veggies that are very good.

We got a tip that the restaurants at Bandon Dunes Golf Course were good, so we drove out to see. Nice grounds, but we could have been anywhere the place was so sanitized. So we decided to try the Boatworks, which was decent, if a bit pricey for the fare.

Monday, September 15
There was fog on the coast, so we went inland to see what we could see. Five miles inland the sun was out and it was warm. From Bandon, we took 42 east and then south finally ending up on FS33, which winds along the South Fork of the Coquille River, crosses the coast range and then heads west along the Rouge River. We noted two fine CG’s one on each side of the pass. The one along the Coquille required a round trip from Bandon, as the gravel road that goes over the pass is a tad rough for KoKo. However, Quosatana CG on the Rouge is a four star CG and is reachable from Gold Beach. When we got back to the coast at Gold Beach, the fog was still there so all we could do was finish the loop by heading north to Bandon. We tried to assure Doug and Roxanne that there were in fact rocks off the shore.

Tuesday, September 16
The fog remained. About noon, it lifted for a while so Doug and Roxanne could at least see the rocks under the overcast sky.

Doug built another fine fire and we had early cocktails around it. Then to top off our last night together, we watched a Johnny Carson DVD, which we all enjoyed so much, laughing out loud.

Wednesday, September 17
Doug and Roxanne got off to Portland around 10 and we headed south on US101 to Quosatana CG. We decided we would not wait another 39 years to vacation together. It was overcast on the coast, but little fog. 10 miles up the Rouge we were in bright sun. We got a site on the river surrounded by Myrtlewood trees. We may have to stay here longer than two days.

Everyone here is friendly, which is always the case in scenic CG’s where everyone is happy to be here.

Thursday, September 18
The morning sky was overcast at the CG, so we decided to come to town and wash clothes, buy groceries and fill up the Jeep so we can explore the mountain roads. When we got to town the sun was out and no fog! We are wondering if the CG will be sunny when we get back.