Update Map
All Creatures Great and Small!
Howdy from Aunty Pat’s in Sunny Valley, South Oregon! It’s great to be here, see family, pets, sleep in a proper bed and enjoy mountains of home-cooked food. We’re being proper spoilt!
So we bumbled down the Oregon coast for about a week or so, being constantly surprised by the beauty of the place – miles of golden sandy beaches, acres of dunes, sandstone cliffs plunging into the waves and huge sea stacks. Rock pools filled with anemones and starfish and huge grey whales cruising just offshore.
Starting in Astoria (where The Goonies was set and filmed) we climbed a hill to then climb a 38-metre-high column for views over the city, Columbia River and 4 mile long Megler Bridge, before visiting their harbour where half the jetties have been colonised by smelly, noisy sea lions. They have become such a pest that the city has spent thousands trying to get rid of them – inflatable killer-whales, fencing, air-dancers – evidently none of which have worked.
We stayed two days at Fort Stevens State Park, an old military site that guarded the mouth of the Columbia River from the American Civil War until the end of the Second World War. There are many remains of the buildings and batteries in amongst the bush, lakes, walkways and cycle-paths that run to the long beaches. The campsite was huge (over 500 plots) and was full despite the school holidays being over. Talking to people, it appears the coast is the only place in the state that’s free of wildfire smoke, so both holiday makers and residents have descended for some fresh air.
Heading south along the 101 coast road, we stopped at each town on the way, mostly small, touristy places on huge, quiet sandy beaches. It reminded us a lot of the east coast of Australia, but not so many surfers here, perhaps because the ocean is very cold! The few surfers we did see were wearing wetsuits, gloves, boots and hoods. The strong breezes meant there were lots of kite-surfers though.
Cannon Beach (also in The Goonies) was particularly nice and chilled, the sort of place where the shops don’t open till 11am. Haystack Rock stands out in the beach and is a wildlife haven, a fact not appreciated by the Chinese tourist we saw kicking a starfish - until Caroline gave her a piece of her mind!
At Depoe Bay the whales came into the cove to feed, splash their tails and stick their heads up for a look, as we sat on the promenade wall less than 50 metres away. It was an amazing way to spend a couple of hours.
In Florence we camped at a casino carpark for a couple of nights, while we explored the area. The casino provided free soft drinks and gave us $20 worth of free-play credits, which we used to win enough cash to buy a couple of glasses of wine – which was nice!
At Coos Bay we visited the Shore Acres State Park, the old estate of a shipping and lumber magnate. Large formal gardens, beautiful views over a rocky cove, a little sheltered beach and more whales passing by – it must have been an incredible property when it was privately owned.
So then it was a couple of hours inland to Caroline’s Aunty Pat, her daughter Debbie, 2 horses, 3 miniature horses, 3 dogs and 8 cats! It was great to see her again, although emotional as dear Uncle John, Caroline’s Dad’s brother, passed away since we were last here.
We have been spoilt rotten with enough delicious homemade food to feed an army and Pat is even preparing dried fruits for us to take with us. Debbie has also spoilt us with a night out at a casino, including meal and spending money, in a somewhat successful attempt to show us how to play the slots. We have even been bought gifts and clothes!
In an attempt to repay their amazing generosity, we have been helping out around the ranch – Caroline clearing horse poop and dead grass, Bryan fitting electrics in the stables and building obstacles for Pat to train the miniature horses that she takes to shows.
We’ll probably be here for another week or so as we plan the next stages and work out how we’re going to ship to South America.
TTFN