June 2011 - Camping Trip - #3

Karen, Sandy, Dave and I, just returned from our latest camping trip of the year. For Karen and I, it was our 3rd trip out this month. We did have much better weather this time, and didn't need to inflate a raft to get around the campsite. :-) We all ventured down to the southern Oregon coast (about a 4 hour drive), and stayed in Bandon, Oregon at Bullards Beach State Park. There is much to see and do down in this area of the coast, and we were able to take advantage of our good weather and spent each day touring and exploring. I've included more pictures in this edition than I normally do, because (as they say), "a picture is worth a thousand words", and it would be hard to capture all we did without some pictures.

*** Click on pictures to make them larger for viewing ***

Site A48

Coquille River Lighthouse

Karen, Abby, and myself

The Southern Oregon Coastline

Some of the beach rock formations

Abby cooling off in a tidal pool

Looking out of a cave

Many of our daily outings, took us into the local features of this area. On one outing, we stopped by Floras Lake, where we watched the wind and kite surfers playing in the water. I also found some Foxgloves (flowers) growing nearby in bloom, and took a few moments to catch them in all their glory.

Foxgloves in bloom

A closer look

Floras Lake

Kite & Wind Surfers having fun

While on another trip, we happen to find these beautiful Tiger Lilies off to the side of the road, and I stopped to grab a few pictures of these as well.

Tiger Lilies

Tiger Lily closeup

For those of you who might drink cranberry juice, or have cranberry sauce with your Thanksgiving turkey, here is a look at where they may have come from. These are cranberry bogs where they grow the cranberry's, and when ready for picking, the bogs are flooded with water allowing the berries to float to the top of the surface, where a skimmer (picking machine) grabs them and sends them off for processing. There are a lot of cranberry farms located in this area of Oregon, and you may see them if you're driving down Hwy 101 along the coastline.

Cranberry Bogs

About 2 miles north of Bullards Beach State Park (along Hwy 101), is a golf area known as the "Bandon Dunes Golf Resort". I don't golf (except at Par 3 courses or Put-Put Golf), but I have to tell you that this is one classy course (actually 4 different courses). According to "Golf Magazine", the Bandon Dunes resort is the best public access golf course in the nation! Even beating out the Pebble Beach Golf course down in California (their words... not mine). While in Bandon, they were just starting the U.S. Amateur Public Links Championships (both Men & Women). We were able to get a "Spectator" pass, and drove around the facilities to take a look. They were still practicing on Sunday, with the playoffs to begin on Monday June 27th for both the Men & Women's Championship.

The Leader Boards & Flags from several different countries

Both Men & Women practicing the day before the competition

During the last evening of camping, we always go out to dinner (so no one has to cook) at a local eatery somewhere. Dave had asked around for good eating establishments, and was told about one of those "Hole-In-The-Wall" places that you'll always find great food to eat. It's a good thing we arrived early (4:50PM) for dinner, as there were only two tables that sat 4 people, with seating available for 16 on the inside of "Tony's Crab Shack" (there is more outside seating than inside... but it had started to rain). I highly recommend this Seafood eatery if you're ever in this area!! Both Dave and I enjoyed the Smoked Salmon Alfredo (served with Ciabatta Garlic Bread), while Sandy had their famous Crab Sandwich, and Karen the Hot Crab & Shrimp sandwich. Yummy!!!

As always... I enjoy taking photographs of all the interesting places we visit, and with a last minute decision, we all ran down to the "Face Rock State Park" (a few minutes away), to watch the evening sunset. Below are just a few of the many pictures I took that night. The first photo shows "Face Rock" (for which this State Park was named) at the far left-hand side of the photograph. You can see a face looking skyward out of the water at an angle, and the forehead, eye, nose, lips, and chin are clearly visible. The second photo is a capture of the more interesting rock formations in this area, and their reflection on the wet sand. If you look close enough (just above the Sun), you'll see a wayward seagull passing through this beautiful sight.

Face Rock (far left) looking skyward

Sunset reflections

Thanks for following along with us on our most recent outing. May you all find your own adventures in life, enjoy beautiful sunsets, and share them together with close friends.

Happy Trails...

Gary, Karen, and Abby Too!