We were obliged to leave the Remote Outpost RV Park today since our reservation expired and some other soon-to-be delighted campers can move in. Initially, we were baffled about where to go today. We don’t want to go south yet because it is hotter than hell. Going west will put us in the ocean and that’s bad. Going east will put us directly into the fires currently trying to consume and/or suffocate the entire state. We got here from the north and I don’t like to backtrack, covering the same ground twice. It was perplexing.
We finally settled on going west but not all the way into the Pacific. The roads from Remote heading west are limited to one – OR-42. We turned out of the park, headed through Myrtle Penis and Coquille (the county seat and “seat” is no idle descriptor) before connecting with US-101 near Coos Bay. From there we headed south about 20 miles to Bullard’s Beach State Park located just a few clicks north of the town of Bandon. Bandon is a quaint little assortment of shops and businesses intended to efficiently separate tourists from money. It is also located on the south shore of the Coquille River right where the river empties into the ocean. It is visually quite attractive. At the time of this writing, it also had considerably less smoke in the air; we can’t smell the smoke here but deep breathing can generate terrifying paroxysms of coughing from the elderly.
The park is very nice but there are limited sewer hookups and we didn’t get one. We will be departing, therefore, in four days or less because that’s about the extent of the holding tanks’ capacities. There is no wifi but our satellite antenna can get some satellites in its sights and we have a pretty good assortment of TV channels. The drive over here from Remote was short so we were all set up by about 2:00 PM. We climbed into the trailer and turned on the air conditioning but soon became bored and mutually decided to go into Bandon for some looking around.
While driving down the waterfront, we spotted a place called the Bandon Fish Something and we pulled in for some seafood. The food was very good and they also served Black Butte Porter, our favorite brew. There is outside seating so customers, like us, can have a seat right along the south shore of the Coquille River. Across the river we could see the old Coquille Lighthouse which is…uh…old. And scenic. And white, except for the rusty parts.
After lunch we took a drive through the part of Bandon that faces the Pacific Ocean. There are wide sand beaches, magnificent sea stacks protruding through the surf and ample state-owned access to the beach. A while back we were in Washington and they have a different concept of public access to the state’s beaches – there isn’t any. Here in Oregon, access is not a problem because there are shoreline parks, parking lots, wildlife refuges, restrooms and miles of stunningly beautiful beaches and bluffs easily accessible by both normal people and old farts like me.
We finally got back to the trailer in Bullard’s Beach in time for the evening news where our feelings that the president is insane were reinforced for about the 200th day in a row. I hope this yahoo doesn’t get us all killed because he is thin-skinned.
There’s pix. Click here