Artesia, NM

We got back to Artesia on Sunday and sure were glad to see our kids and grandkids. Being away for three months was hard on Grandma and PaPa! Here are the boys cooking our dinner on their new fire pit. Parker is on the left, Rylee on the right. We just love these boys AND their Mom and Dad!

A Few Last Photos of our Travels

On the way back towards New Mexico, we spent four nights at Three Island Crossing State Park in Glenns Ferry, Idaho. Smoke from distant fires made for a nice sunset photo but we sure felt sorry for those who live around here. Hope they get some much needed rain soon.

Cranberry bogs near Bandon, Oregon. We didn't stay long enough to see the harvest which is later in the fall.

We drove 100 miles up the coast to Florence just to eat at Mo's Seafood Restaurant, and we weren't disappointed. Great grilled halibut, fried clams and all the fixings.

This photo was taken behind Mo's in Old Town Florence on the Suislaw riverfront. In the background you can see the Art Deco Suislaw River Bridge built in 1936. I look like the typical tourist wearing my cap which says "Don"t Bother Me...I'm Crabby"! Donnie probably thinks this is very appropriate, but he's too nice to actually say it. Ha!

A last photo of Port Orford near the docks. The sky was so blue it turned the water this lovely aqua color. Even though we had good weather during our stay, this is not something we saw every day.

We were very lucky to see this whale feeding near the docks. The second photo shows its fluke as it dives for krill. We watched for a half hour or so before it headed up the coast.

We found Mom's Kitchen in Coos Bay/North Bend on our 2010 trip to Oregon. This time we actually got to meet "Mom" who told us she has owned the diner for over 30 years. She and her granddaughter wait tables while her son does the cooking. They were all such nice friendly folks, making our breakfast even more enjoyable.

SHELBY

December 3, 1999 - September 10, 2012 Shelby was a great D-O-G who didn't realize she was a D-O-G! She was a good companion and traveler. We will always miss her. R.I.P. Shelby

More Oregon Coast Photos...

Here we are at our space at Beach Loop RV Park south of Bandon, OR. The second photo is a view of our "backyard". We are heading back to Humbug Mt State Park next week. We plan to camp there for two more weeks then we'll probably start working our way east.

The Umpqua River Lighthouse built 1891-1894. The light was originally powered by oil, replaced by electricity in 1934. The lens, hand cut in Paris in 1890, is ten feet high and weighs two tons. The light can be seen 19 miles out at sea.

Mussel and oyster beds near the lighthouse, are protected in a triangular area by rock jetties.

After visiting the Umpqua Lighthouse, we had a nice lunch of fish and chips and fried shrimp in Winchester Bay at Fishpatrick's Crabby Cafe.

The boat yard shares the parking area with the cafe. Looks like this ship needs a little TLC.

The Charleston Marina just up the coast from Bandon.

We watched a fisherman cleaning and filleting tuna at the marina. Every once in a while he could throw the discards into the water.

These harbor seals seemed to enjoy watching the fish cleaning process more than we did. Sushi, anyone?? Eeeuuu

We walked along the marina where these kids were catching dungeness crab. They were really friendly and explained the ins and outs of crabbing.

Oregon Coast

We are now in Beach Loop RV Park near Bandon, about 30 miles north of Port Orford. It is nice to have all the hookups for a change. We have seen most of the sights near Port O and points south so decided to move a little farther up the coast. It is quite a bit colder and cloudier here than Cape Blanco and Humbug Mountain State Parks. In fact, it is 60 degrees as I am writing this at 1:00 in the afternoon. We are just a two minute drive to a nice sandy beach, and have taken Shelby with us a couple of times. She still enjoys digging in the sand and snooping along the water. I haven't taken a photo of our site here yet but will post one next time.

Such a pretty town welcome sign...

The Coquille (co-KEEL) River Lighthouse is not too far from our RV park. We can see the light flashing from our bedroom window at night. The lighthouse built in 1895, was originally called Bandon Light. I personally like that name better. It was shut down in 1939 and replace by an automated light on the south jetty of the Coquille River. It was renovated in 1976 and again a few years ago. In 1991 a new solar powered light was installed in the lighthouse tower. I think this is one of the prettiest along the Oregon Coast.

The Bandon boardwalk. If you look closely you will see the lighthouse in the distance on the right side of the photo. Okay, maybe you will need a magnifying glass! Instead, just click once to enlarge the photo.

We have had one of our best fish and chips meals here at the Bandon Fish Market. I took the second photo to show the menu and got the cook in the shot too! Would definitely recommend this place...not a lot of atmosphere, but very clean, really good food and friendly staff.

A recent trip to Gold Beach, 30 miles south of Port O. Gold Beach, originally named Ellenburg, was established in the 1850s. Back then there were quite a few placer mines to extract gold at the mouth of the Rogue River. The Patterson Bridge built in 1932 is one example of the Art Deco style of several bridges along the coast.

Fishing (for salmon) must have been good as this is the most boats we have seen in the Rogue.

Back to Port Orford... A view from the road up to the Port Orford Heads Lifeboat Station Museum.

We love to watch the fishing boats from the docks...

While at the docks we noticed this sea lion sunning herself on the rocks. Donnie caught a glimpse of her baby with her, but I never could get a photo. Think she was hiding it from us "tourists"!

An ocean view from China Mountain Road above Humbug.

I always have to post at least one sunset picture...

The three of us took a hike along the Old Highway 101 trail. We gave Shelby a break from walking every once in a while, as she gets pooped pretty easy now. After all, she is 84 in dog years!

Donnie picking blackberries at Humbug Mt right across from our site.

The bushes had just started to produce while we were there, and bet they are really thick now. I tried my hand at making jam...let's just say I need to practice a little more. Blackberry syrup anyone???

Homemade Wild Blackberry Cobbler...Okay THIS turned out pretty well...Glena Muncrief, if you are reading this, I used your old family recipe. Thanks so much for sharing it with me! It turns out great every time...Yum!! Especially with a couple of dips of Tillamook ice cream...too far west for Blue Bell, but we have acquired a taste for the Oregon brand while here.

Our favorite site (#1) at Humbug Mt State Park. The only negative? Our fellow campers who didn't learn to build proper campfires in Boy Scouts! Ha!

Port Orford, Oregon

Hello all! Since I haven't blogged in a while this one is pretty long as there are quite a few photos I wanted y'all to see... We have spent the last two weeks at Cape Blanco State Park and tomorrow will move back to Humbug Mountain State Park for two more weeks. I will post photos of Humbug when we get settled.

Our site at Cape Blanco turned out really great, hardly any wind and lots of sunshine during the day. The weather has been much better than when we were here two years ago. Seemed like we had a lot more fog and damp weather then.

The wild (and not so wild) life in our "backyard"

A view from one of the lookoffs in the park

The Cape Blanco Lighthouse. We park near here most evenings to watch the whales spout in the distance. Once in a while you can see them flipping their tails.

Port Orford docks with one of the hoists called "dollies" in action

An ocean view from the beach near the docks

We drove down the Coast Highway 101 to the California redwoods on Monday. It has been twenty-three years since we have visited the national park. That was back in 1989 when we were coming home from our trip (with my parents, Cecil and Lucy and our son Casey) to Vancouver Island. The last photo of us together is in front of "The Big Tree" which we also saw back in 1989. I need to do some digging to see if I can locate the photos from that trip to post. I doubt if the tree looks any different but Donnie and I sure do!

On the way back to Port Orford we stopped for a short tour of Crescent City, CA. This lighthouse on an island can only be reached during low tide.

Check out the sign...no walking on the jetty...as usual Donnie is not following the rules but I can say he wasn't the only one!

The marina that was damaged by the tsunami