Friday - July 17

Very dreary, chilly (50's) and windy start to the day....Mark talked to someone last night in the park and he said they have strong winds daily!    We had a leisurely morning sipping our coffee (no latte on Flo) and catching up on computer stuff.    Mark was busy plotting the rest of our 101 trip with campground reservations and beyond once we leave CA.    This Pacific highway ends in northern CA and we plan to just do a small section.

Yesterday we were in the parking lot of the Tillamook Creamery in Tillamook - it is huge (2 lots actually), but only a few RV's and there as a huge sign on the building said "Reservations only".    The internet says the visitor's center and store are closed til further notice cause of the virus.

So we are on Coos Bay which is same name as town and also near North Bend.......one of our stops after leaving 101 is Bend, OR (northeast of here).    We've heard so much about this town.......but it's 239 miles away from where we are now in North Bend???

We are on the site of an old lumber mill converted into a big casino-hotel and our RV park.    A shuttle runs back and forth taking campers to spend their $ and makes numerous trips all day long.

Finally found the name for the beautiful red flower in Cannon Beach....

Crocosmia

I really think Cannon Beach should be known as the "Hydrangea capital of the state, country, world"?    Ha......they are everywhere and all such deep vibrant blooms and huge.

What would we do without Google?

Lots of whitecaps on Coos Bay today - wind is crazy........but the sun came out around noon and warmed up to 65.

Around 3, we left in Big Red for the Cape Arago State Park (15 miles south) in Charleston, OR.    Wow....beautiful area with mind-blowing scenery of the rugged rocky Oregon coastline,    We saw a whale come up quickly and go back down.    We hiked a nice trail and then onto Shore Acres State Park and more hiking and great views.    And left the park seeing mommy and baby deer

Cape Arago Lighthouse in the distance

Low tide

tidal pool

It was so nice to take pics while not riding and trying to capture a good shot.    Just doesn't work as we're flying by and not easy to quickly pull over with Flo.

We left the park happy campers - we saw a whale, 2 deer and some truly awesome scenery.   

Back to Flo and enjoyed a glass of wine and some smoked salmon....yum!    Then our Italian leftovers from last night,    That was some mighty fine dining (carry out)!

Enjoy your weekend!