Bullards Beach State Park, 130 mile jump
Moving south again, it is our hope to find sunnier skies and dry out. Beverly was a nice park, Newport a neat town, but no cell service for days on end is disconcerting with family and friends miles away. Days matter in a crisis; if a loved one needs you, the logistics to get to them are complicated. I don’t want to dwell on these thoughts, but they are real issues.
Leaving about 9:30 am, the overnight rains gave way to clear blues skies for a incredible ride down the Oregon Coast. Hwy 101 alternates inland through the Suislaw National Forest when the coast is too rugged and then moves along the edge of the cliffs on a roller coaster ride. The blue water and white capped surf sometimes hundreds of feet below and other times, seemingly touchable just outside the window. I could only catch an occasional glance or use my peripheral vision. Penny was enjoying an orgy of sights uttering lots of “oohs” and “ahs”! Even the inland forays climbed to dizzying heights above forested mountain lakes.
Our objective was a park called Umpqua Lighthouse State Park, but it was just noon when we arrived there. So, we agreed to push farther south after PB&J sandwiches and walking around exploring a placid little Lake Marie that had a great picnic area. The two remaining state parks with campgrounds on the 101 in Oregon were about 85 miles apart. Not wishing to drive that far, we chose the closer of the two, only about 40 miles away.
Shazam! Bullards Beach State Park has many pluses. It is flat with lots of room for bike rides, it is scarcely populated this time of year, the site we selected is groovy, the shower house is clean modern, they have recycling for many items, the quaint little tourist town, Bandon, is only a couple of miles south, and the cell service is great! It was recommended by Mike and Jean, who also said to get a child’s scoop of hard ice cream at the Creamery.
Once we got set up, had a snack and beer, we drove the three miles out to the tiny lighthouse that guards the Coquille River. The landscape was dramatically different from the rocky terrain we experienced so far on the 101. This is Oregon Dunes country, so lots of scrub pines and sand accent the area. From there, the Creamery and grocery store was on our radar.
Mike said, “don’t let them talk you into a double scoop”. I’m glad, because neither of us could finish our “child size”, that was at least two scoops. We brought still half filled containers back to the Ship’s freezer! And, they were only $2.00 each!
The blue skies and late afternoon made us think of the International Space Station. Luckily there are good sightings forecast for the next four nights. After getting groceries and ice cream put up, we headed for the light house; we missed the sunset but got to see the ISS clearly off to the south. In fact, it was passing right over San Fransisco. Tomorrow night will be higher in the sky, but Saturday night will be almost straight up.
I got the grill hooked up and Penny mixed spice and veggies into the ground beef. On the way out to the grill with a platter of four patties and two slices of cheese, the spatula caught up on the screen door and I dropped the plate face down on the asphalt! The waxed paper and cheese wrapper managed to protect most of it, but we had to scrape the grit off of a couple of the burgers. Call it carbs! The burgers were great with fresh tomatoes and avocados.