Drive to California

So today had been busy, I phoned our travel insurance company and managed to change our travel policy so that it tops up my work insurance. This means that through work we get 40 days and our other policy takes over after that for a total of 75 days. We will look at upping the one policy to 60 days, which then gives us a total of 100 days.  We are coming home for Christmas, so the 100 days will start over in January, should get us to the Spring, in time to come home and get the lake property set up.  

We decided to head south to California and check out the different RV parks along the way. We are looking for a different location for the new year and it is difficult to see what a park looks like online.  We learned that some parks look much different in person that in pictures.  We also figured that with the rain coming on and off that somewhere with grass and lots of pavement is better.  Lukies little feet make a lot of mess in the rain.  The less mud the better. 

We found a couple parks in Crescent City CA and one in Bandon.  We will see what is available when we go back down in January.  Didn’t take a lot of pictures but I do have some from before that I will post.

We did stop in Bandon for some lunch. Downtown is a wharf that has a couple of places that rent crab traps and fishing stuff. They also serve food, I had a fish taco and Len and a half order of fish and chips. The fish had a very light coating and Len got a little container of fresh shrimp and coleslaw. Both dishes were very good. 

Shore Acres in the Daylight

So today we headed to Shore Acres to see it in the daylight. We made sure we could be there during high tide.  The King Tides were this weekend and we caught the tail end of them.  The King Tides are the highest the tides get this month, so if you want to see the big waves crashing against the rocks, this is when you go.  The best part is you don’t actually need a storm to see them, so we actually had sunshine to take the pictures.  

So the waves were unbelievable, I was awestruck standing there and feeling the power of the waves crashing around us. It is also very interesting to see what the rocks look like at low tide, to see what the water does to the rock.

This is a video of the waves crashing in and then a picture of those same rocks at low tide

We walked along a couple of trails and came upon this huge tree stump, I wanted to bring it home for cousin Brenda but it wouldn’t fit in the truck.  

 

 

A few more pictures of the waves

Too finish off the day we went back up to Simpson Reef where all the sea lions hang out just to compare the tide levels and see where the sea lions were if the water was so high. Well they were all out surfing the waves.  We watched through binoculars and they were diving and jumping through the waves, they didn’t really have a choice because there was only one shallow section of shore to lay on, everything was underwater. 

This is low tide

Night Tide

Quite the difference.

 

 

Shore Acres Holiday Lights

 Shore Acres is a state park here in Charleston, Oregon. It was originally an estate owned by timber baron Louis Simpson. They actually had to build twice here as the first house burned down.  A formal garden was built on 5 acres, complete with a rose testing plot and a Japanese lily pond.  The Simpson’s unfortunately had to sell the estate to the Oregon govt in 1942 because of financial losses.  The park is a great place to watch storms and migrating whales.  It is also part of the Cape Argo area, which includes the Simpson Reef where the sea lions hang out.

Every year since 1987 Shore Acres have been hosting the Holiday Lights from Thanksgiving to New Years Eve.  They started out with only 6000 light to decorate the area to today with over 320,000 LED lights.  They do it with the support of the local business community who decorate Christmas trees as well as help to decorate different area with lights.  They also have some very creative light sculptures.  We had to make a reservation for parking and it was raining so we had to take our umbrellas, but it was amazing to walk out amongst the lights.  Here are some of the videos and pictures we took. 

One last video, this is an orca breaching, they also had a leaping frog, sea lions and dolphins jumping.

I was also kind of naughty, hopefully Santa doesn’t find out, but at Shore Acres you are not supposed to let your animals out of your vehicles. Well Lukie gets a little upset about being left alone so I found a baby  carrier at one of the thrift stores and I put Lukie inside of it and we all went through the exhibit. Didn’t have any problems until I decided to go through the gift store and got busted by one of the staff, should have known better. They were very nice just told us that animals were not allowed in the park, so we said okay and we were on our way, luckily we were on our way out anyways.  Lukie did seem to enjoy the walk thru the park and he cuddled right in.  Great way to take him places, I always figure it is better to ask for forgiveness rather than permission.

Thanksgiving Dinner and Black Friday

 So we started Thanksgiving by going on a bike ride the beach that is at the mouth of the Charleston Bay. Len rode down the beach but I am still not completely comfortable on the bike, so I am sticking to harder surfaces.  

So for dinner we decided to check out the Mills Casino, who had a dinner buffet. So prime rib, Turkey with all the fixings and pumpkin cheese cake for dessert, we ate too much but it was delicious.  

So Black,Friday is not the same as it used to be, they seemed to have deals all week leading up to Thursday and all the stores were actually closed for Thanksgiving. They all opened up on Friday for shopping, which we didn’t go out until the afternoon. We picked up a few deals but not the same as years gone by.  I think today we might try a couple of thrift stores as I need a baking dish to cook a roast in the oven.  I think we will also try and find a spot to watch the tides. 

Farmer’s Market and Bandon

 Today we went to an indoor farmers market, it was more a craft market, only one person with veggies.  We did see an interesting car, a vendor at the market goes by the name of art car lady and this is her vehicle. 

The day was so nice we decided to head south to Bandon and check out a couple of state parks to see if it was worth taking the bikes down. We headed to Bullards State Park, this is where the Coquille River Lighthouse.  The park itself is huge, lots of safe open trails and roadways, also a back road over to the other beaches that doesn’t have much traffic.

You can see how beautiful the weather is as Len had his shorts on.  The waves on this beach are incredible.  The Kings tides are supposed to be coming this weekend so the waves are getting bigger with each tide.  I took some pretty cool videos of them, also one of the Jetty that separates the river from the ocean and also where the actual river meets the ocean.  It is like being in a wave pool that never stops.

You can also see that Lukie is again having a blast running up and down the shore. 

Visiting Friends

 So we went to see a friend that Len went to school with in Tidewater. This is a little community just up the road from Waldorf on the Alsea River.  Beautiful little area right on the river, you can literally walk out the front door and start fishing.  

Yvonne went to school with Len in Creston. He brought some old school newspapers and annuals. The two of them spent the day reminiscing,  laughing and crying over old memories.  We had a wonderful lunch and are looking forward to seeing her again when we come back to visit after Christmas.

Yvonne and I bonded  over quilting and crafts.  She is an avid quilter and she has a little store in Yachats  called Just Local. 

https://www.justlocalyachats.com/

 It is a shop she has right off highway 101 and she has over 50 local vendors. 

Simpson Reef

So today we headed up the highway from where we are staying to check out the Simpson Reef.  We have visited this area before but it has always at the end of trip so we can never spend much time.  I remember the first time we visited this area, we had driven to it just before sunset and we stopped at the Simpson Reef viewpoint. We got out to see the reef and all we could hear was this barking, Len and I both looked around to see where the dog was but realized it was the sea lions.  We looked out and there were hundreds of sea lions laying out on the shore.  

This is the largest accumulation of pinnipeds on the west coast. There are California sea lions, Stellar sea lions, harbour seals and elephant seals.  This is the perfect location for them, the reef consists of a intertidal area, kelp forest and numerous small rocks and inlets. It is a major  migratory, resting and breeding area for all four species. This is also a great place to observe the grey whales when they migrate in the spring and fall. 

You could basically stand here all day with a pair of binoculars and be entertained all day just watching the dynamics of the animals.

Lazy Sunday

 So today was a chance to catch up, clean the trailer, do a few loads of laundry and basically just get organized.  This area is a little bigger than Brookings Harbour so we can actually toddle around on the bikes quite a bit.

We are still getting used to the bikes but going up hills is quite easy with them.  We have laundry here on site which allowed us to do a quick ride while the laundry was in.  We found a back road that took us to a lookout and we may be a able to get to the beach tomorrow, even up to the state park.  I am still a little intimidated riding with traffic but the more riding we do the more comfortable I will get.  

Lukie really seems to like riding along.  He sits nicely in his basket. He does like to be in the front bike, whines a bit when he is behind. 

Brookings to Coos Bay

 So today we left Brookings and headed  two hours up the coast to Coos Bay.  Actually we are staying at the Charleston Marina RV park.  Charleston, North Bend and Coos Bay make up this area.  This RV park is not anything fancy, but we were able to book in for a month, which was actually a very reasonable rate, laundry and showers in an area that we can definitely keep busy.  They also have a storage site here, so we can leave the trailer here and come home for Christmas and then come back in the new year and continue to head up the coast.

We are just down the road from Cape Argo and Shore Acres state parks and hope to take in the holiday light display while we are here.  We are also looking at going to the local casino for American Thanksgiving.  

So on the drive north we stopped in Port Orford again to check out the historic Coast Guard Museum and Agate Beach.

This boat was one of the first unsinkable coast guard boats.  It is 35 ft long, mid engined, self-righting, self bailing motor lifeboat that carried crew of 3-8 and could pick up 20 survivors. It’s use started in the 1946  and was retired in 1981.

After checking out the boat we head to the beach to look for some agates, did manage to find some little ones. Hopefully when the king tides arrive it will bring some more more gravel. That is where the agates like to hang out.

We also saw this cute little salamander, other than some squirrels and a few deer, the only wildlife we have seen. Hoping to see some seals and sea lions soon.

This is a picture of the bay here in Charleston. Hopefully we can get some fresh seafood from one of the many seafood companies in the area.

Cape Blanco

So today we did our first lighthouse in Oregon. Cape Blanco is not far from Port Orford. The lighthouse was unfortunately closed this time of year but we were able to walk up to it and take a look around. The lighthouse was built in 1870 and didn’t become automated until 1980.  It stands 256 ft high and has a Fresnel Lens that goes out into the ocean 23 nautical miles, which is around 43 kms. The light flashes white 20 seconds. 

The views from the lighthouse are spectacular. 

Just down the road from the lighthouse is the Hughs House.  The Hughs family came to Cape Blanco in the 1860’s and built the house in 1898. They raised seven kids and expanded their farm to over 2000 acres, complete with a 100 cow dairy.   There were three sons, one took over the management of the farm, one became the bookkeeper and the third became the lighthouse keeper for over 38 years.