Friends on the Oregon Coast

After three days in Armitage County Park, with Scoopy’s annual service complete and our groceries replenished at the nearby Trader Joe’s, we were ready to head back to the coast. We had two days in Florence, which unfortunately turned out to be not the best weather days. The marine layer wafted into town and just stayed there. Still, there’s lots to do in this area, and we managed a few outings.

We stayed at the Elks RV Park about five miles north of town. What a great place! We were in a long pull-through and very secluded. We happened upon a car show in town while on the hunt for some yummy fish and chips, which thrilled Steven to no end. He loves photographing old cars and these were in top notch shape.

  
Lots to see at the vintage car show in Florence the day we arrived.

Two days isn’t much time to visit and this was our shortest stay yet, but we were looking forward to our next stop in Port Orford and were ready to move on. Port Orford was all about socializing, walking on the beaches and warm, sunny weather – and brisket!

We stayed at the Port Orford RV Village right next to our friends Gordon & Juanita. It was wonderful to see them again and catch up with all the goings on. Gordon has a couple of smokers and I requested a brisket, and he obliged. Pretty delicious chow for this Texas gal. Gordon also has a fleet of flying machines, so he and Steven managed to get out with their Phantoms for a bit of practice.

  
Scoopy at Port Orford.                                      Steven is happy to be flying his Phantom again!

  
Battle Rock Beach in Port Orford where our pedometers, Pedro and Podrick, were very happy!

  
Battle Rock Beach had wonderful views and was a great place for us to get our walk in.

    
Our feet got a workout; walking, paddling and making shapes in the sand.

   
Gordon prepares the sacred brisket.                  Gordon and Steven share flying tips and strategies.

There are a few folks whose blogs we read hosting at the lighthouse at Cape Blanco, so we made plans to get together with them. As it turned out, there were quite a few RVillage folks in the area, so it became a full-fledged party, hosted by Chris and Cherie (Technomadia). They, along with Paul & Nina (WheelingIt), Clarke & Elaine (What’s Newell) and Gary & Angie (Grandma & Grandpa Squirrel) are hosting at the Cape Blanco Lighthouse in September and October. It’s a great gig, but one I’m not sure I could handle. It gets pretty windy up there. We managed to break off from the party long enough to get a tour of Clarke and Elaine’s Newell. That is one awesome rig, and it has so many cool features my mind is working overtime trying to figure out how I can incorporate their awesome foot-of-the-bed wine rack in Scoopy! Nina also offered a tour of “The Beast”, which is indeed beastly, but considering the 12 paws that travel with her and Paul, it seemed a homey and comfortable space. After the event we drove up to the lighthouse, and when Steven opened the car door it very nearly flew off. It’s no secret I don’t like heat, but I don’t like wind either!

  
Get together with fellow fulltimers.                   Cape Blanco Beach at sunset.

  
Linda watching the sunset at Cape Blanco.     It was super-windy up at the lighthouse.  

Cape Blanco has an amazing beach and just before sunset we took a short walk. But since it was kind of chilly, we made plans to return. I never did, partly because of the wind, but also because of the wind. 🙂  Steven went back and got some gorgeous photos and in the process logged a bunch of steps. I hate it when his little pedometer is in the thousands and mine is not, but I need a day at home every now and again to get stuff done and basically just be lazy.

Thursday morning we made a short drive to Humbug State Park to visit with Keith and Brenda (Damn Near Perfect Couple). We had met them at the RVillage gathering, but didn’t get to spend much time together. They are wrapping up a summer-long volunteering stint teaching the Junior Ranger program. As we were leaving, I happened to mention that I needed to stop at the store for fresh herbs. Brenda said, “whatchu need?” We walked over to her little garden and she loaded a bag with beautiful herbs – everything I needed for my French potato salad and more.

  
With Keith and Brenda at Humbug State Park.    Brenda’s herbs put to great use!

Brenda has inspired me to learn to grow things and figure out how to travel with them. In fact, I already made my first purchase. Now, I might well kill this beautiful basil plant before we hit Texas, but it was cheaper than buying the fresh stuff in a package, so I figured at the very least I’d get a bunch of leaves from it before it keels over. We’ll see how it goes.

Port Orford marked the end of our time in Oregon. Our next destination, Eureka, California is significant for us because it is new territory and a final break from the Pacific Northwest.

UP NEXT: Eureka!

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