The Oregon Coast

 July, 2020              Staying cool on the Oregon Coast

A trip to Oregon is not complete for us unless we venture to the Pacific Coast.  As the temperatures inland were staying around 90 degrees it was time to cool off at the coast.  Jack's brother, Bill and wife Donna loaded up with us and we headed for the coast. We were excited to visit the coast as we had rented an OCEAN FRONT home for three nights in Charleston which is close to the larger town of  Coos Bay, Oregon.  Charleston is considered a quaint fishing village and is a commercial port along with being the perfect area for sport-fishing enthusiasts.  Coos Bay is Oregon Coast's largest city and the largest natural harbor between Seattle and San Francisco. 

The house afforded an excellence view of the Cape Arago Lighthouse. Cape Arago Lighthouse is no longer operated and the site has been returned to the Confederated tribes of Coos, Lower Umpqua and Siuslaw Indians nor is it open to the public, but, the lighthouse made an excellent silhouette during our daily sunsets.  

View of  Cape Arago Lighthouse from backyard.


Our coastal home

Stairs to our private beach - I think there were about 60 or so steps. Worth every step.

Our happy place !

Every night we had a beautiful sunset with the Lighthouse silhouette. 

Cape Arago Lighthouse and our beach

The area around Charleston hosts a number of beach State Parks.  The Sunset Bay, Shore Acres and Bastendorff parks to name a few and all were minutes from our home base.  Did I mention that we were staying in BEACH FRONT accommodations! Wink!  It was fun to visit these parks and learn some of the history of the area while enjoying the continual view of the ocean.  Our days were filled with beachcombing, hiking, geocaching and touring the area. We also tour the towns of Charleston and Coos Bay and found some pretty parks and good food. All 3 nights we ate at the local restaurants savoring the fresh fish, clam chowder and coastal atmosphere.  The great food was the cherry on top of a great stay at the coast.

A short distance inland lies Mingus Park in Coos Bay.  We walked the loop trail around the stream fed pond, Japanese style garden and bridges plus we found yet another geocache.  It was a peaceful setting enjoyed by young and old.

Japanese style bridge in Minus Park

The pond had huge lily pads with pink and purple blooms.

Four days goes by so quickly when you are at a place you love.  None of us wanted to leave the beautiful views, salty air,  brisk 50-70 degree breezes and fresh seafood, but it was time to travel back inland.  We left some footprints in the sand and came home with shells, driftwood and lots of laughs, beautiful sights and good memories.  When we left our little piece of heaven we continued south on Highway 101 along the Pacific Coast where we enjoyed  watching seabirds and other marine wildlife from viewing areas.

Our brief stop in Bandon, Oregon gave us a chance to stretch our legs and tour the town, see another light house, find a couple geocaches and read about the stories behind the local rock formations in the ocean.

Coquille River Lighthouse near Bandon, OR
First built in Bullards Beach State Park in 1891 and later renovated in 1976. Mariners were guided across dangerous bars with the help of this lighthouse.

So many beautiful beaches so little time.

The famous 'Face Rock' - Bandon, OR  (Can you see it)
(My shortened version) The local Indian legend says the daughter of Chief Siskiyou with her dog & kittens went in the ocean and were caught by the evil spirit of the ocean.  She refused to look into his evil eyes and looked up toward the moon. The dog tried to save her by swimming out with the kittens but the evil spirit shook them off into the ocean. Upon finding the daughter she was still gazing skyward. Her dog was on beach howling and the kittens were still in the water. In time they all turned to stone, frozen forever. 

Face Rock and Kittens, etc.

An interesting history stop along Highway 101 was the Thomas Creek Bridge.  This is the highest bridge in Oregon with a height of 345 feet and was built in 1961. Very impressive structure spanning the wide canyon below as the waters flow out to the ocean.

Photo taken at top on Highway 101.

Photo from web - taken from the ocean. During our visit we were standing to the right at the bridge.

Our trip was complete. We treasure the sights, sounds and smells of the ocean and look forward to our next coastal trip.

Thanks for joining us on this adventure and next time - Have you ever slept in a treehouse?

Jack and Deb

Be Kind to Nature

This is Natasha the Turtle and it is a debris sculpture. It is made of water bottles, boots, shot gun shells, bottle caps, fake flowers, detergent bottles, brown shoe soles, shovels and plastic lighters. The debris on this sculpture was collected from the Pacific Coast beaches.