Bullards Beach SP
Today, a hike was on the agenda. There was a well defined trail to the beach from the campground. It was mostly flat with two dunes to climb. There were nice foot bridges built to portage the swampy areas, but there were also large puddles, er, ponds over the trail requiring fancy footwork to avoid getting one’s feet wet. Also, a lot of the trail was soft sand, so we spent time discussing what types of animals had made these tracks. We were sure about raccoons and deer, but debated about dogs and cougars.
The beach was mesmerizing. Wave after wave roared in. The few pieces of driftwood on this beach got dragged back into the surf as the tide was coming in and seemed to be pulled out and to our left only to be pushed back by us left to right. The waves were coming in from three slightly different directions causing a real conflict with the driftwood.
After showers and clean clothes, we headed for town to get propane. I dropped Penny off in Old Town Bandon while I washed the truck. We then went up to a state park viewpoint to see Table Rock and a number of other stack rocks just off the coast of Bandon. Table Rock is massive; I am guessing over 100’ tall and 1/4 mile long. Some waves would smash into it and spew up 2/3 of its steep sides. What an explosion!
Then it was off to Mass at nearby Holy Trinity, a quaint little old school Catholic church with an immigrant African priest having a heavy accent. I wondered why they handed us a copy of his sermon as we entered. His sermon was upbeat and funny. He told the story of a school teacher asking her class of second graders, “If I sell all my possessions and give the money to the poor, can I get into heaven?” And the students said, “No!”. She said, “Then what more do I need to do?”. One little boy excitedly raised his hand. When she called on him, he said,”You gotta be dead!” From there Fr. George pointed out that dying to one’s self (-centeredness) was the ticket to heaven here on earth and after we pass away.