Monday, September 10, 2018

Day 73 of 117 on our “Go West, Young Man” Two Lane Adventure – Friday 9/07/18


We enjoyed breakfast with a few of the members of the caravan. There were 12 of us that met up at the Pancake Mill for breakfast. It was not totally planned, it just worked out that way and we were able to sit close and enjoy one last meal together!

We came back to the coaches and did our final preparations, before we departed Mill Casino in North Bend. Since we had a short drive, to Gold Beach, we decided to depart at 11am.

Coos Bay is the largest city on the Oregon coast and the largest deep water port between San Francisco and Seattle. The Coos History Museum provides information about the cultural history of south-coastal Oregon, emphasizing area residents' traditional dependence on rivers, sloughs, and the sea.

There are many historic buildings in Coos Bay. The Tioga Hotel, located on North Broadway. It is on the National Register of Historic Places. The Depression and World War II halted completion of this tallest building on the Oregon Coast. The hotel has been rehabilitated and provides low cost housing for seniors.

The Egyptian Theatre is an outstanding example of Egyptian Revival Architecture, made popular by the discovery of King Tutankhamuʼs tomb. Elaborately decorated theatre remains largely unchanged. Due to the Theatre’s historical significance, and to the commitment of Helen Doving to historical research, the Egyptian Theatre was entered into the National Register of Historic Places on May 24, 2010.

US 101 S also known as the Pacific Coast Scenic Byway. The Oregon Coast is famous for expansive views and a diverse landscape, and this byway travels along its entire glorious 363-mile stretch, even though we are not on it for all of those miles. We journeyed past sandy beaches, rocky cliffs, scenic tide pools, crashing waves and charming towns full of culture and history.

Our first view of the Pacific Ocean, included the outlet from the Coquille River, as we crossed the bridge. The Coquille’s three major tributaries; the North, Middle, and South Forks join the main stem within a few miles up and down stream of the town of Myrtle Point and flow into the Pacific Ocean at Bandon.

If you journey further down the Oregon coastline along Highway 101, the off-the-radar coastal town of Bandon is an unspoiled jewel worthy of a visit. For those who crave finding a beach that offers a little bit of everything, like ample tide pools teeming with sea creatures, hermit crabs and starfish, rocks to climb or perch yourself upon to watch stunning sunsets, driftwood to discover and explore. The best view beach in Bandon is located along Beach Loop Drive where the Oregon Islands Wildlife Refuge and the iconic Face Rock are located just offshore.

Nearer to the small town’s Old Town, the jetty and the historic lighthouse are across the river. The Old Town section where visitors will enjoy a variety of shops from candy stores like Cranberry Sweets to Second Street Gallery, an excellent art gallery featuring local artists’ works. Also located in Old Town are several restaurants offering a variety of cuisines from Italian, or old-fashioned American diner food, to classic coastal seafood fare.

The historic Coquille River Lighthouse can be explored from the outside after just a short road trip north of town and across the river, as well as numerous state and county parks and lighthouses that dot the coastline both north and south of Bandon.

We came into Langlois, Oregon. Their welcome sign says the town is “world famous” … for what or why? How did the actual wording of the sign evolve?  Well, already out on the web there were references to items within Langlois as “world famous”.  They have visitors from multiples places in the world who come to Langlois for wind surfing at Floras Lake. They have one of the original buildings that housed the famous Langlois Blue Vein Cheese Factory.  Curry County is known world-wide within the wool industry as having the most dense wool after cleaning, of any in the world.  And, of course, they have the “world famous” Langlois hotdog with its homemade mustard.  Is there a little bit of “tongue in cheek” going on here?  Well, maybe.  But, people passing through Langlois will see the words “World Famous”, wonder about it, just like I did.

The weather here is unique. We are driving along the beach in the fog and it is cool.

Then we start to travel away from the beach around Humburg Mountain and there is no fog and it is sunny and warm.

When people hear the word “rainforest” they most likely think of the lush jungle plants, colorful birds, high humidity, and heavy rainfall of tropical rainforests. These forests are found in Southeast Asia, Africa, South America, and Central America. But there is another kind of rainforest, called the temperate rainforest that exists right in the United States along the coastline of the Pacific Northwest. Temperate rainforests are formed in the Pacific Northwest because the coastal mountain ranges in Oregon trap the air masses full of moisture that rise from the Pacific Ocean. As this moisture condenses into rain it creates lush rainforests with trees like the Coastal Redwood in California that grow to enormous sizes.

It was not the best stretch of road to pull off and grab some pictures of the Pacific, but we had to do it. The fog and overcast skies gives an eerie feel to the area.

We crossed the Rogue River Bridge into Gold Beach. The Rogue River Bridge spans the mouth of the Rogue River. Known as the Isaac Lee Patterson Bridge after the Oregon governor who promoted its construction, the bridge was completed in 1932. The Rogue River Bridge was the first of the big six bridges to be built because tidal action on the Rogue made ferry operation there especially challenging. The 1,898-foot structure consists of a set of nine 16-foot reinforced-concrete deck girder spans on either end of a series of seven 230-foot reinforced-concrete ribbed deck arches. In 1982, the American Society of Civil Engineers designated the Rogue River Bridge a National Historic Civil Engineering Landmark because of McCullough’s use of Freyssinet’s pre-stressing technique. In 2005, the bridge was listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Going through Gold Beach, there were these amazing hydrangeas in front of the court house. I am used to them being a spring and summer flower, but not an early fall flower. The colors are unique and interesting!

We arrived at Turtle Rock RV Resort, our first stop on our small caravan of 3 rigs to Redding California. We will be here for one night, when Rod ran a Northwest Extension caravan, he stayed at this campground.

The three girls made an afternoon trip to Gold Beach. We can walk from the campground to the beach, there is a low tide and high tide path. We had to put our feet in the Pacific Ocean!

We were happy, because most of the fog had lifted and we had some light! We found the “turtle rock” on the beach.

The sand is different than any I have seen before, it is more like a greyish-black, than the white sand we have on the gulf coast of Florida.

I guess, this is the rocky Pacific Coast that I have heard about.

We enjoyed dinner with the gang and then we wanted to make a sunset trip back to Gold Beach.

The colors were amazing and I am so happy we came back out …. Even though it was cooling off.

Ohh, one last shot!

Tomorrow is onto our next adventure!

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