With no particular agenda other than seeing the Oregon coast and staying in another one of its fine state parks, we departed Astoria and headed south on US 101.
A tour of the Tillamook Cheese Factory (and Creamery) provided an educational (and delicious) experience along the way.
After a long drive, we settled in Bullards Beach State Park, just outside the former port town of Bandon, OR. We immediately liked the park for its spacious and private sites and its location nestled on the beach along the mouth of the Coquille River. The quaint old town district of Bandon, a short drive away, offered several options for waterfront dining.
We really enjoyed our time at Bullards Beach. Unfortunately, reservations for Oregon state parks are hard to come by in the summer (at least those on a beach) and we could only stay three days.
L earned a Junior Beaver badge by attending several programs offered by the park. The park brings in local experts to talk about their area of expertise and give demonstrations. One program explored the biology of the Coquille River sloughs, including hands-on studying of zooplankton and phytoplankton under a microscope. This provided a nice complement to L’s current science studies.
She also learned about baleen whales and how they feed.
Rather than attend the Junior Beaver programs, M3 chose to try his hand at fishing in the Coquille River using sand shrimp.
His efforts paid off!
Unfortunately, those are pictures of the same fish! Even more unfortunate for the fish, a watchful gull swooped in for lunch when M3 threw it back.
This is not a gull, much less the offending gull, but it is the perch from which he swooped.
We ventured across the Coquille to Face Rock beach for our last evening in the area. Arriving an hour or so before sunset, we enjoyed the views from the cliffs above…
Walked down to the beach…
Played…
Ate cookies…
And took a hundred pictures as the sun set…
Do you see the face looking to the sky? Indian legend holds that the Evil Spirit of the Ocean turned a young girl to stone when she disobeyed her elders and swam in the ocean. I’d say that’s one big girl!
The scene from above as we departed…
The next morning, a polite ranger crushed our spirits when she reported that there were no cancellations that would permit us to extend our stay. We all squeezed in one more program about owls before taking flight to Crater Lake.
Educational! And beautiful sunset with legend.
That fish certainly was released. That video was awesome. I showed the kids and we all laughed!