Coos Bay, OR

Monday, July 6, 2020

Slept in a bit and headed from Silverton to Eugene, OR to check out the University of Oregon.  Drove through some of campus, the amazing sports facilities and then checked out Autzen Stadium.  About one minute before pulling pulling into the Autzen Stadium parking lot (where we were going to have lunch), Kacie decided she REALLY needed a yogurt from the fridge.  So, while Owen was still driving, she opened the fridge and a dozen eggs fell out and onto the floor of the RV, most of them cracking and making a mess.  Owen, Merrie and Presley got out for some fresh air and a pic in front of the stadium, while Kacie sulked in the RV from the talking to she just received.  

After the stadium, we had lunch on the RV.  HB made some homemade chicken salad that she made from the pulled chicken we got from Safeway that morning while Kacie made some Mac-n-cheese in the microwave, but proceeded to put way too much water in the bowl and it overflowed while cooking.  This led to a discussion on taking your time and being detail-oriented.  

We tried to call Owie for his bday, but he was too busy with his friends and giant inflatable water slide.  Stopped at a produce stand on the way to Coos Bay and got some AMAZING blueberries and raspberries.  Before hitting the RV park in Coos Bay (Oceanside RV Resort), we stopped at Spinreel ATV to do a 2-hour dune buggy ride over the sand dunes.  We booked the 6-seater, but it was unavailable, so we ended up with one 2-seater and one 4-seater, which Owen and Merrie each drove.  The first sand dune we attempted was a “little steep.”  About ¾ of the way up the sand dune, Owen’s ATV got stuck.  Merrie’s was right behind his and got stuck as well.  We had to wait on some other dune buggy riders to help unbury Owen’s from the sand!

After that it was smooth-sailing.  We hit the beach, then did a bunch of riding over sand dunes (about a mile east of the beach) that must have been 40 feet tall.  It was the most sand that any of us had ever seen in one spot and went on for miles. We all had a lot of fun, but took a few minutes for us to get over the bumpy, jostling ride after we got off!

Drove into Coos Bay, over a few cool bridges, and hit our RV spot.

Met our next door neighbors (2 older couples from southern Oregon with a fancy RV), and walked out to the beach (about a 1-minute walk) to check out the scene.  Was a bit chilly with the clouds, so we headed back to the RV to have dinner – fried chicken from safeway, potatoes and house salad with ranch.

Tuesday, July 7

Owen and Merrie enjoyed coffee and tea in our Crazy Creek chairs on the beach while the girls slept in.  Even got in a short walk along the shore.  Noticed a cool lighthouse just to the left of our beach on the jetty.

After getting the girls up, we headed to Sunset Bay State Park for an 8-mile hike (much to Kacie’s dismay).  The trail went along the coast with beautiful views of the ocean and cliffs, along with some walks through the forest.

We even noticed some orange “moss” on some of the trees.  The trail took us to a view of Cape Arago State Park and an island where numerous sea lions were sunbathing and barking. We made a deal with Kacie that as soon as we were within view of the sea lions, we would turn around.  Owen ended up giving her a piggy-back ride part of the way back in order to keep her moving.

Ended up being about a 6.5-mile hike.  We rewarded the girls with a stop at Dairy Queen for their hard work.  Kacie has decided that hiking is not her thing .

We stopped at Chuck’s Seafood to get dinner (local cooked crab, fresh Chinook salmon and some oyster shooters) on the way back to our RV spot.  Facetimed with Uncle Steve for his birthday and hit the beach for a little R&R.  Beach was nice – it was sunny and supposedly 64, but felt like 70.  Owen and Kacie braved the Pacific Ocean – went all the way in on a dare.  Kacie won her Eggo back from HB (their currency for the trip).  Not sure how they got in that 50-ish degree water!

Grilled the salmon and cracked the crab on the picnic table.  So delicious!  Went well with the Caesar salad and leftover potatoes.  Great team effort!

Finished up Hamilton and then saw the sunset on the beach (9pm!).

P and Merrie woke up early and headed out for a walk on the beach.  Walked through some gross amphipods (had to look that up), which we were calling sand fleas.  They are pretty gross-looking, but don't bite.  We walked over to the jetty on the left side of the beach and found a cool natural aquarium, complete with fish and a starfish, inside the jetty along the ocean!  So cool....

Now off to Crescent City!