Up The Left Coast - 163 miles

Only a short day today.  We just  cruised up the coast stopping here and there to look at the scenery.  Beautiful coastline along the Oregon Coast.  Lots of small ragged islands.

Today the water is dead calm, but apparently it can get quite fierce at other times.

Breakfast was in a small cafe in Gold Beach, OR.  Very friendly lady owner who said she won a large sum at a casino and so invested in the diner.  Good food.  We watched someone being served their omlette special.  Six eggs!!!  He didn't finish it but was given a doggy bag.

We visited Cape Blanco lighthouse, the westernmost of the USA mainland.  There were volunteers to show us around and tell us the history.  Lovely people.  The tour would have cost a whopping $2 each, but we had a Parks Pass.  Second time we have used it.  

Saw our first gopher here.  There were diggings all around the lighthouse and we watched a fresh one.  Cute little buggers, but destructive.  Worse than bandicoots.

We took a back way into Coos Bay and promptly got lost looking for a Wells Fargo branch.  A very nice lady showed us the way by getting us to follow her to a mall where she said the bank was.  Thanked her very much - went inside - no branch.  Oh well.  We did some shopping for tonights meal and met a security man for the mall.  His wife was with him and knew exactly where a Wells Fargo ATM was and gave us directions.  This time they were right.

We are constantly surprised at how nice and polite people are.   Crossing the street is unnerving.  Cars stop for you no matter where you are.  No pedestrian crossing? No worries they stop anyhow.  It is a bit unnerving but really nice.  At home they might deign to swerve to miss you but that is all and then only to avoid damage to their paintwork.

I'm guessing a real test will be in the big cities.  Should we try stepping out in front of a New York taxi?  I wonder.......

Tonight's KOA we are camping instead of the cabins we have been in the last couple of nights.  This park is full of quads.  There are large tracts of sand dunes nearby and a portion is set aside for recreation vehicles.  Other parts are for horses or bushwalkers.   The quads can be pretty noisy, but we are assured there is a curfew on noise making.  Hope so.

Found out today, we have a house to stay in when we get to Vancouver Island.  That'll certainly be welcome.  They are sure to have a heater.

Didn't get above 55F (12C) today.  I'm still cold.

We got a few pics though.

This time entering Oregon they had a sign

Typical Oregon Coast

A real greasy spoon

Our first gopher - seemingly unworried by our presence

Cape Blanco Lighthouse

Jack reads the lighthouse logs

Bay Bridge, Coos Bay, Oregon