Welcome to Oregon...."Again": Day 2: Where Am I?

OMG…the Oregon coastline is awesome! As I continued driving south along the coastline (the famous highway 101), the landscape was ever changing. At times it felt like I was in Maine. Other times it had a real UP feel. The rock sea stacks were definitely reminiscent of those of Iceland (such as those at Reynisdranger -- see the photo in my Iceland blog: http://toiceland-2018.blogspot.com/2018/06/its-never-too-late-for-your-dream-to.html) And the big sandy dunes made me think I was somewhere along Lake Michigan. Diverse. Rugged. Beautiful.

Sleep was not the best, largely because of jet lag. I awoke at my “normal” time around 4 am. The problem was that this was 4 am local time! I tried to fall back asleep to no avail so finally concluded that I might as well get up. I futzed around a bit and eventually left the campsite about 6:30 am. I went back to Thor’s Well in hopes of getting some shots without the “salt spray slime” on my filter. Unfortunately, the tidal conditions were…again…not conducive. But there was a heavy fog bank moving in, and with the morning light, the landscapes were still pretty cool!

Notice how the tree is leaning. This is a common sight along the coast...the nearly constant strong winds cause the trees to grow slanted!

I debated whether to stick around for the tide to come in more and retake shots of Thor’s Well, but I decided to move on. My ultimate destination, Natural Bridges, was less than 2 hours south, and I knew I would have additional stops along the way.

One of the stops was at Bandon Beach. There was still a fog hanging over the ocean, and I was able to capture several long exposure shots, which makes the water look silky smooth.

I continued south and stopped a few more times to grab some shots. Along the way I needed to stop for gas, and pulled into a Shell station, which turned out to be an attended gas station…meaning an attendant pumps the gas for you! Wow, I hadn’t seen one of these in decades and thought they were a thing of the past (I found out later this a “thing” in these parts). The attendant was extremely friendly and offered to bring the receipt into me while I went in to grab a coffee and use the restroom (which he made sure to mention were very nice!). This was such a nice surprise, especially during the pandemic where service and hospitality is not always easy to find!

Before I got to Natural Bridges, I decided I better start earlier to find someplace to stay. I drove up along the Rogue River to a National Forest Campsite which I reasonably certain would have spaces available. But, when I got there, the sign said “Full”. Dangit!! I later learned that this was a first-come, first-serve only campsite (unlike the other two near Thor’s Well), and since this was LABOR DAY WEEKEND, they filled up fast. I never even considered this fact…poor planning on my part!

So again, I was in search of another campsite and beginning to worry. There were a few less than 20 miles away, but again this was as the crow flies. I would waste a lot of time driving to these with no guarantee there would even be spots available. So I went Plan B…or was it Plan C by now?...which was to simply park at one of the many roadside pullouts along Hwy 101. Most are posted “No camping”, but some aren’t for whatever reason. I soon found one that looked suitable as evidenced by a large travel trailer that had clearly been there for a while based on the solar panels that were set up alongside. So I pulled in, parked and got out to survey the situation.

There was also a car parked in the pullout, and the owner was chatting with another guy sitting in a lawn chair, who I later learned was the owner of the trailer. They appeared to know each other. The guy with the car was there surfing, and he was tying up his surf boards, getting ready to leave. The trailer owner indicated that he had been in this spot for 2 weeks now (he pointed out a spot of green grass under what was obviously some type of wastewater discharge!) and “they” (law enforcement) never bothered him. He said as long as you don’t park overnight where there are no camping signs, you are ok. So, I felt reasonably comfortable staying there. By the end of the night two other RVs had joined us! The next day I also noticed quite a few people camping in many of the posted areas as well. So there ya go…boondocking Oregon style!