Today at low tide we walked south on the beach to the rocks we could see in the distance. They turned out to be amazingly beautiful pieces of Mother Nature’s artwork carved by the ocean.
Rocks on the Beach
A Walk on the Beach
A few shots of the Pacific Ocean to brighten your day.
Have a fabulous day!
Bandon Cranberry Festival
The nice part of staying in little campgrounds like this county park is you get to meet amazing people. Karl and Judy pulled in the day after we did and invited us to go with them to the Bandon Cranberry Festival. There was a great Star Trek themed parade.
After the parade we toured the harbor and downtown shops (including a great candy store and cheese shop both with free samples!) and a local place for lunch…yum.
Sometimes its fun to be a tourist!
Something old and something new…our third souvenir!
While enjoying the sunshine of the Oregon coast at Boice-Cope Park we met Rod, a fellow camper. We had a nice visit and just before leaving Rod came over and gave us the little canoe paddle he carved last night, “Something to remember me by!”
As some of you know, given our limited space, we have been pretty selective on picking up souvenirs.
The first souvenir was the braciopod Hillary, the Archeologist, gave us in Wyoming.
The second was the Moon Snail from Haida Gwaii given to us by Mark in British Columbia.
And the third, and newest, is the Little Paddle!
Each holds a memory of a nice spot and a new, or old, friend!
Conversion Angst
Last night, a Westifalia camped near us. As usual, we began the usual comparing of vehicles. Darrin asked where they were headed. They said they needed to be in Seattle in a week or so to have a Subaru engine convesion done on the Westy! So are we! This lead to a conversation into the angst of plunking down a bunch of money, over the internet, sight unseen, to a business you have never delt with! Fingers crossed both ‘heart transplants’ go well!
Boice-Cope County Park
Due to the great weather on the Oregon coast all, and I mean ALL, of the state parks down the coast were booked solid. We were only able to stay a few nights at South Beach SP before we had to move on. Google maps to the rescue! A tiny red dot on the map led us to Boice-Cope County Park. A great little park with about 30 sites beside Lake Floras and the Ocean a bit beyond. Power, water, showers, laundry, wifi and a fun traveler’s vibe for $25 a night. Perfect place to spend some time on the ocean relaxing.
Sunshine and Crabs
Our first day on the Oregon coast and the sun is shining!
Not a rain cloud in sight!!!!!!
South Beach State Park is a huge campground, just over the dunes from the Pacific Ocean and just south of Newport Harbor. A new ocean and yes, the first thing we did after we set-up camp was walk over the dunes and dip our toes (okay, our fingers) in the water. Three oceans down, one to go!
Day two, and with the promise of sea lion sightings, we hiked down to the jetty and over to the Newport public pier. We only got a distant glimpse of the noisy sea lions we could hear from our campsite (they are amazingly loud animals), but we had a great time walking the pier and visiting with the people crabbing.
Richard, a kindred spirit
After the tour, Richard asked about the rover, our journey so far, and our destinations. He was in a bit of a rush as our tour made him late for dinner with Camilla, his lady friend. We set to meet in the Aft Lounge/Stateroom later.
Later that evening we met to share travel tales. We quickly gave the overview of the wee Rover, preparations, and then the travel so far. Richard then filled us in on his Toyota, and his shared dream of travel to South America. It was a great evening with a shared spirit and a new friend.
We did it!
We made it back to the lower 48 after 2 months in the north!
Touring the Ferry
On our last day on the ferry, we were invited on a tour of the bridge and engine room. While on the bridge Darrin of course asked, “Can I drive?!?” The Captain, a young woman, thought about it for a few seconds, shrugged and said, “Sure, I guess so.” Darrin took the wheel and the captain ordered a small course correction. Darrin quickly realized the wheel was very sensitive, similar to flying an airplane, small corrections, overshoot the heading, correct the other way, small zigzags that from a distance look like a straight line (hopefully). Darrin only had the helm (sailor talk) for a few minutes, but I think he really enjoyed himself.
I, Darrin, went down to the engine room next as Melissa wasn’t too keen on the noise below. The small group of passengers were met by Richard the Chief Engineer of the boat. Richard asked where everyone was from, when I said, Vermont. He replied, I would like to talk to you after about some other things. I knew the wee Rover had been spotted again!
We had a great tour and learned a lot about the ferry and what it takes to keep a little city running 24 hours a day. He showed us how the power moves the ship, heats or cools the ship, pumps the water, all of the things that happen, that as a passenger, we take for granted.
One funny thing I wanted to pass on. Before going on the tours, we were standing on the veranda of our Aft Lounge/stateroom with another couple watching for wildlife. The same couple was on the tour with me when I noticed on the wall was a security camera feed of our little veranda giving a view behind the ship! I pointed it out and we all started laughing. I guess they caught our little show as we were jumping around high fiving each other when we saw the whales, porpoises, sea lions, and otters!
