Wanderings--Episode 10--Gold Beach to Albany

One last photo from Gold Beach. 

This is a Christmas Ornament from the Nutcracker Suite Ballet, Mother Ginger and her skirt full of children!  Had to have it! I've seen lots of Nutcracker things but I've never seen this before.

 Apparently, I didn't take a single photo today!  What was I thinking?

There are not very many roads over the Costal Range from the ocean.  There is one out of Gold Beach BUT it looked to be a very secondary road and when asked the sweet ladies at the Visitor's Center Did Not recommend it.  Instead they recommended heading north on the 101 to Reedsport.  So, after another bread bowl of clam chowder that's the way I went.  

I spent some time driving around Coos Bay, didn't stop in at the tourist part of town but did stop in at a lovely Wool Shop.  (Once I found a way to get there and a place to park-always a challenge!) I didn't purchase any wool here but did choose a mineral darning egg - very pretty.  Will I ever use it?  Who knows but I do like "Pretty" rocks!

After Coos Bay it's a short drive to Reedsport where I said a sad goodbye to the Oregon Coast and began the long trek home.  Which I expect to take another two weeks!  I arrived in Albany late enough to check in and early enough for dinner.  I still did not have location services on my phone!  I thought it would clear up once I got inland but no, I had to find Starbucks on my own, sigh.

The next day I took a short drive to Scio, Oregon where my Great-grandfather William Hickam is buried.  I wanted to see the headstone(S) His wife, Cora,  returned to Missouri after he died and is buried in Vernon, County.  There is a separate stone for William next to hers which reads buried Scio Oregon.  Apparently, there is a headstone in Scio for Cora so people think she is buried there.  Scio is a very small place and I did not find the cemetery, nor did I find anyone who could tell me where it was, there was no one home at the Sheriffs office!  I decided I would write some letters including the documents to the Historical Society (S) to perhaps cheer up this misconception.  

It was still early when I returned to Albany.  The truck needed an oil change and  I had to find out why I had no Apple Maps on the phone.  So off I went to Valvoline for the oil change, on the way there I saw a Verizon Store!  One quick oil change and I was off trying to find a way to the Verizon Store-I think I wandered about for 15 minutes (would have been much faster with Apple Maps!)  The Tech played around with my phone for a while and found that my VPN was keeping my phone from connecting to the net!  Fixed that and presto Apple Maps worked again!

Back to the hotel for the night.  Tomorrow I'm off again heading east across a part of Oregon that is new to me.

Wandering - Episode 9 - Crescent City, CA to Gold Beach, OR

Crescent City has a large harbor, so there is a lighthouse!  I've taken MANY shots of lighthouses over the years on the west coast, it seems that they have a somewhat similar building.  This one reminds me of the light at Cabrillo National Monument.

I was driving along a breezeway that goes by the marina, but there are seals! It must have been too early for them as they were sleeping.

There were some large fishing vessels in port this day.

They are fitted out with hoist and nets and big lights, interesting.  I suspect all the fish I've been eating has been caught on one of these.

After a quick trip to Walmart (haven't seen one of those since Grand Junction, Colorado!) 

On the way I drove by a Chipotle!  I'll be having dinner there!

When I finished that part of the day, I followed the signs to a lovely park and a closer view of the lighthouse.  The shore here is loaded with driftwood and everywhere there are people hunting for agates.

There is a long breezeway here, a lovely flat surface.  I thought it might be nice to have a walk, UNTIL I read all the warning signs!  Apparently, sleeper waves come in high and strong.  Strong enough to wash you off that lovely walkway.  I decided that I couldn't out run such a wave so I would just stay safe in the parking lot!

Back at the hotel, I did laundry.  Such a fun activity, NOT

As always happens I had to reload the suitcase and get ready to leave the next morning.

I am never in a hurry to get out of any hotel and the trip to Gold Beach is short-like maybe 50 miles!

I stopped near Bandon, Oregon  for more costal photos.  The coast gets rockier and the water colder  the further North you go.  I really liked this formation, if you look closely you can see a keyhole just left of center.

 

Same stop just looking North.

So many pictures of the Pacific.

I arrived way too early to check in but I did go by the hotel and ask for a walk-in room.  I am temporarily disabled with difficulty walking,  there is no way I could carry luggage up stairs!  I had a bowl of amazing Clam Chowder for lunch.  (I remembered this place from my trip in 2010.)

 After that I took myself to the Visitor's Center, still without location services on my phone I needed a MAP!  Most of the town of Gold Beach is high above the actual beach and the road down is quite steep, about halfway down I remembered the road from 2010 as well.  Kelsey (one of the shelties before Quinn) and I parked in their lot and walked on the beach, one evening we even sat and watched the sun set from there.  The ladies in the Center were very nice. A couple of days later they helped me navigate my way inland. Loaded with a map I took my first walk on the beach, lots of lovely rocks here, Hum.  I left Gold Beach with a bag of pretty rocks, no agates though.

The view from my private balcony!  I had a lovely room there.  With the door open to the balcony you could hear the surf and feel the breeze it was wonderful. I think Gold Beach is my favorite place this trip.  While it is a tourist destination, lots of hotels and restaurants, it isn't as commercial as many other places.  There's the amazing Clam Chowder at the Porthole restaurant-I might have eaten it more than once!) I had to hunt for places to shop but I did find a fun Christmas shop there.

My last evening there, my last photos from Gold Beach.  I will miss you.