Oregon Coast / Central to South Oregon

Tuesday, September 20, 2011

We took a nice hike around the campsite that then dropped us out onto the beach for a long walk. It was a beautiful, sunny morning.

I did a quick stretch and workout before we broke camp and left, on our way farther down 101.

Just about five miles down the road we stopped at Seal Rock. It is aptly named – we could see six or seven seals down on the rocks below, indulgently sunning themselves. Very cool. J [I'd put a photo up, but my phone's camera isn't good enough to zoom in and show them properly.] 

Another few miles later, we pulled in at the Devil’s [Washing Machine.] (I will admit here that I don’t remember the exact name of this site, and I can’t find it on any map anywhere.) But here are some photos – a lava cut-out with water that surges in and splashes up. That woman there on the right got wet a few waves later! (And I guess she’s lucky she didn’t get pulled in!)

After that, we drove another long stretch south. We thought about getting out at the Oregon Dunes Recreation Area, but at that point, I just didn’t feel like a climb up the dunes. So, on we went.

We pulled in at the little coastal town of Bandon to have a look around. The “old town” was pretty small, and it was just about 6 pm, so most of the shops were closed. The marina was busy, though, and we went to take a look.

There were a couple a guys finishing their clean-up from fishing. Couple of crab traps, lots of rods and line. And apparently lots of crab and fish waste in the water – the seals and sea lions were there to feed! We were treated to a few heads bopping up in the water (look closely in the second photo ...), and I watched some pretty big, fat seals swim around in the harbor. (I’m not sure Auggie actually saw the seals. I pointed them out, but he had no reaction. They are called the “dogs of the sea” – shouldn’t he be excited by that?)

I have officially noticed that the days are getting shorter – sunsets are coming earlier now. We pulled off at Paradise Point and watched another spectacular sunset over the Pacific. We have been spoiled by these!

We needed to find a campsite quickly, as we were tired and hungry, and it was getting dark. We were treated to find super pretty Humbug Mountain State Park just a few miles down the road. We found our site, made some dinner and then built ourselves a campfire for the first time since before Glacier! We were very excited to have some marshmallows again. Yummy as ever …

We are off to California tomorrow, but we are really sorry to leave Oregon. We have enjoyed this state very much! And a quick nod of thanks to the government of Oregon for keeping its coastline public and not allowing private development. It makes for an absolutely beautiful, unspoiled drive!

Tomorrow – it’s off to Redwoods National Forest and the big trees!