The weather for sightseeing was crummy today. It alternated between rain and fog for a good part of the day so we intended to stay pretty close to our trailer currently parked at Harris Beach State Park. However, it didn’t take us long to get bored so we voted, 2-0, to head down to a restaurant south of town called Mattie’s where we know they make good food because we have been there before.
Mattie’s only serves breakfast and lunch and that’s fortunate because we were having breakfast right after noon. Mattie’s is the place where the locals eat and the place is always jumping. Not too long after we were seated, a pair of nice ladies even older than me plopped down at the table next to us and we struck up a conversation. It turns out that the less elderly one is the companion for the older one who told us she was 98 years old. Whatever practices she followed in life must be the proper ones because she seemed sharp as a tack. I hope my mind in 10 years works as well as her’s now.
After our afternoon breakfast, we decided to do something productive so we went to the local Fred Meyer superstore and stocked up on food supplies and artificial Irish Cream for our proposed southward progress down the coast. I will wait to buy any real booze until we go about 15 miles south into California where booze is dirt cheap compared to Oregon and almost free compared to Washington. The Pacific Northwest is a magnificently beautiful area but their liquor laws and prices suck.

Reluctantly, we left Quosatana campground on the Rogue River today, continuing our generally southward progress. Fourteen miles west of Quosatana down Jerry’s Flat Road, we turned south again on US-101, joining it at the Rogue River bridge on the north end of Gold Beach. There are allegations that Gold Beach is a port and they even have a Port Authority but that is bullshit because there really isn’t a port. I would agree with it if you called Gold Beach a small marina because they do have some tiny docks and some sunken boats, the tops of which are visible above the water at low tide. There is one sinker close to the shore that has been substantially junk for at least the last 44 years that I have been driving by, quite possibly longer, based on its appearance.
Just south of Gold Beach the terrain gets very rocky and the road follows the terrain. Cape Sebastian is next and passing through requires quite a bit of climbing and descending, reflecting the course the road builders had to take to punch a highway through this jumbled and beautifully forested terrain. At the south end of Cape Sebastian, the road descends down to run parallel with the shoreline which is lined with massive sea stacks and rugged reefs visible only when waves break over them. Near Pistol River, the road traverses a wide sand plain with small lakes that is separated from the ocean by long sandbars. It is quite beautiful here and I need to find a nearby RV camping spot on our next pass through this part of the world.
Not too much further down the road (20 miles), we approached Brookings where we pulled off 101 and headed about 500 feet west into Harris Beach State Park. The park is located atop some impressive rock cliffs and overlooks a myriad of giant rock formations protruding out of the Pacific. Harris Beach campground has RV spaces that, due to my handicapped ability to back up articulated vehicles into blind spurs, seem quite tight although after about five passes we were able to get our Barbarian Invader almost where we wanted it. The adjacent spaces have peninsulas of vegetation between them, preventing unwanted intimacy with the neighbors. The whole park is located in a grove of impressive Douglas fir and spruce trees that create gorgeous shafts of light passing through the branches in the afternoon. There are many dogs here and we both like that, preferring dogs to many humans we know. The RV spaces have full hookups, the park has ample restrooms for those who need them and the cost is $30 a night. Those wishing to stay here should consider making reservations in advance because the park is very popular and the spaces are filled almost every night.
We went down into the public day use section of the park late in the day. There are picnic tables in grass, a good-sized parking area and magnificent views of the long beach, steep cliffs and massive sea stacks. It is stunning scenery and the weather was crystal clear today. We probably should have made a longer reservation.
We got some good coastal pix. Click here

Quosatana campground is such a great place for us that we chose to spend another day here. Our campground greeter, Hildy the turkey, wandered down into the meadow to scrutinize us while keeping the local deer herd in line. Hildy believes she is the empress of Quosatana and all deer activities are subject to her approval.
Hildy stationed herself alongside the entry road to the park, grazing on whatever turkeys eat. In the late afternoon, the deer ambled down the road to engage in their evening meal in the meadow. Unfortunately for them, they were required to pass by Hildy’s guard post, unknowingly violating some Hildy rule such that Hildy came charging out of her grazing area and began to chase the deer around the pasture. Every so often, she would spread her wings, squawk and jump into the air which seemed to frighten the deer into moseying off to other, greener pastures. Hildy was quite adamant about keeping the deer in line. I, personally, did not know deer were frightened by single turkeys but now I know better.
Peggy and I were quite satisfied with hanging out under our Myrtle tree during what turned out to be an absolutely gorgeous day. We read, napped, hobnobbed and had cocktails without performing any productive work. We watched dragonflies harvest insects from the thick clouds of flying vermin schooling in the sunny patches. We settled back in our reclining lounges to watch the birds. We took strolls around the campsite and over to glance at the Rogue River but, other than that, we were quite sluggish and loved it. I’m glad most of the flying insects kept to the sunny areas.
Hildy and the deer can be seen disputing something. Click here

We awoke to clear skies and mild temperatures in this gorgeous place, Quosatana. We had no real agenda for today so we took it easy, spending the morning having breakfast, coffee and finding shady spots to set up our lawn furniture for some dedicated nature watching.
Hildy the turkey came by, browsing for food. We have seen Hildy each time we have been here previously and we were delighted to see she is still living here. She seems to have abandoned her unnatural attraction for deer because she visited all by her lonesome.
After considerable doing nothing, Peggy and I got up and took a stroll along the Rogue. It is a gorgeous river in stunning surroundings.
We performed no productive work today and were quite proud of the stuff we didn’t do. The beautiful surroundings were enough to keep us happy all day.
Our camping spot can be seen by clicking here

We gathered up our stuff, put a full load of water in the on-board tank, dumped the waste tanks and departed from Boice-Cope County Park near Langlois and continued our trek south. Boice-Cope was a gorgeous, almost-unknown gem right on the Oregon coast and we would love to return the next time we pass this way.
We headed south on US-101 through Port Orford (which is not really a port) and continued along the spectacular Oregon coast until we got to another non-port, Gold Beach, where we turned east up Jerry’s Flat Road. Jerry’s Flat really doesn’t have a flat – the terrain is steep and rocky. A better name might be South Side of the Rogue River Road although it is a bit cumbersome. Fourteen miles after leaving 101, we pulled off at a National Forest campground called Quosatana.
We have been to Quosatana before. It is a beautiful campground and boat ramp along the Rogue and the only thing wrong with it is the pronunciation of the name. I am from southern California and, considering the proximity of Mexico, I learned that all words have the vowels pronounced, like in Spanish, and, therefore, it is Quo-sa-ta-na. However, it is allegedly an Indian word (the Native American Indian, not the red dot Indian) and some folks pronounce it Quo-sayt-na. Last time I was here, I heard a redneck pronounce it Quo-sayt-nee so we are perplexed about how the word is actually said.
Regardless of the jumbled possibilities about who says what how, we chose a spot overlooking a meadow where the deer amble in each evening to browse on the grass. On previous trips here, we noted that the deer always show up with a female wild turkey who we have named Brunhilde (Hildy, for short). She seems to have an unnatural attraction for the deer because she is always right in the herd. We did see a few deer this evening but no Hildy. We hope she is okay.
The campground is very well tended, has paved RV spots, adequate federal restrooms but absolutely no water, power or sewer hookups. Since it is owned by the Feds and we have a geezer pass that allows us reduced-cost entrance to Federal lands, we had to cough up $7.50 per day which seems very reasonable, considering the magnificent surroundings. We wrote the park host a check for $22.50 and settled in for a three day stay.
Right next to the RV space we took there is a magnificent Myrtle tree (50 miles south the trees are called California Bays but we don’t worry about that much) that has many forks and throws a huge penumbra of shade over our site. We set the chairs up underneath the branches, poured ourselves a cocktail and settled in for some deer watching. The drinks were tasty and the deer were sleek and beautiful.
We use our generators to power up our trailer and charge the batteries in the morning and again at dinner time. All our other utilities are self-contained so we are happy as pigs in shit. It is gorgeous here. The Rogue passes by about 200 feet from our site and it is a beautiful color of green slicing between shorelines of green cobbles. There are blue jays, robins, vultures, ospreys, deer and ravens cruising around here and twice a day we hear the big jet boats go by, blasting upstream, that were the only source of access for years. This might be one of the only inland spots in the world where local delivery of mail is by boat. The boats used big, uncorked V-8s for propulsion and you can hear them coming for quite a ways. They have to use shallow-draft jet boats due to loads of close-to-the-surface rocks and reefs at or just below the river surface that would destroy propellers on boats with deeper drafts.
We shot a few pictures along the coast and you can see them if you click here

It is fortunate that there are no early rising requirements for retirement because we certainly did not comply this morning, awaking after 0900. We may or may not be bad. After coffee, we drove the few miles into Langlois to partake of what Peggy’s relatives insist are the best hot dogs on the coast. Now I’m not sure that anybody has completed an accurate rating of Oregon coastal hot dogs and, considering what frankfurters contain, I’m not convinced anybody should. So, per our information, we popped into the Langlois Market for some much-touted danger dogs.
The hype turned out to be undeserved because the hot dogs were okay but not worth a long drive. They are also expensive. I suggest anybody wanting a hot dog bargain go to Costco where they do have good hot dogs at half the price, including a drink. The trip wasn’t a complete snafu; Peggy picked up some fruit and veggies and I purchased some deli meat for our next camping location.
From our hot dog disappointments we headed down US-101 to Port Orford, a small town about 20 miles south of our RV park. The weather was cooperative again today and the views out to sea from the Port Orford area are spectacular. Massive sea stacks protrude up to 150 feet from the Pacific. Whales could be spotted, straining the waters for yummy little almost invisible critters. Sea birds were having a great time in the moderate breezes.
We pulled over at just about every available place where the ocean could be seen from Port Orford south to Humbug Mountain State Park and there wasn’t one place where we left the truck running. The ocean and cliff scenery here is stunning.
We fooled around for so long that lunchtime crept up on us. Peggy, in her usual amazing foresight, had seen fit to bring fruit along on our drive but in violation of our policy of not dining out more than once a day, we stopped in at a venerable fish joint in Port Orford called the Crazy Norwegian’s. We had some chowder and some very good fish and chips. I think they undercharged us but who am I to tell these hayseeds they have made an error. I made it up in tip.
Then we started some very inefficient fuel shopping. I fueled the diesel truck. I intended to fill our gas can so we can have generator power when we head up the Rogue River tomorrow but I noted that there was a big hole in my gas can. We headed to the local hardware store on the main drag and it looked tiny from the street. Once inside, however, I realized it was a very long, narrow building and the place was gigantic. Soon I was on my way back out the door with a spiffy new 5 gallon can. Back to the gas station we headed and filled the can with pricey gasoline. A five minute task had turned sour and taken about 40 minutes.
We stopped by Cape Blanco again on our way back to Langlois. The weather was not as clear as yesterday but the scenery was still somewhere between fantastic and extraordinary. It is a magnificent stretch of coastline from Bandon to Humbug Mountain. I’m not sure I’m ready to go inland tomorrow.
We finished off the day with some strolling around Floras Lake, right next to our camping spot at Boice-Cope County Park. This is a great county campground. It has nice restroom and shower facilities, great RV spots with ample room, terrific scenery on all sides, very reasonable fees ($22 for RVs) and, unique to government facilities, good wifi.
We got a few pictures. Click here

It was a day for exploration. The weather was clear, cool and breezy. We hopped into Charlotte, took the squiggly road back to 101 and headed south to Cape Blanco. We have tried twice before to go out to the lighthouse at Cape Blanco but both times we were turned back. In 2014, the howling wind was blowing our trailer into lanes where it should not have been and we chickened out and turned around. About two weeks ago we came down to Cape Blanco with just the truck but it was so foggy we were having a tough time seeing 50 feet. The road to the lighthouse was closed.
Today, we drove right out to the lighthouse parking lot. The wind was whistling along at about 35 knots but the skies were blue. As soon as we left the parking lot, we ran into a volunteer couple named Jim and Bliss who directed us toward the observation building/bookstore/library/fee station where we paid the $2 a head entry fee. They should charge more.
The Cape Blanco Lighthouse sits atop Cape Blanco, the furthest west spot in Oregon. Magnificent cliffs extend north and south from the Cape and the ocean below us was pockmarked with massive rock monoliths and reefs. The views up and down the coast are spectacular. The lighthouse itself is pretty interesting. This lighthouse still operates, unlike the lights at Cape Arago and Heceta Head further up the coast.
On the way out of the lighthouse grounds, we ran across Jim and Bliss again. They were trying to stay in places out of the stiff wind and we all found the leeward side of their Ford F-250 a great spot for chatting and checking out the fabulous views. We found out a lot about the area, some of the locals and some interesting lighthouse tidbits. We also found out they are full-time RVers like us and go from place to place like us but, unlike us, they volunteer to help out in parks. They were very nice folks. Maybe we’ll stop in and see them again tomorrow.
Peggy and I also probed all the paved and some of the gravel roads west from 101 between Bandon and Cape Blanco but none seem to make it to the ocean. The scenery was gorgeous anyway. This is a particularly stunning part of the world and we both eagerly await more exploration tomorrow.
There’s some pix of all this wonderfulness that you can see if you click here

Today was a travel day. We closed up shop in Coos Bay and jumped onto US-101 southbound. We passed through Bandon again and continued south. We were intending to get into a Curry County campground near Langlois, but we had no reservation.
The town of Langlois is about a dozen buildings along 101 and some houses spread out on a few side roads. As to pronunciation, we have almost immediately encountered some differences. Folks in Coos Bay call it “Lang-loyze.” The French would probably say it “Lang-lwah.” Strangely, the locals call it “Lang-less” which seems right out.
Just south of town, we turned toward the coast on Flores Lake Loop and found our way to Boice-Cope County Park and, happily, they had a spot for us. Our drive was short today and we set up in a jiffy. Peggy felt an urge to take a stroll to the beach which lies just beyond relatively small Flores Lake and I let her. She came back a while later quite exhausted-looking because she found almost the entire distance is through sand with the consistency of cat litter.
In the evening, we took the campground host’s recommendation and headed the few miles into Langlois for dinner at a place now called the Spoon and formerly called the Greasy Spoon. The main restaurant building is an old single-wide trailer split between the kitchen and a small seating area although they also offer outdoor picnic table seating in the back yard. We elected to go out into the grass and mud. Despite the impressive surroundings, the food and porter they served us were pretty good. I had ling cod with pineapple/jalapeno sauce, potatoes and gravy and roasted carrots with leeks. I’m not sure I ever ate a leek before. They taste like onions. Peggy got a chicken/apple sausage with baked apples and grilled onions. She said it was tasty but they overcooked the sausage. We got out for less than $50 including drinks and tip.
When we left our spot in Coos Bay today, there was a monster in our electrical pedestal. To see this terror, click here

All last night there were downpours. It started with some nifty lightning and thunder early in the evening and then the weather transformed into squalls and lulls. Many spots in the RV park where the civil engineering was, shall we say, questionable were flooded. The flooded areas were very close to surface drains but it appears the drains were installed in the high spots. That must keep the maintenance costs down.
The rain continued through the day today so we mostly hung out in the trailer. However, Peggy did make a call to Luigi’s, a restaurant in the Empire district of Coos Bay. Two days ago we went to Luigi’s, only to find it closed due to break-in and theft the night before. They did not think they would open before tomorrow but fate was on our side and they opened today. We shot right over and both ordered a sandwich they make called a Garbage Grinder.
Garbage Grinders are large sandwiches with salami and pepperoni and a couple kinds of cheese and, in Peggy’s case, an assortment of garden vegetables all assembled and then toasted. I am positive the grinders I get are very bad for me and I shouldn’t eat them and they are unhealthy but they sure taste great.
With the rain continuing, we fueled the truck, dumped the waste tanks, disconnected from park water and prepped for our departure from the Mill RV Park tomorrow.

Back when I still had a viable digestion system, we used to visit a sandwich shop here in Coos Bay called Luigi’s. They make an absolutely delicious sandwich with an assortment of Italian sausages and cheeses entitled a “Garbage Grinder.” The fully-assembled sandwich is then placed into an oven for a while, leaving a luscious, gooey mass of heart-plugging yumminess that is unforgettable.
I had certainly never forgotten about them and today we drove over to the Empire district of town to acquire some of these savory, but quite possibly unhealthful, sandwiches. I have been jonesing for a Garbage Grinder ever since I pulled into town but Luigi’s is closed on Sunday and Monday so we were obliged to wait for today to head over and have our aortas blocked.
Our impeccable timing being what it is, we pulled up at Luigi’s with my saliva glands doing exactly what Pavlov predicted but, regrettably, found a little note on the door indicating that some creep had broken into Luigi’s and stolen “everything” and Luigi’s would be closed until after our departure from Coos Bay. Bummer. Heavy sigh. Drooling, desolate but probably healthier old people departed, heartbroken.
In disgust, we drove away to find another restaurant but we knew the food elsewhere would be no match for Luigi’s dangerous, but very tasty, sandwiches. We found a place called Vinnie’s Smokin’ Good Burgers and Sandwiches not many blocks away. Their food was nominal, at best. They are “smokin’ good” in name only and little else. Their fries would have been okay if they had cooked them fully.
After the disappointment of Vinnie’s, we decided to go see something that was spectacular so we headed for the coast. The weather today was rainy and blustery and we knew the primeval, rocky coast of southern Coos County was always a good bet for terrific scenery when under the onslaught of nasty weather. We elected to go to Shore Acres State Park, where Peggy and I got married under a garden arbor on a beautiful, sunny August day back in 1979.
It was magnificent. We got caught out in the rain a few times as we strolled through the park, but it was certainly worth the effort. The gigantic storm surf was smashing into the rocky coastline and cliffs, exploding into huge blasts of spray. The jagged, stark bluffs show stratified geological formations that have been cleaved by the ocean, exhibiting fanciful, bizarre shapes. Huge colonies of seals and sea lions can be seen and heard on the offshore rocky pinnacles where they have hauled out to avoid the chaotic, churning surf. It was stunning. There was no recreational swimming near the coast today – definitely a Red Flag surf day.
To make things even better, there is a gorgeous botanical garden within the park, a remnant of the old Simpson estate that used to occupy this property. Peggy and I were married in this botanical garden and it was just as beautiful today as it was all those years ago when we tied the knot. We had little inkling then that decades in the future we would return and be just as amazed at these superb surroundings. We found an observation building near the bluff tops and another gazebo in the botanical garden where we could take shelter from the periodic rain squalls. The views were brilliant and we love this place even if it does now cost $5 to park.
If the zaniness of computers and phones have not stymied me, there should be some pictures available to see by clicking here