Into Washington

Friday 7/12 Charleston, OR

Off and on clouds this morning, clear when we started our walk, but some fog rolled in before we finished. Listened to the Weekly News Round-up on 1A on NPR and watched F1 practice recorded earlier this morning. I ran the slides in and checked the tire pressures on the trailer. Everything looked good on the Pressure Pro, but I wanted to bring them all up to 70 PSI since a couple had drifted down a few pounds.

Lunch at home and mid-afternoon we drove into town to Gibbs RV to pick up a gallon of AquaChem. Then we stopped at Empire Bakery to get some sandwich bread. A new discovery, wish we had found this place earlier!

Saturday 7/13 Charleston, OR

Cloudy first thing this morning, but the sun burned through mid-morning and it was another beautiful day here on the coast. After our regular morning walk we watched F1 qualifying and then  drove into the Empire Bakery to see what fresh bread they had. Nancy picked up a sourdough loaf. Wish we had found this place sooner! On to Walmart to pick up a few things. After dropping the groceries at home we went on out to Cape Arago at high tide. Pretty waves but still nothing as spectacular as we saw out here last year. Lots of seals and sea lions at Simpson Reef.

Lunch at home and quiet afternoon, Nancy did some laundry. Late in the afternoon we drove over to Bastendorff Beach and took a long walk on the beach. Nice surf rolling in and masses of gulls out on the sand bar. South near the North jetty there was a flock of pelicans floating on the water and feeding. Sometimes the entire flock would take to the air and start dive bombing an area, other time a single bird would fly five feet and dive into the water for a fish. We sat and watched them for quite a while.

Stopped at High Tide Cafe for a delicious dinner, then home for the evening.

Sunday 7/14 Charleston, OR

Our last full day in Charleston, headed for Astoria tomorrow. Morning overcast again this morning for our morning walk around the harbor. A good number of trailers parked by the boat ramp this morning. Quite a few of the commercial boats that went out earlier in the week are still out.

Watched another good F1 race, the last three or four races have been pretty exciting, not foregone conclusions even though Mercedes continues to dominate. 

Quick run into Empire to McKay’s for a few groceries we forgot yesterday and also found that they had block ice for the cooler in the truck. The blocks last longer in the cooler compared to bags of cubes Stopped at Crabby Cakes on the way back for a few last minute goodies for lunch and later.

After lunch we took the car and the truck over to a vacant lot near Bandon Pacific Seafood and loaded the car.

Sunday night down had our usual pizza for dinner and watched a couple news shows and a new PBS mystery.

Monday 7/14 Astoria, OR

Morning walk around the harbor and then our usual drill loading up for the road. 232 miles on US 101 was probably a bit much, but it was not a bad day's drive. Other than the PIA traffic in Newport it was actually a fun drive. I really enjoy the truck on mountain roads, it climbs strong and the engine brake makes the downhills a breeze. Traffic was actually fairly light most of the way, discounting a few slow pokes here and there. I had figured 6 hours from Charleston - we pulled out of our space at 9:12 AM, stopped at Lewis & Clark Golf Resort and RV Park in Astoria at exactly 3:12 PM! 

Nice park, back-in site but easy access and a real nice view across a stream to the golf course out our back window. Park is pretty and very well maintained.

Since we ate a light lunch, sandwiches in the truck, we drove a couple of miles down the street to La Cabaña Raya, a nice little Mexican restaurant we discovered last summer, and had an excellent dinner. Back home by six and relaxed.

Tuesday 7/16 Astoria, OR

Took an early morning walk around the park and it was a good thing that we were early as rain and fog moved in while we were eating breakfast. Mid-morning we drove over to the nearby Costco and Fred Meyer. Back home for lunch and a lazy afternoon. Rain cleared off and it was a beautiful afternoon.

Walked over to a nearby food truck for dinner. The lady at check-in had recommended it and said “Tuesday’s special is French Dip, which is very good.” So we decided to try it. As we were leaving our neighbor was returning and Nancy asked him how it was he said he had the halibut, which Nancy wanted, and that it was greasy and “fishy”! Bummer. So we both had the French Dip, which was very good as advertised.

Wednesday 7/17 Astoria, OR

Light drizzle while we were taking our morning walk. I think this a the first consecutive rainy days we have had on this trip.

Pretty much rained all day, fortunately we had noting planned for Astoria so we just vegged. Left about 2:30 and headed into town, stopped at Josephson’s Smokehouse for smoked salmon and salmon jerky, then I dropped Nancy off for a pedicure while I waited in the truck. We did not bother to unload the smart this visit since we were not doing much. Had a pretty good Italian dinner at Fulio’s Pasteria, and then back home.

Thursday 7/18 Shelton, WA

Sunshine this morning, high 50’s. A lot better then much of the country! Loaded up for travel after our morning walk and headed out about 9:20. Short day today, only about 110 miles to Little Creek Casino. Light rain in southern Washington after we crossed the Astoria bridge. The roads we incredibly bumpy most of the way, not broken pavement, just uneven with whoop-de-doos and uneven patches. A lot of rockin’ and rollin’.

Arrived at Little Creek just before noon. Signage to check-in was non-existence. Toured around the whole facility, including a really tight parking lot at the golf club, before we found our way to the hotel check-in! No place to park the rig for check-in so I sat in parking lot while Nancy went in to register. They could not find the reservation! She came back out and got the printed confirmation (which was pre-paid) and went back in, a half hour later she came our with the site info! Turns out they were overbooked, so good thing we got here early!

Actually a nice place and only $20 with our Passport America discount, which is weird because the discount usually does not apply if you make a reservation, but they offered it when I made the reservation. It is actually a nice small RV park with pads and grass, unlike many casinos that are just in big parking lots.

Walked over to the casino for lunch at the Island Grille and strolled around the casino. Beautiful sunny afternoon.

In the evening we went back over to the casino and had a pizza at the Starlight Grille. (Anyone remember Joey Dee and the Starlighters? The Peppermint Twist?) Nancy had wanted seafood, but there was a waiting line at the seafood bar and the buffet.  

Friday 7/19 Chimacum, WA

Took our time getting going this morning as had a fairly short drive. Took our morning walk around the casino and hotel, very pretty and roads closed for construction around the main entrance explained why we had trouble finding the registration yesterday.  and got going a little after 10 AM and arrived at Evergreen Coho SKP Park a little after noon. A little bit of light rain along the way but it cleared off as we got farther north. SKP - is short for Escapee, the RV club we belong to and this park is a members only park. There are several of them around the country. This one is large and very nice, with mature landscaping and of course all of the residents are outgoing and friendly, a hallmark of the club.

As I said we arrived a little after noon and to turned out the office was closed for lunch. They want everyone to dump their tanks upon arrival - no sewer hook-ups in the transient sites - and the dump station was locked. So I unloaded the car and we had lunch while we were waiting. 

Late in the afternoon we drove into Port Townsend, walked around the town and had an excellent dinner at Silverwater Cafe. Along the way we found a nice bookshop (of course), William James Bookseller, and bought several more books! It’s a disease! Also found an interesting shop crammed full of automobilia and a few cars, including a neat Model T hot rod, Bergstrom's Antique & Classic Autos. I stopped in for a short visit just before diner, but he was getting ready to close.

Saturday 7/20 Chimacum, WA

Cool morning, 49 degrees, but sunny. Took a nice walk around the park, then after breakfast we headed in to Port Angeles. We are planning to take the ferry to Vancouver Monday morning and want to get a feel for the time it would take. Took us just an hour. We need to be there just before 8 AM Monday, so we need to leave here by 6:30 to be safe.

Went on west of Port Angeles to the Strait  of Jaun de Fuqa  Highway. Turned out to be anything but “straight!” Supposed to be a “scenic” drive, but their idea of scenic and ours are apparently different. It’s a 2 hour trip out to Cape Flattery and the only “scenery” we saw for the first hour was trees! The road was very twisty and hilly and the farther we went the worse the pavement got. After an hour of bouncing around on rotten roads I pulled into a turn-off and said “I’ve had enough of this s***!” Nancy agreed, so we went back into Port Angeles and had some pretty good BBQ for lunch at Coyote BBQ Pub. The trip west was not a total loss though. West of Port Angeles there were big signs announcing that US 101 would be closed from 9 AM to 11 AM on Tuesday, Wednesday, & Thursday! 

We had tentatively planned on going that way when we leave here on Wednesday, but were debating about going the shorter way back south on the route came up here yesterday. Going west and out around the peninsula is 200 mile to Hoquiam, which is not really long day for us, but these are not normal roads and the local map we picked up says 200 miles - 6 hours! And we are measurably slower with the truck and trailer compared to a normal car. The road construction makes the decision for us. We’ll take the 125 mile route on Wednesday.

Back home Nancy did some laundry and we relaxed. Dinner at home,

Sunday 7/21 Chimacum, WA

Good long walk around the entire park, up and down every road this morning. A lovely morning, blue sky, low sixties. After breakfast we drove a mile into Chimacum to the Farmers Market. Small market of course, small town, but we found some fruit and berries and an excellent loaf of fresh French bread! Wonder if they will do mail order!

The market was in the parking lot next to the Chimacum Corner Farmstand, which looked like a typical roadside fruit and vegetable stand, they had a sign for fresh melons, so we walked over there. They also had a small grocery inside, which upon investigation turned out to be an excellent small grocery/gourmet/organic/health food store! A good selection of wine, beer, cheese and packaged meats! A bit of a surprise.

Stopped back home to drop off our purchases, then went into Port Townsend. As I mentioned, a bright sunny day with a nice breeze. We walked around town, spent some time along a public observation pier. Even though it is the Puget Sound it looks like, and is treated almost like, a lake. There is ferry service her to Whidbey Island, and another ferry from there to just north of Seattle.

We took a walk around the pretty yacht harbor, some really nice sailboats moored there. Nancy stopped at Port Townsend Winery patio for a drink while I walked over to Bergstrom's Antique & Classic Autos I saw the other day, but it was closed. So we sat and watched the water and boats for a while and then went looking for Fairwinds Winery that we had seen in a brochure. Turned out to be a ways out of town, a tiny little place with just the winemaker there to over a rating. Nancy did the tasting and selected two bottle that she liked. One interesting thing, he had two cabernets, same grapes from the same vineyard from two different years and he said one was much better that the other. Turned out to be true and we bought one of the better vintage. After that we headed home for the evening. 

On the way home we came over a hill and in the valley ahead I could see cars stopped on both sides of the road and traffic slowing. As we got closer we could see a small airplane in the bushes just off the road. There is a small airport there (Jefferson County International airport!) and the plane apparently came down short of the runway. Several people were helping people out of the airplane and another mile or so down the road we met a sheriff and ambulance on their way to the scene. Local news report later said the Cessna’s engine had failed just short of the runway and the pilot and two passengers just had minor bumps.

Monday 7/23 Chimacum, WA

Up early and left at 6:20 to catch the ferry in Port Angeles. Light traffic, but it still took us 55 minutes to get there. So we were there at 7:15 for the 8:15 departure - suppose to be there by 7:55. Plenty of time to park the car, pick up our reserved ticket and take a short walk around town. After the ferry arrived, while we were waiting in line to board we could get a glimpse of the cars and trucks coming off and there were probably 70-75 hot rods in the group! On the Victoria side while we were coming off the ship we could see another huge number of hot rods in the queue. As it turned out while we were waiting in line for customs and I was able to stand right behind a gate and have a rolling car show as they were driving into the ferry! The one common denominator I notice was all the drivers were men over 50 accompanied by long suffering wives. Turns out there was a massive car show here on Sunday, Northwest Deuce Days, with 1,400 cars registered! Our neighbors here at the RV Park went over on Sunday and they said there were massive crowds! 

It was a lovely day in Victoria, sunny in the 70’s with a light breeze. We made the short walk to the Royal BC Museum and spent a couple of hours. Quite a nice museum. Walked over to the visitor’s center on the harbor to find a place to eat. Ended up at Commons one of a pair of adjacent restaurants. We both had a beer and a salad, good, although a bit on the skimpy side.

We walked over to the Maritime Museum, only to find that it was closed on Monday. Discussed the Bug Zoo, but decided to take a pass. Took a walk through downtown, but my feet were giving out by this point, so we grabbed an ice cream cone from a stand by the harbor and sat in the shade on the steps of the Victoria stature in front of Government house. We were amazed by the number of people taking pictures of the statue.

Walked around The Empress Hotel, looking for a bar, finally found it off the second floor lobby, where we sat for an hour or so and nursed a couple of drinks. Then we walked over to Kitchen, the companion restaurant to Commons, for dinner. The menu outside showed steak tartare, which drew my interest, but it turned out they had not updated their outside menu (!) and it was not available. At lunch next door they could not do a medium rare burger, but here they can! Guess it’s because they grind their own beef here. So I had an excellent burger and Nancy had halibut and chips, which was also very good.

Just enough time after dinner to get to the 7:30 ferry back to Port Angeles. Still quite a few hot rods on this load as well! Arrived Port Angeles a little after 9 PM. Pleasant, smooth ride both ways of the Black Ball Ferry MV Coho. Stopped at Walmart and back home about 10:30.

Tuesday 7/23 Chimacum, WA

Slept late this AM and took a short walk around the park. Sunny at first, but then it clouded over. We took it easy today, skipped another trip into Port Townsend as it was overcast and cool all day. Nancy did some laundry and I loaded the car, ready to hit the road tomorrow. Five more nights in Washington and then we are headed east.

Dinner at home and a quiet evening.

Last Week In Charleston

Wednesday 7/3 Charleston, OR

Lovely morning and a beautiful, sunny day in the 60’s. Northern and Eastern Oregon have been getting thunderstorms and rain (we get Portland TV here with our dish), we have had very pleasant weather here on the coast, much like last year. 

Nice walk around the harbor this morning. Negative low tide so I was able to get a pretty good picture looking down onto the piers.

As you can see, this is a working fishing port. All of those upright  verticals are folded outriggers for baited lines and nets. The second pic is another area that has more of a mix of smaller private boats, but most are fishing boats, very few pleasure craft. 

First thing this morning we headed into Coos Bay proper to the Coos Bay Farmers Market. Pretty decent market for this early in the season, but we spent less than an hour there. Stopped at Fred Meyer for beer, the hardware store for some caulk to put around the bathroom sink, and Walmart for some other things and then back home. Much to my amazement the smart just turned into Crabby Cakes Bakery all of it’s own accord! Just as surprising, the cinnamon rolls were just coming out of the oven, what a coincidence! 

Later in the afternoon Nancy walked over to Chuck’s Seafood and picked up some crab meat and bay shrimp for dinner. Bay shrimp are ubiquitous around here. Order a shrimp salad and it comes with a couple of cups of tiny bay shrimp in it. A couple of times on our morning walks we have stopped to watch them unloading bins of bay shrimp out of the holds of a trawler. Large stainless steel bins, probably three feet square, hoisted out of the hold and then manually dumped into large plastic bins at the Bandon Pacific Seafood facility just off the dock.

Thursday 7/4 Charleston, OR

The good weather just keeps coming, high fifties and not a cloud in the sky this morning, high in mid-sixties. After our morning walk around the harbor we drove a few miles up the road to the Charleston Volunteer Fire Dept. for their Pancake Feed. Good pancakes, scrambled eggs, and sausage for seven bucks apiece! (plus  small donation) Can’t beat it.

After eating we drove back west to Bastendorff Beach, one we had not been to before. Very pretty spot with only a few people around, although when we drove through a little later the crowd was starting to build up. Sat on a log and watched the surf for a while, quite a wide beach at low tide. 

Then we backtracked a bit to Coos Head above the entrance to the harbor. There is a small Coast Guard Tower there overlooking the entrance to the harbor, no cars in the lot, so we assumed the tower was unmanned. Then I heard the radio in the tower and noticed the window was open, sure enough there was a young looking Coast Guardsman in there! He was using pair of floor mounted binoculars which must have been close to three feet long! Of course the tower was surrounded by chain link fence and barbed wire with “NO TRESPASSING” signs all over it, just like all of our paranoid government installations these days. I saw later that the tower is manned from dawn to dusk year round.

Back through Bastendorff Beach County Park, past the campground and out to Simpson Reef overlook. Very low tide just coming back in so a lot of the reef was exposed, a few sea lions and an elephant seal basking on the beach. Most of the sea lions and harbor seals were further out in the water. 

On to Cape Arago, one of our favorite spots, but so far this year the surf has been less than spectacular, needs a good stiff on-shore breeze I guess. Saw on the weather tonight that there is a hurricane moving west towards Hawaii, meaning they will be experiencing higher surf, maybe that is making ours less?

Back home late in the morning. This afternoon, against our better judgement, we watched the President’s “Salute to America” and actually it was done pretty well, have to give him credit for a pretty good non-political presentation.

Friday 7/5 Charleston, OR

Clouded over this morning, 60 degrees when we took our walk around the harbor. No activity at all on the boat ramp, yesterday they were lined up (even with five ramps) waiting to get in the water! Sun burned through later in the morning.

Quiet morning, planning and making reservations for the Eastbound leg of our trip, through Montana and North Dakota. There were nine nights that I had not made reservations for. Two stops for four more nights left to figure out.

Shortly after noon, after a stop at Charleytown Marketplace (which is a weird name for a small gift/antique/collectible shop), we drove into Coos Bay and had lunch at 7 Devils Brewery, then took a short walk around town and then back home.

Saturday 7/6 Charleston, OR

Partly cloudy today, but still in the low 60s. Temps stay pretty stable here do to the proximity to the ocean. Regular walk around the harbor, then a slow start to the morning. I paid a few bills and we listened to NPR like we do most every morning. We pay for a Sirius subscription all year round just to assure that we have NPR available in the truck and the trailer.

About 11:30 we walked over to the harbor post office. There were three groups of young men baiting hooks. Wash tubs full of lines with hooks every foot or so and they were unspooling the line, baiting the hooks, and winding the lines into another washtub. Nancy talked  to one of the guys and he said halibut were going to be in season on Wednesday. He said the fourth Wednesday in June and every two weeks after until they stop, and only ten hours. I looked it up after we got home and there was an open day for halibut on 6/26 and one scheduled for 7/10 from 8 AM to 6 PM. No more scheduled so far. There are weight limits for each boat based on the length of the boat. So it looks like a lot of boats will be out fishing for halibut on Wednesday.

Then we walked over to the Cape Cafe - two doors down from the High Tide Cafe - which is only open for breakfast and lunch, for a second breakfast. After lunch we walked back over down to the Charleston Marine life Center, a really neat small aquarium/museum right next to the harbor and spent an hour or so there. We visited it last year when we were here, but it’s always worth another visit.

Sunday 7/7 Charleston, OR

Nice sunny morning, a little cooler, 53 degrees at 7 AM. Took our regular walk around the harbor then watched the Women’s World Cup soccer game. Watched some of the race from Daytona, rain delayed from last night. Nancy did some laundry. Late in the morning we went over to Crabby Cakes Bakery for cinnamon rolls and picked up a Philadelphia cheesesteak sandwich to split for lunch.

Then a quiet afternoon.

Monday 7/8 Charleston, OR

During our morning walk we saw that the Coast Guard had moved a large wheeled frame out of the overhaul building onto the pier and there was a CG boat at the pier. We finished our walk and came back around to watch as they lifted the 50 foot MLB (Motor Life Boat) 47295 out of the water and prepared to put it on a frame to it move into the building. 

You can see a video of MLB 47295 in action here . Check out the 45 second point!

Back home I got on-line and filled in the last four open nights of our trip east in early August. Now we are set with reservations  through 9/1 when we leave Sycamore RV. We have 22 days to fill in September before we land at our friend John’s airplane hanger while we are visiting them at the Geneva Lakes Antique and Wooden Boat Show.

After lunch we drove out to Shore Acres State Park to look at the ocean views and stroll through the gardens. Then we stopped at Cape Arago State Park overlook and sat and watched the surf. Still nothing as spectacular as we saw here last year, guess ocean (and weather) has been too calm.

Back home I contacted Verizon about our data usage. This morning we received a text that we had 25% of our data left with 5 days to go, in good shape. Then this afternoon I realized it was only showing 7% left. Turns out the 25% notice was in error and we were close to out of our 10 gigs, so we purchased an extra gig to carry us through the rest of the week.

Walked over to Miller’s at the Cove for dinner.

Tuesday 7/9

Our first rainy day here, light drizzle most of the day, mid-60’s. We had a day of rain coming across the Cascades but that was about it.

On our morning walk we spoke with a young man who was loading washtubs of baited lines onto a fishing boat. He said those lines were 140 plus hooks (12-15 inches apart) and long lines already on the boat were over 200 hooks! We asked how far out they were going to fish and he was not sure of distance, but said it would take all day today to get to where they want to fish tomorrow! Hope they had a good size boat size the NOAA weather radio said the swells were five to eight feet this afternoon!

Drove into North Bend for lunch at The Tin Thistle - a vegan restaurant. I was apprehensive, but the burgers were actually pretty good and the BBQ mac and cheese good as well. Not much of anything else on the menu that I would even try! 

On the way over and back we stopped at five cannabis shops looking for different types of CBD lotion or ointment. We had already hit three other shops in the last week or so and picked up several different kinds. We’ve both been really happy with the CBD ointment and sticks we bought here last year. Really helps with muscle pain and arthritis discomfort.

Stopped at Chuck’s Seafood down the road for crab and bay shrimp for dinner. Quiet afternoon back home listening to the drizzle.

Wednesday 7/10 Charleston, OR

Early morning walk, rain has stopped and sun burning through the overcast. Temps are very stable here this time of year, 62 this morning. Harbor area very quiet this morning , everyone out on the halibut run? Only four trailers parked at the launching ramp, last Thursday at this time the lot was full!

Drove into Coos Bay to the Wednesday farmers market, picked up more nice blueberries. Back in Charleston we stopped at Crabby Cake Bakery hoping for a pulled pork sandwicjh, but he did not have any, so we picked up a couple of hot cinnamon rolls and walked across the street to the Cape Cafe for lunch.

Relaxed in the afternoon, I crawled under the trailer and greased the axles. Walked over to High Tide Cafe for a very nice dinner.

Thursday 7/11 Charleston, OR

Quite a bit of fog this morning, did not burn off until mid-morning. After our morning walk around the harbor we lazed around a bit and then went over to the South Slough National Estuarine Research Reserve. A little over five miles up  Seven Devil’s Rd. from Charleston, it’s something of a hidden gem. A very interesting headquarters museum and a vast network of walking and canoeing trails. The reserve covers 4,800 acres of land and water that they refer to a a “living laboratory” for the “study of salt mashes, stream’s and tidal channels as well as the species they support.”

After some advice from the ranger as to what we wanted to do, there are trails ranging from less than 0.2 miles to 0.75 miles, with considerable elevation change on the longer trails. We were not particularly interested in having to climb all the way back up to the visitors center, so we opted to drive down closer to the mash level. We were given a key to a gate on the access road that allowed us to drive down almost to sea level were we took a lovely half mile trail down through thick pine forest to the marsh on an old RR right-of-way. A really pretty spot that we may visit again, there are very few places where one can walk for close to an hour through the woods, hear nothing other than birds, and neither hear or see any other people!  A really pretty place.

Stopped at Crabby Cakes Bakery and picked up a pretty good BBQ pork sandwich for lunch, which we split, along with some other baked goodies.

Relaxed in the afternoon. I thought about taking the truck in to see about getting it washed, but have not found a quarter wash with a tall bay and it is looking like we may have a day or two driving in the rain next week so I settled for just a quick wipe-down of the sides to make it a bit more presentable.

Settled in on the Coast for a Couple Weeks

Monday 6/24 Bend, OR

Cool night, but nice sunny day in the low 70’s. We went south of town to the Lava Lands Visitors Center to find out about the Large Obsidian Flow. Then another 12 miles south and 15 mile east to the LOF. Walked up the path, climbed the stairs and then climbed the path almost to the top. Did not take the 1 miles loop around. Part of the climb was pretty rough going. We had our trekking  poles with us and were glad we had them! Quite an impressive sight with large boulders of obsidian all over the place.

Back into bend we stopped at the Village Baker for lunch. Nancy had seen their ad in one of the tourist mags and wanted the soup they featured in the ad, which they did not have! Good sandwiches though.

Stopped to gas up the car and got a good car wash, it was grungy! Back home we walked over to the nearby bagel shop and the shelves were bare, need to stop in the morning. Nearby doughnut shop had doughnuts though! Nancy did some laundry and I vacuumed.

We went into downtown for dinner at Deschutes Brewery Bend Public House, then stopped at Bonta Natural Artesian Gelato which was outstanding!

Tuesday 6/25 Bend, OR

Nice cool nights here in the upper 40’s, very quiet park despite the in town location and closeness to US 97. Mid-morning we drove north to Sister’s, OR. Nice little town with lots of shops and eateries. Nancy found a pair of shoes, we bought a couple of  books in Paulina Springs Books a nice independent bookstore with a good selection (and display) of interesting books. Had lunch at The Gallery where Nancy found some excellent Jalapino Potato Soup! Made up for yesterday’s disappointment.

On the way back we stopped at Tumalo Lavender where Nancy found a few good things. Then a stop at Trader Joe’s on the north side of town. Heavy downpour while Nancy was in the store and wet roads on the way home got our freshly washed car dirty again.

For dinner we went just down the street to Cibelli’s NY Pizza. Tiny mostly take-out place with just 10 tables and excellent pizza! A stop for groceries and then back home

Wednesday 6/26 Bend, OR

Last day in Bend, headed for an extended stay on the coast in Charleston tomorrow. Headed over to the Old Mill District which turned out to be an upscale shopping, eating, entertainment district tucked under a bluff by an old sawmill. You could drive by above it without ever realizing it was there.

Just like all the rest of this city the traffic was just a slow crawl through the area. We parked as soon as we turned in. Walked  through to the REI store - actually in the old sawmill building. Nancy found a nice pair of zip-off leg khakis with pockets I like - hard to find!

Walked back along the river to Anthony’s where we had lunch. While we were there it rained quite hard along with some small hail - third hailstorm this trip!  Rain let up just about the time we finished. Walked back to car and headed into downtown.

As soon as we turned onto Bond street in the old part of town the traffic slowed to a walking speed crawl all the into the center of town. The traffic in this town is terrible, comparable to the worst areas of Denver, but throughout the town!

Pulled into the public parking lot by the Bend Farmers Market and lo & behold! A parking space marked “compact”! Well … we anything if not compact!

We were there an hour before the market opened, so we walked around the block and found a nice candy store, Goody’s Chocolates, where we picked up some chocolate truffles and cashew clusters.

Nancy found some berries and eggs at the market and then we headed home. Another heavy rain just after we returned, with a bit of small hail - of course! 

After the rain stopped I dumped the tanks and loaded the car, ready to head out in the morning.

Dinner at home and watched the first night of the Democratic debates.

Thursday 6/27 Charleston, OR

On the road just after 9 AM this morning, for some reason we both woke up ridiculously early this morning. Fairly easy drive across the Cascades, although in and out of rain showers most of the way, coming down the west side of the Cascades on wet roads definitely focuses one’s attention. Arrived at Charleston Marina RV Park about 1:30 after a couple of short construction delays on OR 126 East of Reedsport. Charleston is a working fishing harbor on the ocean, west of the City of Coos Bay.

Park is quite a bit more crowded than it was last year. Nice big pull-thru space with room to unload the smart and park the truck. Watching the second night of the debates.

Friday 6/28 Charleston, OR

After breakfast we drove out Cape Argo Highway to Cape Argo to watch the surf. Even though it was just coming up to high tide the surf was not as spectacular as we have seen in the past, no onshore breeze this morning. A beautiful sunny morning, shirtsleeve weather even though the temps were in the low 50’s. Very few people around and wonderfully quiet and relaxing in the woods around the cape. Heading back we stopped at the Simpson Reef over look and watched the seals and sea lions basking in the sun and roughhousing in the surf.

The road out to Cape Argo, is through Sunset Bay State Park and since last year they have added a series of six very sharp speed bumps along the road! A bit of a PIA.

Head home we stopped at Crabby Cakes Bakery to check on the cinnamon rolls. Fresh ones due out in an hour! Cool! So we took a nice stroll around the harbor, walked out along one of the working boat piers where a couple of people were watching their crab pots. One group had just pulled a pot with a good number of crabs, but only a couple large ones, which were not quite  large enough to be legal.

Sat by the harbor for a while then back to Crabby Cakes for fresh cinnamon rolls - YUM! Had those for lunch along with a couple of toasted bagels. It’s nice to indulge once in a while!

Relaxing afternoon at home. Got Dish Network channels changed to Portland locals, which should cover us for the next three to four weeks. I measured the damaged umbilical cord on the trailer and found an RV supply house with one in stock. So we drove into the edge of Coos Bay to Gibbs RV, nice RV store, picked up the umbilical cord, stopped for groceries, and washed the smart in a quarter car wash. On the way home the marine layer was moving in.

Nice dinner at High Tide Cafe right down the street. Marine layer moving in and out over the last few hours.

Saturday 6/29 Charleston, OR

Early morning walk around the harbor, a bit foggy this morning all along the coast. About 10 AM we headed north up to Heceta Head lighthouse. Climbed up the hill to the gift shop. We debated about going all the way up to the lighthouse (we were there last year) but the lady in the gift shop said people had been seeing a whale, so we went on up. Sure enough, we did see a whale not too far off shore, Nancy spotted it first when it was blowing.

Back south to Florence where we stopped at Little Brown Hen Cafe for an excellent lunch. Open 7 AM to 2 PM, 7 days a week and breakfast all day! What could be bad?

Stopped in Winchester Bay to visit Umpqua River Lighthouse, then on into Coos Bay. Stopped and picked up some CBD and then to Coos Bay Liquor Store which turned out to have a rather amazing stock of whisky, Irish Whiskey, and Scotch. 

Back home about five.

Sunday 6/30 Charleston, OR

Morning walk around the harbor, stopped for a donut but Crabby Cakes Bakery was not open yet, sign said “8ish” it was 7:45. Watched the F1 race, which was probably the best of the season. Then Nancy did some laundry while I changed out the trailer umbilical cord. Turned out to be a pretty straight forward job.

Then we relaxed.

Monday 7/1 Charleston, OR

Long walk around the harbor this morning, including out along the jetty North of the harbor. At the west end of the jetty, above the road there are two dead trees that are chock full of nesting birds. They appear to be full of chicks as the noise is noticeable from 25 yards away. Not sure what the birds are, long necked black seabirds that dry their wings in the sun like ones in Florida.

After breakfast we washed off the side of the trailer that had become covered with tree sap in Rigby. When we parked there, with the bad clutch, it was all I could do to get onto the pad, let alone position it properly. So we ended up right against a tree that turned out to be oozing sap!

Unlike most RV parks it is OK to wash here since people are constantly washing off boats. Probably half of the RVs here have a boat trailer parked next to them. It is a fishing harbor after all.

We walked over to the harbor and tried The Sea Basket, a little place on the pier. Not too bad, Nancy had the special, a shrimp melt and I had pancakes.

After lunch I called Gold Coast Truck Repair to see about getting the truck lubricated. Ted said if I came in now they could do it right away so off I went. One more maintenance item off the check list.

Tuesday 7/2 Charleston, OR

Overcast, but warm this morning, low 60’s. It was cloudy most of the day yesterday, but the sun broke through this afternoon. So far we have had delightful weather on the coast.

Headed into town for such at 7 Devils Brewery, turns out they are closed on Tuesday. Guy working on their entryway recommended The Coney Station on Broadway. Nancy had homemade soup and I had a pretty good burger, along with draft beer. We also were able to watch the second half of the World Cup Soccer game. Stop at Mr. Nice Guy hemp store, still looking for CBD lotion. They were sold out, but another customer said McKay’s Market had a nice CBD lotion, so we stopped there for some groceries and picked up a jar of cream, not lotion, to try.

Back home and relaxed.