Today was a travel day, we drove from Bend to Coos Bay, the trip was nice and easy, beautiful views of the mountains, and we enjoyed some beach time once we got to Coos Bay.
Today we hit the coast of Oregon as we head to Coos Bay. We are all excited about being at the beach, and getting a little warmer weather. We are also hoping there is not much smoke there.
Our morning routine was uneventful, but the girls got ready sooner to get out and play with their new friend. This actually helped Carol get the inside done a bit faster, and we were all done by 11am, which is our goal always.
The girls said good bye to their friend, exchanged numbers, took pictures, etc. It was really nice to see them make a new friend, even through all the Covid precautions, they were wearing masks and keeping distance as if it was just part of life, no big deal. Bia and Bella are very happy with their new friend Gia (short for Georgia). Now, they keep asking us when we will get to California, because Gia is from there, and they would like to maybe see her again, and as importantly, they don’t want to be there for Halloween as Trick or Treating is “banned” there, according to Gia. So, no California for Halloween!
Our drive was very nice. As we left Bend, the views were the same for about two hours, forests, mountains around us. Then, we hit a stretch of being in the middle of the mountains, in the middle of large trees in forests, and it was thick, and we were going up to 5,000 feet, then down to 1,000 feet, and eventually hit the coast. Super nice drive through tunnels carved in the mountains, and zig zags, some lakes, etc. The drive down reminded me of the drive from Sao Paulo to the coast (Litoral) to Guaruja, but this one was more mature forests with very large trees that sometimes covered the road, and were likely trimmed by trucks hitting the lower branches.
We only made one stop to get gas, use the restroom and get some food. Then another stop as we were about 25 miles away as I wanted to call the resort to check the best way to get there since Google maps was showing one thing, and the trucker GPS was showing an extra 20 miles. I’m glad I called as Google Maps was showing what could be done with a trailer (it doesn’t know though), so we saved at least 30 minutes. The trucker GPS assumes we have a truck, so it was trying to route us south, to then come back up via a more truck appropriate road.
As we got closer, we started seeing the Oregon Sand Dunes, which looks really cool and we definitely have to check them out. It looks like you can do lots of stuff there, hike, rent buggys, etc kind of like in Natal, in the North of Brazil too. I’m looking forward to checking that out more.
Then, not long after the Dunes we got to Coos Bay downtown, which looks like a small fisherman village, and I read later that there’s lots of Crabbing and Claming around here. Our campground is actually not in the Bay Area, and rather by the ocean, so we passed the downtown a bit (south) and arrived at a campground, tucked in an area near the water. The lobby area and the few sites by the front were not impressive, even though this is an Encore Sun Resort. I checked in, and we had received site 7, which is right in front of the office, and really does not give the feel of camping at all, it has 2 sites next to it, and some cabins, it’s right by the road as well, so we asked to change.
We got moved to a a better spot closer to all other RVs, and steps away from the paths to the ocean. We can’t see the beach from here, but we can see the ocean is right there, behind the trees. The girls were playing around while Carol and I setup, I told them to go to the beach, but they were “not finding it”.
When I finished unhooking the car, I drove it around the site to be able to park behind the trailer, and in doing that I saw the beach entrances, so I told the girls where they were. They could not be missed, so I don’t think they were looking very hard before. They went, and we continued setting up. Within 15 minutes they were back, soooo excited with what they saw and wanting to show it. I had most of the stuff setup, at least enough to be able to stop and leave the rest for later, so I went with them, and Carol stayed as she was doing some cleaning inside.
I followed the girls through the beach access path, and wow….
The view of the beach from the moment you step over the last tree was just amazing.
The sun was setting on our left, with a cliff in front of it.
The vast beach was right there. The sun light was still touching most of the beach to our right.
The water was back a ways, so lots of sand showing up.
It was just amazing, I think I took 100 pictures in the hour or so we were there.
I posted a few right away on WhatsApp to our friends and family, and not too long after Carol came with Maggie.
The girls were so excited.
Running around, doing cartwheels, flips, jumping, drawing “I love the beach” on sand.
Finding crabs.
And even a star fish.
They already decided we should stay here for 2 weeks, and stay over Halloween. Hahhahha.
We had a nice walk, there’s a lot to see around here, so it may be nice to spent the 2 weeks if we do it.
Dunes, Crabbing, Beaches, Cliffs, Parks, lots to see.
We talked about Monday, and that we need to go to sleep early so they are not crabby and can get school work done timely, so they can go to the beach as soon as they are done, by that time the sun was almost not touching the beach anymore, and was mostly behind the cliff, so we went back. Carol got dinner ready, I finished the setup I had not finished, girls showered. We had our dinner, talked about waking up plans for tomorrow, which all meant I have to wake the girls up at specific times, Bia for the whole class at 5:50amPST, and Bella at 7amPST for ELA.
Girls went to sleep, and Carol and I watched some TV. Carol was flipping through channels and found the Impractical Jokers, and we laughed hard for like an hour. Those guys are way too funny. I called it a night as I’m the one waking up early tomorrow :). It was a nice travel day with some beach time at the end. Cheers to the Oregon Coast.