Yahoo! I made it to the Oregon coast!

Headed out from my spot at Valley of the Rogue State Park this morning shortly after nine.  My plan was to make it to Bandon, OR, by early afternoon.  Yesterday I had scoped out a place that I could easily get the rig in and out of a gas station.  I had thought of going to the Seven Feathers Casino in Canyonville to fill up, but found a much easier small station about 10 miles before there.  I had filled the car up there yesterday, and told the owner I’d be back today to fill up the rig.

It’s kind of interesting to me that getting gas in Oregon is like the old days.  An attendant fills the tank for you, and asks if you’d like your windshield cleaned.  I smiled and said sure to the windshield cleaning.  The owner got out a step stool, and cleaned all the bugs off from the last 800 miles of travel.  Cool beans!

I took Highway 42 off of I-5 to get over to the coast.  It’s a good two lane road, but very twisty and up and down.  I seldom got to drive the 55 mph limit.  Remember the beautifully clean windshield?  Well, as I approached Coquille, I saw a dense black cloud moving across the highway.  I tried to slow down going down a steep hill, but I couldn’t avoid that black cloud.  It turned out to be a mass of bugs which just plastered the front of my rig with a very loud splat!  It was loud enough to make me jump in my seat.  Holy Moses!  What a mess.  I’d guess several hundred bugs were instantly sent to another world.  I’ve never had something like that happen before.  It was much worse than the love bugs in Texas in May.

Along about 1:30 I arrived at Bandon Marsh National Wildlife Refuge.  I’ll be staying here for four nights as I do some training for my time at Harris Beach.  All I have is an electric hookup, and I squeezed in between the two volunteer sites here.  My friends, Linda and Jay, are volunteering here this summer, and that’s their rig on the left.

Found some foxglove blooming outside the rig after I got set up.  I surprised myself by knowing the name of this flower.  The skies were sunny when I arrived, but it wasn’t long before the coastal fog rolled in and a light mist began.

I needed some milk and bread, so Linda volunteered to take me to the local grocery store.  She also gave me a little tour of the Bandon area.  I finally got to see the Pacific Ocean.  As we stopped at one of the lookout places across from the lighthouse, I even got to see some whales spouting and moving around the bay.  That was exciting for me.

This is where Linda and Jay will be stationed this summer to educate visitors on the nesting sea birds.  What a difference in just a couple of weeks from the desert terrain I was living in.  I’m getting pumped about my assignment on the Oregon coast.

It didn’t really matter to me that it was foggy and overcast.  I was just happy to finally make it here.  Readers will have to get prepared for lots of ocean pics for the next couple of months.  I’m hoping tomorrow will have some sun as I get one day to explore this area before the training begins on Tuesday.

When we returned back to the rigs, a white-crowned sparrow was singing his heart out as Emma and I sat outside.  While Linda and I were wandering around, Chef Jay was preparing pulled pork, and they shared a delicious plate with me.  What a wonderful welcome to the Oregon coast today has been!

Thanks for stopping by… talk to you later,  Judy