I think I’m a light sleeper, so it’s amazing how well I can sleep inside a thin-walled travel trailer, on the outer sides of a Walmart parking lot, semis and RVs pulling in and out all night.
But I did. Sleep well. And after a breakfast of pancakes and french press coffee fixed over the gas stove, we were on our way from Corvalis to Newport where we would discover the Oregon Coast on this beautiful sunny day.
The logging industry was evidenced here. Plywood, stacked high on railroad cars was of high value in today’s market. Farms – not green farms as in Michigan – but hay – lots of hay. And old barns here, as all across the country, told stories of long ago. We’d already seen such diverse landscape in this beautiful state of Oregon – ice-capped volcanic mountains, dry desert buttes, hay fields – and we weren’t yet at the water. I was anxious to see the coast
Soon we turned south on Highway 101, another scenic byway, this one along the Pacific Coast, and we crossed a beautiful arch bridge, The Yaquina Bay Bridge, 133 ft. above the waters of the bay below.
We saw the dark blue waters of the Pacific Ocean to the west.
Anxious to get to the water, we stopped at the first beach pull off we could find. And we were simply amazed!
Then we continued to stop as often as we could throughout the rest of the day.
The winding roads of this southern Oregon coast mimicked those to which we’d become accustomed on this trip, but in contrast, these roads were set in clouds atop rocks extending well into the Pacific.
Before we knew it, we had arrived at our reserved campground for the night. We would still cover much of the coast tomorrow as we continued south toward the California line.
We found Honeyman State Park to be perfect!
We checked in at the small office and drove to locate our site in this beautiful park. Shady, Sun-filtered. Mossy trees. Everything I love in a campsite. Yes, it was perfect, at least, until we arrived! Yikes!
When Ron and I were younger and took the kids camping, we struggled to back the trailer in to the campsite every – single – time! But we were well beyond that now. We never had a problem setting up the trailer at ANY site during this trip – until this one!
In all fairness to us, you “campers” can look at our designated site and perceive the problem: The water spigot is on the edge of the drive – close to the drive – with no support post beside it. (The wooden post you see is angled behind it.) When one backs in, one must crank . . .
Well, you see the problem. We, on the other hand, missed it!
Water started flushing out . . . oh, it was pitiful.. . .
Two phone calls, campers walking by and pointing out the problem (as if we didn’t see it!), four park rangers, the water shut off to the campers for 45 minutes, and over an hour later, the pipe is fixed.
Whew! Let’s take a walk and get away from this embarrassing situation!
Although the campground is in a deep woods setting, the sand dunes are the key feature of this state park. Dune buggies run the dunes.
We would have liked to have hidden when the tire of Ron’s truck broke that water pipe, but it’s difficult to hide with a pickup truck and a 24 ft. trailer! Ron kind of blamed me, since, as he backed up, he had called to me out his side window, “Am I okay on the other side?”
“Yes,” I answered. Never considering . . .
I assumed he had checked the area before backing up, so . . .
But, unlike those early years of marriage and camping, there was no yelling – no anger – very little frustration. Not that we’ve reached any level of perfection . . . I think we’ve just learned to put our problems in perspective!
We laughed about it then, and we laughed about it today, when I wrote about it!
By nightfall, the tent campers in the area were able to once again access water from the spigot, campsites downhill from the water spigot dried up from their flood of water, and Ron and I both slept well in the dark night of this forest.
See my next post, #17 The Fog Lifts. Click here.
Thank you, Eric Ethridge for your permission to use your awesome photo of the boulders on the Oregon Coast as my featured photo on this post. You’ll find more of his photos on Instagram: Eric Ethridge.
Thank for sharing your trip.
Thank you! I love doing it.
All’s well that ends well. The rugged Oregon coast is such primitive, natural beauty. God loves variety!
That’s for sure! I so appreciate you following! Writing next post right now!