Happy as Clams!

We didn’t have to check out of our campsite until 1:00, so decided to drive into Brookings to use the Fred Meyer wi-fi Thursday morning. Since there was a Starbucks handy, we ordered two caramel flan lattes and found a seat by the window. I got totally caught up on my blog, we finished the lattes, and headed back to the campground. We secured Jumbo for departure and said good-bye to this pretty place.

Crossing over one of the many pretty bridges in Oregon...

We stopped at a pullout just before the town of Ophir.

 I boiled up some eggs, and we had egg salad sandwiches for lunch. It had been a bit of a stressful drive up to this point for Jumbo – lots of curves and going up and down of hills, so it was good to sit and relax for a while.

Soon we were back on the road. We stopped at Port Orford, a very pretty little town. Larry parked Jumbo in a designated RV parking spot, and joined Duchess and me at Battle Rock Park. I popped into the visitor center for some local info, and had a nice visit with the older gentleman volunteer.  

Horses on the beach...

 Larry, Duchess and I wandered around the park a bit and then drove down to the port area.  We drove back to Jumbo's parking space,  passing by the old Port Orford Jail...

Larry jumped back in, and we were off, pointed towards Bandon and Bullards Beach State Park.

Bandon is located at the mouth of the Coquille River, which is crossed by a pretty green drawbridge.

We drove about two miles north of town and pulled into Bullards Beach State Park. I had picked up a map of the park at the Port Orford visitors center, and we were hoping to find a campsite in loop A, near the trail to the beach, but loop A was closed, as was loop B, so we decided on C26, a lovely spot tucked cozily amongst the trees and right across from the path to the restrooms and showers.

We parked Jumbo and drove first to the Coquille River Lighthouse, perched above the Coquille River as it surges into the Pacific Ocean.

We explored that area a little, and then drove down to the beach, where we picked up stones and shells as the spectacular ocean waves crashed on the rocks.

 

We found our way back to Jumbo, decided that we were both hungry enough for some dinner, so drove into Bandon in search of a fish and chips restaurant.

 I had read that the Bandon Fish Market was a good choice, so we parked, went inside, and ordered some cod fish and chips and clam strips to go.

 Duchess was beside herself when we got into the car with the delicious smelling packages. As soon as we arrived back at Jumbo, and I set them on the counter, well out of her reach, and she didn’t move more than a few inches away from what she knew would be her dinner as well as ours.

I pulled out one of my bottles of the special California wine that I had purchased in Ukiah - $1.79 at Wal Mart!

It was a scrumptious feast. There were even cranberries in the coleslaw, since this part of the country is famous for their cranberries. Duchess enjoyed more that her share, and we were all happy as clams!