Port Orford Oregon

6/20 cont.

We’d spend the day touring Bandon Oregon and the surrounding area. It was our last evening before moving to Port Orford through the coming July 4^th weekend. We decided to take a walk through the Bullards Beach campground.  As we were strolling, we ran across a sign indicating beach access - ¾ mile.  Checking Joan’s trusty smart phone, it was 15 minutes before sunset.  We made a snap decision to try to make it to the beach for the sunset.  So, we were off , our leisurely afternoon stroll became a rapid march to the beach.  The path varied from firm trail to board walk to soft sand.  I once heard that walking in soft sand burned twice as many calories as a firm surface.  Well, we were burning some calories!  

Sunset was at 9:01, we arrived at the crest of the dune overlooking the beach at 9:02, missing it by 1 minute!  

As often is the case, the colors after the actual sunset are often the best.

While we were admiring the colorful sunset, I turned and saw the full moon rising in the eastern sky.

We later found out this was the prettiest sunset for at least a month. It was well worth the hike!

6/21

Check out time at Bullards Beach was 1:00 pm and we were in no hurry, Port Orford was only 30 miles south on US101. We’d received a call from the volunteer coordinator, she was working the entrance booth so we would meet her there. As we parked and were walking toward the booth, Steve and Laura (the Plover hosts that were dry camping at China Creek) were pulling in for their weekly replenishment stay in the park.  Laura jumped out of the truck and yelled “… there they are, that’s the couple we told you about, get them!”.  Gee, I think we had a home for the next month!

It’s a good thing we had a little over a week before starting our hosting job, there were a battery of online training modules we had to complete.  The training reminded me of my working days “Slips trips and falls”, “Blood born Pathogens”, “Back and lifting safety” etc.

Port Orford RV Village

We pulled into “The Village” and were immediately impressed by the cute little RV Park.  Our site was right next to the office which insured we’d had a good WiFi connection. All the camp sites were gravel and grass and the roads were all paved. 

There’s a laundry, a coffee gazebo, a fish pond and they have a happy hour gathering every afternoon at 4pm, we didn't miss any of those.

Laundry

Coffee Gazebo

Happy Hour!

The camper behind us had 3 large humming bird feeders.  They had to re-fill them about twice a day.

During our stay, one of the residents harvested some very large Mussels and there was an impromptu Mussel feast. 

Joan reviewing under water pictures.

As I was walking back to the camper during happy hour, I saw a familiar looking car.  It was Walt and Shirlee.  This was the third campground we stumbled across each other as we worked our way up the coast.

Walt, Shirlee, Joan and I at a local fish house.

Here's some pictures from the Port Orford area.

Joan picks out some tomatoes at
an organic store. 

Battle Rock

Port Orford Head State Park

Port Orford Lifeboat Station museum.

The Lifeboat museum was surprisingly interesting and we spent almost two hours examining its many exhibits.

After the museum, we walked out onto the "head" (head is a nautical term for a point of land) for some fantastic views.

See plaque on bench ...

Unexpected Florida connection on the Port Orford Head.

Cape Blanco is the western most point in the Continental US. 

Cap Blanco Lighthouse is one of 4 lighthouses on the Oregon coast that is still an official navigation aid managed by the Cost Guard.  It's First-Order lens shows 20 miles out to sea.

It is also one of the very few active lighthouses where you can climb into the light and actually stand in front of the Fresnel lens.

Paradise Point

We were often warned, "Don't turn you back on the sea." People have been swept from their feet and into the sea by so-called rogue waves.  Contrary to it's name, this beach has a steep drop off just beyond the surf line that has claimed several lives.

We thoroughly enjoyed our time in Port Orford and the Port Orford RV Village.  While we were excited about our new opportunity as hosts for Oregon State Parks, we hated to leave "The Village". Everyone was so friendly, it was like leaving a family.  We highly recommend Port Orford RV Village to anyone visiting the Oregon coast.

Coming Next, Plover Host at Bullards Beach State Park