The Oregon Coast

6/19
We left the California Redwoods and headed up the Oregon coast.  The heat wave extended up central Oregon but on the coast we were experiencing 50's and 60's.  As we later found out, this is normal summer weather for the coast.  50's at night, 60's during the day and a STIFF north wind.  In fact, that 15 to 20 (sometimes 30) mile per hour winds seldom let up, as we later would experience it almost every day.

July 4th was just around the corner and we were scrambling to find a campsite of the holiday weekend.  Unlike last year, it was becoming increasingly difficult to find campsites as we traveled up the coast. We  finally found a spot at The Port Orford Village in Port Orford, OR.  But, there were still 2 nights we had to find a place to stay before we settled in at the "The Village" through the holiday.

During our travels up the California coast we were hearing the praises of the Oregon Sate Park system.  So, with those 2 remaining nights, we thought we'd try to get a reservation in one of the many State Parks that lined the Oregon coast.  We finally found ONE, and only one, site available at Bullards Beach State Park just north of Bandon, OR., about 30 min. north of Port Orford. We'd have to back track a little but that was OK, at least we had a home through the  holiday.

We had been traveling pretty hard, first to get to California and then to leave California after the 100 degree heat wave started.  Both Joan and I  were thinking (independently of each other) about staying put for a while and just relax.  We had also been thinking about writing a resume for "Volunteering"  at State or National Parks.  The way  volunteering works is we agree to work about 20 hours a week and the parks give us a full hookup campsite.  And there's also the advantage of living and working in some of the prettiest places on earth.

As we checked in at Bullards Beach S.P. I explained we would like to meet the volunteer coordinator and see if there were any opportunities for about a month.  We gave her a call, got the answering machine and left a message, hoping for a call back.  It was a long shot but what the heck, we tried.

6/20
We spent the next day exploring Bandon and the surrounding, very pretty, coast.  The famous rocks off the coast have been given names based on their shapes.  There's Table rock, Wolf rock, Elephant rock and Face rock.

Face rock, can you see it?

Elephant rock on left, see the ears?

Sand art

Bandon has a road called Beach Loop that follows the coast heading south.  The last stop on Beach Loop road is China Creek.  We pulled into the parking lot and found a very natural looking stretch of beach with not a foot print to be found. 

There was also a camper, 2 volunteers (Steve & Laura) plus a table with various exhibits about the Western Snowy Plover, an endangered shore bird.

Plover egg in a simulated nest, just a depression in the sand.

We'd heard about two volunteers dry camping in the parking lot and manning this information station.  The dry camping was not a requirement but this couple got permission to do it. We spent a lot of time learning about the Plovers and picking their brain about volunteering for the State Park system. During the conversation they mentioned there may be an opening for the month of July.  Now THAT really got our attention!

Having already left a message with the volunteer coordinator, we continued exploring Bandon, OR, here's some pictures...

I saw the sign in a store front thinking it was kind of humorous.  But they actually take this quite serious.

Here's a link with lots of information about the Tsunami threat on the Oregon coast.

Here's a link to another full time RVer's web site and a few videos about Bandon, OR and Bullards Beach State Park.

Coming next, Port Orford, OR.