We don’t know if the fires south of where we are currently set up are getting worse or not but the smoke certainly is. We are sort of stalled in our comfortable portable home because the smoke obscures all views here and going to see something that is invisible seems pointless. We chose instead to stay close to home today, enjoying our trailer’s ample air conditioning system and the beautiful park where we are shacked up. It was 90 degrees outside and when we could get a glimpse of the sun, it was dark orange. It is like vacationing in Mordor except there were no orcs.
Remote Outpoat RV Park may be one of my favorite RV parks. It has very pretty landscaping, nicely mowed lawns, ample spaces with full hookups, decent wifi, a river about 30 feet behind our trailer; a community pavilion with wide-screen TV, a stainless fancy barbecue and a full kitchen; there is a big community room, a laundry that costs two bits per dryer increment and 50% great service from the staff. The folks running the place are Edie (spelled Idi) and Rob and they live onsite. I tried to watch the NASCAR race today with Rob and either he doesn’t like me for some reason (can’t fault him there), hates everyone or merely disdains communicating with guests. Idi, on the other hand, is a pretty woman with an outgoing personality who seems to work like a Japanese junior corporate executive. We spotted her numerous times polishing and cleaning and mucking out the small cabins they rent to those without pricey trailers or motor homes. When we need something, we talk to Idi. We seem to be insufficiently redneck to hobnob with Rob.
Peggy utilized the laundry facility and I got the propane tank refilled by Idi’s son. We are soon to wander into unknown destination land because the kids are back in school and finding space to park a 34′ RV with hookups will get substantially easier. To make getting reservations easier for old flatulators like us, kids should be gagged and tied up for the summer so their folks won’t be obliged to listen to their strident bitching and to take them camping to get them to shut up and quit wiggling. I’ll buy the rope and the ball gags and supply them to all that apply.

We awoke today to very dreary rust-red skies. There are fires south of our camping spot and the smoke from those toasty get-togethers are turning our resort into a big gas chamber. The sun is not visible through the dreck during daylight hours.
In an effort to find some air suitable for respiration, we decided to go west, toward the ocean. About 20 miles later we got diverted and headed south to Powers, a town with no viable industry, a meager population and four residential lots we purchased there back in the Clinton administration. Recently we convinced the city to send their possibly sole worker, Jim, out to our lots to run a camera in the sewer to ascertain the presence of any sewer lateral connections to the city’s system. Jim felt that, in order to steer the camera and mark where the laterals may or may not be, he had to use a city mower to clear off a large portion of our holdings.
Busybody neighbors almost immediately complained when they saw Jim mowing our lots and he got in trouble with his superiors. Fortunately, Jim also found a municipal water system leak now visible in the mown grass that the city had been hunting for a considerable time. Jim went from being chewed out to being praised and congratulated for finding the mystery leak and I guess the management just ignored the mowing complaints from the busybodies.
While driving through Powers, we spotted a city truck and followed it to the wastewater plant. There I hailed the driver and found out it was indeed Jim. We had a long conversation about sewer and water for our property and have now developed a strategy to bring up the utilities so we can park our RV on our own property when visiting this area in the future. Hubba-hubba.
After our conference with Jim, we left Powers and returned down the twisting road along the south fork of the Coquille River to the main highway in Myrtle Penis. We were ready to continue our trek to breathable air on the coast. We turned west along the south shore of the Coquille until we emerged after about 20 miles of gorgeous scenery in Bandon.
In Bandon, we carefully turned away from town and headed north a few miles up 101 to Bullard’s Beach, a state park located at the mouth of the Coquille River at the Pacific. There we cruised through the park where we will head Tuesday, after the holiday. We also drove out to the river mouth and checked out the Coquille lighthouse, a venerable structure built on the north river jetty. There were gray whales fooling around very close to the beach.
The air did not reek of smoke in Bandon but high clouds of smoke gave us a bleary fuschia-colored sun. It was a gorgeous color but we would have preferred that the smoke just bugger off. We returned home along the north shore of the Coquille River. We determined that, when we leave Remote and head to Bullard’s Beach, we will go the long way around because the roads down both sides of the river are scary for cowardly RVers with an overall length of 50 feet.
We were delighted to find so much gorgeous scenery and so many wild animals along today’s route. We saw, in addition to the whales, a falcon, a big hawk, deer, a couple flocks of wild turkeys (our favorites), ducks, Canada geese and a tremendous variety of songbirds. It is gorgeous here. I just wish the smoke would get lost.
We took a few smoke-filled landscape photos and you can see the indistinct images of some of the sights if you click here

Today was a travel day so we packed all our stuff and pulled out of the South Shores TT. We turned south on US-101 and cruised alongside the Oregon Dunes all the way to North Bend. We continued through North Bend and Coos Bay, where both my spouse and I lived for a long time, and followed 101 for about 5 more miles until we turned southeast on OR-42. We continued through North Bend and Myrtle Point (called Myrtle Penis by numerous indigenous personnel) before entering the serpentine Coquille River Valley. Maybe 20 miles later we turned into the Remote Outpost RV Park near Remote, OR. We know why it is called Remote; there is little other than stunning scenery here.
The Remote Outpost is run by a nice couple and they do a superb job keeping their park up to snuff. The full hookups are identical in each space, there is a pavilion that has a massive flatscreen TV along with full cooking equipment and comfy seating, the wifi works well and the Coquille River runs right behind our RV.
The only drawback is that there is a massive fire south of us and it is pretty smoky here at the park. The breeze is trying to make it tolerable but the temperature is around 90 and the air quality is shit.

Today we saved some fuel and stayed close to our trailer set up at South Jetty TT in Florence, OR. The weather was gorgeous and the air was crystal clear.
We did make a side trip to the local Fred Meyer grocery/hardware/clothing/appliance store and loaded up on food. We are headed into the portion of the Pacific coast of the U.S. where there is scant retail shopping, namely from Coos Bay Oregon, OR to Eureka, CA.
We also managed to find our way to a recreational marijuana store so I could purchase some recreation. The store was actually located in the little bit of retail south of the Florence bridge over the Siuslaw River. It may be called Glenada but I’m not sure. Recreation in hand, we headed back to South Jetty and re-stocked our trailer with our loot.
We are departing tomorrow and, with the exception of a side trip to Remote, OR, on OR-42, we intend to travel down the Pacific coast. There are nasty fires near the OR/CA border and we would love to stay out of the smoke. We’ll see how our plans work out.

Today we got to have one of those days that make retirement fantastic. When we awoke, the marine layer fog right here next to the ocean was just burning off leaving a crystal-clear day with temperatures right at about 70 degrees. To avoid wasting any of today’s exploring time, we had our coffee and then headed into Florence for breakfast at the Little Brown Hen restaurant. Peggy said her B & E were yummy and my chicken fried steak and eggs were great. We got away for less than $30, including tip.
We then headed north about 50 miles up the coast through Florence, Yachats and Waldport before getting to Newport where we turned east on OR-20 for about 5 miles. There we turned north on OR-229 for a gorgeous drive down the Siletz River. About 10 miles later we stopped in the little town of Siletz at their cute little downtown park bordering the river for some snacks and the facilities before continuing downstream. The Siletz follows a very circuitous course through a twisting and turning valley. The road mostly follows the river although there are some spots where the road veers away from the water and heads uphill to cross some forested ridges. We saw no places where there were any rapids or waterfalls in the river so it looks like it would be a superb place to get a small boat and just let it drift through this stunning locale. The current looked like it was making about 2 or 3 knots.
After what we wish was longer, we emerged at the mouth of the river where it crosses a big sandy beach and mingles with the Pacific. We turned south off OR-229 back onto US-101 and headed for Depot Bay. Before we got there, however, we turned off the road at a beachside park called Boiler Bay. The park sticks out in the water a little more than the surrounding coastline so admirers can get the perspective of this magnificent stretch of nature from the water. We spotted a variety of sea birds, two bald eagles, an abundant colony of sea lions and some gray whales that live here in this stunning place.
It was getting late in the day so we finally departed Boiler Bay and continued our return trip south, passing through Depoe Bay and Otter Rock on out way by Cape Foulweather (where the weather was wonderful) and Yaquina Head and its old lighthouse. We got through the bit of traffic congestion in Newport and continued down the edge of the Pacific, past the Heceta Head Lighthouse and eventually arrived at the straight road sections just north of our RV spot at Florence’s South Jetty Resort. It was a great excursion through extraordinary scenery today. Total length was a bit under 150 miles but there is not a bit of it that isn’t stunningly beautiful, particularly when supplemented with gorgeous weather. What a day!
There are some pictures we took along the way and you can see them if you click here

My spouse lived a substantial portion of her life on the southern Oregon coast. I lived in Coos Bay 50 miles south of where we are currently bivouacing. Neither of us has ever heard of a nearby place called Ada, until today.
We were aimlessly cruising around near Woahink Lake just a bit south on US-101 when we came to an intersection that had a sign indicating Ada was 11 miles in a direction we had not anticipated. Having only lived nearby for 10 years, I looked at the more experienced Peggy and inquired whether she knew anything about Ada. Her answer was negative so we turned in the direction of the unknown and settled in for a back-country cruise.
The road started out as a two-lane, well-paved albeit serpentine road. However, it soon lost most of its width and the center dotted line. Not much later, the road lost all the paint markings and the width alternated between narrow and skinny. Some parts gave up all pretense of paving and continued as gravel. Regardless of the road qualities, the scenery was absolutely stunning. Some of the loop passes through timber on ridges, more parts run along lake shores and other parts skirt boggy areas filled with wildlife. We spotted a hawk dragging off an unwary rodent, vultures lurking in bare trees, deer, a kingfisher, blue herons and a variety of ducks.
When we finally made it to Ada, we were rewarded with almost nothing because there really isn’t much there. The scenery all the way there is great but Ada seems to be an old, funky fishing resort that has fallen on tough times. There are some RVs parked there (apparently towed there by the insane because the access roads are challenging, even for a pickup truck) that look like they have been there long enough to get grass and weed skirts. The view from the RV park out over the lake is magnificent. Too bad this place is at the end of a terrifying road.
We headed back home down more gorgeous lanes, skipping a visit to the local recreational marijuana store. Maybe next time.
We shot a few pictures along the way and you can see some of them if you click here

We moved again today, leaving the Dexter/Eugene area and heading west to the Oregon coast. We started north on OR-58 until we turned north on I-5. Just a few miles later, we turned west on OR-126 which crosses over the coast range of mountains to Mapleton, on the Siuslaw River. From Mapleton the road is almost dead flat as it follows the north shore of the river all the way to Florence. In Florence we turned south on US-101 for about 2 miles until we turned west and into the Thousand Trails South Jetty Resort across the river from town.
When we left Dexter this morning, the air quality was atrocious due to forest fire smoke being driven south by wind from fires further north in the Cascades. Luck was with us because when we got to South Jetty the air was pretty murky due to smoke from fires south of us being driven by winds north along the coastline. The weather pundits allege the air quality will be better tomorrow. The temperature on the coast is about 20 degrees cooler than in Dexter and we like that. We will be happier when the air goes invisible again.
We got a great spot at South Jetty although there is no sewer hookup. We are scheduled to leave here before the tanks will fill up so we are okay. The water and power work well and we snagged a space in the trees with a little view to the south so our satellite antenna works perfectly. The relatively short trip from Dexter allowed us to get into this first-come first-served campground and we were perfectly situated to take advantage of the large space selection. We may be getting better at this.
A picture is worth a thousand words, particularly when used to show the air quality in Eugene due to the smoke. Click here