One of our favorite spots on the Oregon Coast is Bandon Beach on the southern coast, just 60 miles north of the California border. Michael and Emmy invited us to join their family for a week at Bandon, starting on July 1st through July 7th. We jumped at the invitation to go spend a week with our kids and being at one of our favorite spots was a bonus. My mother, Thelma Lindsay also came with us. We left Camano Island on July 1st and drove to Cascade Locks where we met my mother, who had driven from Pendleton.
We had hoped to be able to take a picture of some of the waterfalls in the Columbia Gorge, but it was literally a zoo that day.......everybody and their dog. We couldn't even find a place to park the truck. We met up with my mother in Cascade Locks, and found a cute little motel to spend the night. I drove mom's car through Portland so she didn't have to deal with the heavy traffic. We left her car at my cousin Shawn Lindsay's house and then we loaded our truck with her stuff and headed down to Bandon.
My mom is always such a good sport.....she loves to go an any adventure, and having just gotten back from spending time in Southern Utah with Uncle Ed Cook where the temperatures were over 100 degrees, she was excited to spend a week in the cool climate at the coast.
Michael and Emmy had found a beach house to rent, that was a three bedroom duplex, so we had lots of room. It was situated on a cliff overlooking the beach, with trails nearby that took you to the beach below. And the beach was THE attaction. There's something about a sandy beach and kids of ALL ages. So that's the first thing that we did......head to the beach. Ron had brought his 20 plus year old stunt kite and everyone took a turn at trying to fly it. I emphasize TRY. It really takes a while to get the hang of it......but once we got it flying, everybody had a great time.
Emmy tried her hand at flying the kite as well.
The entire family got into the act of trying to get the kite into the air.
Michael finally got it in the air! It wasn't easy to keep it there either. (stunt kites are harder to fly than normal kites.)
My mother, sitting on a piece of driftwood, at the beach.
Elena didn't want to fly the kite. She spent her first day at the beach collecting seagull feathers. She kept them tucked up in her jacket because she had so many she couldn't hold them all.
It was really fun watching Alexander try his hand at the stunt kite. Once he got it airborn, it just about lifted him off the ground.
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Even my mother tried her hand at flying the kite. Shortly after that, it got caught on the rocks, and part of the mechanism that holds the string to the kite broke. That ended out kite flying....darn
.
Michael had to climb up on one of the large rocks to start to untangle the kite string that had gotten tangled.
Bandon is situated at the mouth of the Coquille River. They built two large jetties out into the ocean, to help protect the mouth of the river so boats could more easily enter the port. The original lighthouse was decomissioned in 1939, and the lightkeepers were so upset with the government for decomissioning the light, that the tore apart the iron staircase inside the tower and threw it into the river. But the sad part is, is that they also took the priceless Fresnell lens and threw it in the river as well. Those lenses cannot be replaced, because they still haven't been able to duplicate how the original lenses were made by Fresnell in France. Today they just have a small beacon and foghorn sitting on the jetty.
We drove over to the other side of the Coquille River where the old light house is. It is situated at the head of the jetty, and is in the Bullard's Beach State Park. (one of the best campgrounds on the Oregon Coast.) The kids were able to take a tour up the tower to where the light used to be.
A view from the tower of the lighthouse.....James, Alexander and Elena.
That evening, Ron, Emmy, my mother and I, went down to the beach at sunset to try to get some good photos. I have to admit, that this year our photos at the beach didn't turn out too well. These are some of my better ones, but they're still not as good as in years past.
It was a full moon that night, and it was beautiful, to say the least.
I tried my hand at a panoramic shot. I combined 5 photos of the beach.
On the Fourth of July, Bandon had a parade through town. It mainly consisted of a few old cars (that were really cool), a whole bunch of Corvettes which Ron and Michael thought were pretty cool, plus all the firetrucks in town with all their sirens and lights blazing.
The part of the parade that the kids liked best, was that just about every other car threw candy out for everyone. They all scrambled to fill their pockets with candy. You wouldn't believe the pile of candy that they came back with.
One of the most interesting things in the parade, was a trailer with men actually creating statues of art with chainsaws....as the truck drove through the parade. They were really good. I don't know how they could create something with all that jiggling.
The kids got their faces painted. Elena was a cat, Alexander was firecracker, and James was a starburst.
That night, we weren't expecting too much for the fireworks, because Bandon is a pretty small town. But we were pleasantly surprised. They had a great fireworks display. Instead of going with the rest of the family to watch the fireworks in Old Town, Ron went over to the lighthouse on the other side of the river, and got a fantastic shot of the rising moon and the lighthouse with the glow of the fireworks warming the lighthouse and the grass. I think it's one of the best shots that he has ever taken. Love it!
Taken a few minutes apart, these shots are similar, but different, because one glows from gold fireworks, and one from red fireworks. Pretty cool.
Since there is no light in the tower any more, Ron lined up the moon so it shown right through the glass of the lighthouse.
The next day we drove north about an hour to Shore Acres. It is a beautiful area where the rocks are extremely rugged and the waves can crash higher than a 4 story building. The day we were there, it was pretty calm though, so we didn't get to see the big waves. There are beautiful formal gardens there, with a Japanese garden and trails to the beach.
I love the flowers on the lilly pads.
Ron had fun taking pictures of some water drops from the fountain in the center of the garden. He used my mother's bright colored shirt as a blurred background. It was funny when another visitor walked by with a red shirt, and Ron hollered at him "Hey wait a minute.....I need your red shirt!" He got the guy to pose for the background in his red shirt!
Ron, at the entrance to the gardens. They had a nice gift shop there as well.
The kids were trying to spot the orange Coi fish in the pond. They were really small and hard to find.
Michael and Emmy ( and James poking his head out) sitting on the rock wall at Shore Acres. During a windy day, (or any winter day) you couldn't sit here because you would be drenched by the huge waves.
(I found these photos of Shore Acres with large waves hitting the coastline. Can you see the tiny people in the picture?)
On the way home from Shore Acres, we stopped at some sand dunes so the kids could play. We were quite surprised at how hard the sand was. These sand dunes go on for miles and miles, and are huge.
The next day we spent some fun time just walking through old town of Bandon. Michael treated us all to fish and chips. Yum! Emmy bought some "melt in your mouth carmels" and mom bought some salt water taffy which was SO good.
The kids wanted to walk out onto the docks that were right in town, so we walked out to see what everyone was doing. People were crabbing. They had a fish and game warden guy there helping everyone to know what were legal "keepers" and what was not. Elena and Alexander thought holding the crabs was pretty cool.
The docks in the old part of town at Bandon are really nice. They have some pretty cool wooden carvings that are scattered all over. This giant crab was most appealing to Alexander and James.
Elena liked the sea turtle.
We did a lot of fun things, but the biggest draw to the kids, was the beach. They spent hours playing there. They found some holes in some rocks and built a house. We could hardly pry them away.
Below, a photo that Emmy took of Bandon Beach, along with some photos of the kids.
Emmy had a great time getting some good shots of the sea life early one morning when it was a minus tide.
It was finally time to start heading home. Michael and Emmy and their family left around 6:00 Saturday morning, and drove ALL the way home to South Jordan, Utah. That was long drive. They stopped at Crater Lake on the way.....it is such a beautiful spot.
We chose to take the slow route home and drove up the coast. We stopped at the Umpqua River Lighthouse. This lighthouse is still a working lighthouse and houses a priceless Fresnell lens.
Mom, overlooking part of Devil's Churn.
Ron went ahead of mom and I. Can you see him down on the rocks?
We stopped at Cape Foulweather. The winds can get over 100 mph here. But on a calm day (which is what we had) it is a beautiful view. There were even gray whales that we watched for a while. There is an old house that has been turned into a gift shop....it is right on the cliff, and the view is incomparable.
Our next stop was Boiler Bay. They call it that because the water is so rough that it looks like it is boiling at times. This day, was a very calm day however..
We stopped in Newport to get Ron's stunt kite fixed, and found out that it was a collector's item. We got a new part of $3. Now it's as good as new.....ready for the next time at the beach.
At Tillamook, we headed inland towards Portland. The northern Oregon Coast is very busy compared to the southern, and it was just getting too busy for us. We stopped and picked up my mom's car, and then I drove it back to Cascade Locks. We stayed at the little motel again, and then we parted ways with my mom the next day. Ron and I crossed the Bridge of the Gods at Cascade Locks and took the backroads for quite a while. We found a great view of Mt. Saint Helens, and stopped to enjoy it for a while.
It was a week well spent with family, doing fun activities. I cherish those times.....they just don't happen often enough. Thank you Michael and Emmy, for in the invitation to spend time with you and your family.
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