12-16-2021 Last Day at Bastendorff Beach and a Scary Dog Story

When we woke on Saturday after such a foggy Friday, we were thrilled to once again see brilliant sunshine.  The temperatures had warmed a bit and the winds were quiet.  It was time to drive down to the beach parking area once again for a last walk.

Being a Saturday on a three day weekend, the beach was already filled with people and dogs by the time we arrived around 9.  We had Mattie on a leash, but some people didn’t follow the rules and big and little dogs were running free everywhere.  One dog especially was a problem.

The owner of the dog told us that his dog didn’t like other females, but he didn’t leash her.  She was an older chocolate lab and we avoided them as we walked in a different direction.  We didn’t realize that he and his dog were coming our way until it was too late, and the big brown dog that was off leash came after Mattie.  It was too fast for us to pick her up which we try to do in these situations.  Instead, as the dog was attacking Mattie, I tried to push the lab away with my walking sticks as the owner came over trying to control his dog.  She wasn’t paying any attention to him but finally she backed off.  In the mean time, he started yelling at me saying I had no reason to beat his dog!!  Right!!  Am I supposed to just let my dog get injured?? 

I lost my temper, and yelled at him to get that dog on a leash!  I was so furious and my adrenalin was so high I yelled at him that I would beat him if I had the chance, along with some choice colorful words.  He said, “Yeah right”, but at least he didn’t come after me.  I was ready to light into him physically whether he killed me or not!  Don’t make an old lady with a cane angry.

It took awhile for my adrenalin rush to ease as we continued our walk toward the jetty.  The ocean was wild and the waves were huge and finally that inner shaking settled down as we watched the drama unfolding along the jetty.

People were walking along the edge of the rocks as the waves crashed over the sides of the jetty.  I heard one guy tell another one, “Hey Buddy, don’t be walking on that jetty today”.  Sneaker waves that sweep people away are notorious is this part of the Oregon Coast.

It was a lovely walk and by the time we got back to the car the bad guy with the mean dog was gone.  I was grateful for that since I had no more adrenaline for another confrontation.

We took our time packing up the rig, thinking we had until 2 PM to check out.  I thought it might be nice to get some photos of the rest of the campground in the sunshine.  As I relaxed in the MoHo working on those photos in Lightroom I suddenly saw a photo I had taken of a sign that said “Check-out at Noon”.

Oops!!  It was 11:45.  We had the MoHo packed up, unhooked, slides in and jacks up and Tracker attached in 15 minutes.

Our drive home over the coast range was gorgeous, with brilliant sunshine the entire distance.  We traveled Highway 42 again toward I-5 and then south toward home.  It was lovely driving in good weather and the weekend traffic was very light.  Delightful!  We fueled again at Seven Feathers to beat our Grants Pass prices and pulled into the driveway around 4 PM.  A perfect ending to a very nice getaway.

We enjoyed the beach and the campground was nice, but after our experience with all the people and dogs we decided that limiting our adventures to Oregon State Parks would be a bit safer for all of us.

01-14 and 15 2020 Sunny Days and King Tides

We had big plans for the next couple of days at the beach.  We were close to some truly gorgeous coastal views of big cliffs along the Cape Arago Highway.  We also knew that there were king tides making stormy wavy watching quite spectacular.

We woke to a gorgeous morning with not a speck of fog.  It was very wet though, and quite chilly, but the sun was incredible.  Not something we expected at the coast in winter. 

We have camped a few times nearby at Sunset Bay State Park, just a mile south of our current location at Bastendorff Beach.  There is a beautiful hiking trail that meanders along the rocky coastline from Sunset Bay toward Shore Acres State Park and ends at the Cape Arago State Park Viewpoint.  It is a lovely walk and when we camped there in 2014 (the story is here) I was trying to walk at least 5 miles each day.  That part of the coast was a perfect location for wonderful walks.

On this trip however, we decided that driving the Cape Arago Highway was the best choice since my days of walking 5 miles are behind me. We checked out Sunset Bay, which was lovely, but even on the sunny morning it was still almost completely shaded.  Traveling south toward Shore Acres we drove through the entry kiosk with notice of the required $5 per day to use the park.  The gardens and buildings associated with them were closed but it looked as though the gates weren’t locked and one could possibly walk through on the open pathways.

We have visited Shore Acres at different times of the year, both when things are in bloom in the summer and during the winter nights for their wonderful Christmas light show. Each time we have visited, with our state park camping receipt, we never had to pay that fee.  We decided to skip the fee and continue south toward Cape Arago.

Along the road there are several places to access the coastal trail and a truly spectacular overlook.  When we visited Harris Beach State Park near Brookings last month I was impressed with the newly refurbished information signs. 

It seems this is something that is being done all along the coast at the state parks.  The signs were beautifully redone, colorful and fun to read.

Even far out on the rocks we could see the seals, although from this vantage point it was a bit difficult to identify which of two types of seals and two types of sea lions that frequent the area were on the rocks.  I could also see sea birds, but only able to actually identify cormorants perched on the highest points of the rocks.

After enjoying the surf and the views we drove a bit further to the end of the road at Cape Arago. The skies were brilliant and the air was a bit chilly and breezy. 

We walked down to a point overlooking the rocky shoreline and watched some seals happily playing in the surf and sunning themselves on the rocks.  The waves were spectacular crashing wildly in all directions.  Being a cape, the view is a bit more than 180 degrees in both directions.

The picnic tables were sitting invitingly in the warm sunshine and lucky for me I had actually remembered to pack a picnic for our day.  We enjoyed our lunch and the beautiful views and sounds of the wild ocean for some time before walking back to the car to return to the MoHo.

Once back at camp, we decided it would be nice to check out the namesake beach of our park.  Bastendorff Beach was wide and long, and the sand was clean.  The waves were again huge, and the crashing surf accompanied our walk.  There were bits of kelp and old wood on the sand, and a few broken clamshells, but no sign of any rocks or agates in the area.

Mattie again got to run off leash a bit, with no problems from other people with off leash dogs on this sunny afternoon.  We were truly surprised to see just how many people were there and how full the several parking lots were. Coos Bay isn’t that big of a city and this part of Highway 101 isn’t usually that busy. 

Most of the people recreating on the beach seemed to be local, with Oregon plates, not the out of state tourists that frequent the beaches farther south near Brookings or Bandon, or farther north toward Florence, Newport, or Lincoln City. 

After returning to the MoHo for a bit of relaxation, we decided to take advantage of the very last day of inside dining in Coos County.  We have had a truly marvelous dining experience at the High Tide Cafe. When we heard they were remaining open for one last day before closing due to an increase in COVID numbers in the county we decided to try it.

After talking about it a bit, we thought better of the inside dining experience and made a call to order take out fish and chips.  Arriving around 4 we found a completely empty restaurant.  Our dinner was ready and packed to go but the empty table with a view looked so inviting.  I asked if we could eat in and the waitress said “Sure”, and brought us our meal and some real silverware.  Another nice part of this is that we could have a local beer with our food.

The beer was good.  We ordered just one fish and chips dinner and one bowl of chowder to share, but realized that we also should have ordered just one beer.  Hard to drink that much beer I guess.  Sadly, the dinner was simply adequate, not the superb meal we enjoyed two different times at this restaurant.  It seems that they previous owners sold the business and the new owners took over just last month.  They are excited about their new project and planning to open up the patio with heaters and lights to accommodate more outside dining.

The fish and chips only cost $15 instead of the $22. that we paid with the previous owners, and the difference in price reflects the difference in the meal.  We like a light breading and while the fish was tasty, the breading was the typical somewhat soggy beer batter.  The fries were boring and there was no cole slaw or salad served with the meal.  Also, the chowder was good but not fabulous.  It is sad that the new owners didn’t realize that they should have kept the previous menu.  I wish them well, but I doubt we will rush to return for fish and chips here again.

The sun stayed with us the rest of the day until nightfall brought in a thick fog.  We settled in with another game of cards and a good night’s sleep. 

The weather forecast had mentioned rain for Thursday and when we woke that morning in addition to overnight rain, the fog was heavy and thick. It was more like what we had expected at the beach and we spent the entire day in the MoHo, relaxing, reading, knitting for me, a  bit of card playing and some short walks.  With such a quite indoor day it really made us appreciate the sunshine we enjoyed so much the day before.

01-13-2021 Surprise Surprise, we go to the Coast Again

Mo has made it an important priority to get out in the MoHo at least once a month.  Weather be danged, we need to go somewhere!  Often our winter getaway begins in late January and includes a week or a month or whatever it takes to get south to the warm deserts.  We had reservations in early February for a trip to Catalina Spa, but with COVID raging in Southern California finally decided that we needed to cancel or at least delay that trip until it feels a bit safer to be traveling to that part of the world.

Site #69 at Bastendorff Beach County Park

We can stay fairly well distanced in the MoHo, but much of what we love to do in the warm deserts while near Palm Springs include dining out, spending time in the pools and the hot tub, and going to the big movie house with wine and comfy recliners.  When I called Catalina I found out that the pools are open, but the spa, restrooms, and all other facilities at the park are closed for now.  Ah well, time to figure out something to do in January since our early February trip is a bust.

Mo spent a bit of time researching coastal locations and parks and found a Coos County park near Coos Bay that sounded interesting.  When I called  Bastendorff Beach County Park the lady on the phone said we probably wouldn’t need a reservation and could waive the $12. reservation fee by just arriving, finding a caretaker, and picking a site.

We loaded up the MoHo in the rain the day before our departure, and planned once again to spend some time at the beach, in spite of the predicted rainy weather. The familiar drive north on I-5 was uneventful.  We stopped for fuel in Canyonville at Seven Feathers since they have the best price around, even less than the Love’s Truck Stop just a few miles north.  Neither of us can figure out why gas is sneaking back up again, and instead of the $2.29 we have been paying it has risen to $2.57 at our local Fred Meyer, and $2.45 at Seven Feathers.  I read some old blogs of mine recently talking about gas being close to $4. a gallon on some of our trips, so the complaint isn’t a huge one, just a bit of a surprise.

Arriving at the park right at 2PM we were a bit lost as we attempted to figure out the process of checking in.  We unhooked the baby car in the big parking lot and then saw a caretaker near the main office/garage and the mechanic took us inside to check for empty spaces. 

Lower campground area at Bastendorff Beach Park

He was surprised that the park was almost filled up beginning Friday night and we planned to stay through Saturday.  Both of us laughed when we looked at the calendar and realized that the upcoming weekend was the 3 day holiday weekend for Martin Luther King Day. We drove through the park a bit, first leaving the MoHo in his recommended site #46 with “an ocean view” before driving up the hill to a sunnier part of the park, minus the view. 

We decided on site #69, long and fairly level, with a table and a firepit in a space that looked like it got lots of sun.  That was important to me for this time at the beach, and the older sites in the lower part of the park were intensely shaded.  It didn’t help that a storm on the previous night had left lots of tree branches and debris all over the camp road, and site 46 while somewhat level was surrounded by mud.

The roads through the park are quite narrow

Settling into our spot, we were quite happy with our choice.  Within a short time we were ready to bundle up and go explore a ‘new to us’ beach.  There are a few narrow roads north of the park that wind toward Coos Head and a Coast Guard facility high on the bluff overlooking the point where the water from Coos Bay enters the ocean. 

There is a rock jetty on each side of the river, with the one by Bastendorff Beach having a paved walking path at the top of the jetty.  With high tide warnings and king tides ongoing this time of year on the Oregon Coast, we knew it wasn’t wise to walk on the jetty.

Instead, we walked down along the path that bordered the BLM off-road area that crisscrossed the sand.  There is no driving on the actual beach, but the off-road section seemed quite popular.  There are also no enforced dog leash rules, in spite of what the sign said.  Someone later told me that the rules don’t apply to the hard sand portion of the beach where dogs can run at will.  We let Mattie run a tiny bit that first afternoon.

Heading back home to our cozy spot we settled in with a card game, casting a bit of live news from the phone to the TV, and enjoying a good pre-cooked chile verde supper brought from home.