Oregon Trip

Early Tuesday morning, July 29th, we left St George to head for cooler climes. Cindy's parents are spending the summer in Bandon, Oregon, and we were headed to join them for the rest of the week. Fortunately, the first week of July, SkyWest began a United Express flight to North Bend (Coos Bay) which is just 16 miles from Bandon so we headed off to LA, then San Francisco, then to North Bend getting there just before 1 PM where mom and dad met us. The first stop after arriving in Bandon was to drop our stuff at a quaint road motel. We loved the flowers. Then it was to old town Bandon to sample some great clam chowder.

Cindy has a very artistic eye with the camera and this shot had to be included to share her talent. Click on the picture to see a larger image that does it a little more justice than the smaller version you see.

Mom had prepared a list of things to see and do in the coast area and Wednesday morning we had breakfast at their motor home and then headed out to see the sites. The first stop was a real surprise as we went to an animal park that turned out to be really great. They had a nursery area with a number of animal babies and visitors could hold them which Cindy loved. The first picture though is an adult, cross-eyed opossum. We were told that opposum mothers will eat their babies if there is anything wrong with them and the cross-eyed critter was born in captivity and saved. In the wild, he would not have survived.

This baby is also an opposum.
















The most fascinating baby of all was this 6 week old lion that was sent to this location to be raised and trained. Cindy was really surprised by the strength of the little gal. There was quite a line and family groups were allowed in one at a time and had to sit by the fence to be able to touch the baby lion. It was only brought out for a limited period several times a day so our timing was perfect.

Next stop was Cape Blanco and a visit to the light house. Learning about the light houses and their keepers and their families was a lesson in very hardy living in a remote and harsh environment. The next stop was Port Orford and lunch at the Crazy Norwegian. We finished the day with dad and I losing to the ladies, 2-1 in Shoot the Moon. But what a fun and interesting time we had exploring the Oregon coast.

A friend got Dad into crabbing and I went with him to see what it was about. The time to crab is tied to the tides and we actually got there on the tail end of the crabbing period. Yes, that is turkey leg bait on the bottom of the trap. The sides actually collapse once it is on the bottom and the first pull to bring it up has to be hard to get the sides up quick. We only had one crab on the second try and it was so small it fell out on the way up and saved us having to throw it back.

We toured the Bandon Dunes golf resort and Dad and I sat on the terrace and watched groups come down the 18th fairway and finish on the green. The only thing better would have been to be playing. What a gorgeous day and the scenery around the course was outstanding with the ocean, pines, dunes, ponds, you name, it was there somewhere. Oh, did I mention the green fees were $350.

Other highlights were a melodrama at Coquille that was an experience. The drive along the Coquille river was a great way to start the evening. That whole area is unbelievably beautiful. There was so much more, but what a great vacation that went by so fast we couldn't believe it. Mom and Dad were great hosts and Cindy and her mother got a lot of shopping in so you know it was good. What a shock though to arrive back in St George to 100 degree heat after being in the 60's for the past 4 days.