We spent a few days in Mountain Dale (outside North Plains, OR) waiting for our absentee ballots to catch up with us, soaked in wonderful hot tub, got groceries and did the laundry. This was last time our bath towels would be dry until we fell out the bottom of the Oregon coast into Arcata, CA. Making the turn off the paved road onto the black gravel road leading to Mountain Dale, I lost traction. The turn is sharp, it bends 180 degrees back to the right and ascends well over 10% grade. Recent rains made it all the more slippery. The trailer started to jackknife back into the truck as I attempted to back down. I had Joanie unhook the trailer brakes from the truck and managed to straighten it out. I was sweating that one. We came over the Coastal Range on Highway 26. A strong rain hit us at the crest. A friend of mine who has lived on the Oregon coast told me if you come after September bring your rain gear. With our expectations set, we were ready to enjoy 400 miles of awesome coast line.
Banana Slugs are not the only thing that grows large in all that rain on the coast. Joanie's standing at the base of a huge Sitka Spruce. Until wind storms last year it was the tallest known spruce of it's kind.
Here's a view of the coast on the first day we hit it. Typical of this time of year. Rocky headlands combine with sand and cobble stone beaches.
It wasn't always cloudy! We did get great beach sunsets. When we hit Nehalem Bay, the moon was nearly full. Kids from Idaho in wet suits were trying their luck on short boards in the surf. By the look of the license plates in camp, locals outnumber tourists by a great amount. These Oregonians sure know how to have fun! Clamming, crabbing, cooking 'em up in propane powered pots right where they pull their boats out of the water. Young girls prance out into the waves, then run back onto shore and turn cartwheels. At sunset as the tide builds, the waves stair step up to the horizon. Last night it rained hard. Tonight I see the moon and the summer cross overhead.
The Coquille River light house at Bandon was the final one that we visited. It has a 4th order lens (much smaller than the other two), since it's job was to guide ships into the river channel, not to assist ships far at sea.
We did have some great weather coming down the coast, it wasn't all rainy. Pacific City has a great beach with large rock monoliths just off shore. They allow folks to drive on this beach. I passed. We watched one fellow who did drive onto the beach to haul out his boat. He winched it onto the trailer just fine. Unfortunately the wet sand was a little soft. The more boat he got on the trailer, the deeper his trailer wheels sunk into the sand. They quit sinking when the weight of the axle held them up. It was amusing to watch him try to pull it out with his Ford Explorer. It didn't even budge. I figure next time he'll put some planks under his trailer tires!
Banana Slugs are not the only thing that grows large in all that rain on the coast. Joanie's standing at the base of a huge Sitka Spruce. Until wind storms last year it was the tallest known spruce of it's kind.
It wasn't always cloudy! We did get great beach sunsets. When we hit Nehalem Bay, the moon was nearly full. Kids from Idaho in wet suits were trying their luck on short boards in the surf. By the look of the license plates in camp, locals outnumber tourists by a great amount. These Oregonians sure know how to have fun! Clamming, crabbing, cooking 'em up in propane powered pots right where they pull their boats out of the water. Young girls prance out into the waves, then run back onto shore and turn cartwheels. At sunset as the tide builds, the waves stair step up to the horizon. Last night it rained hard. Tonight I see the moon and the summer cross overhead.
