Cape Blanco, Oregon--June 25

We said goodbye to The Mill Casino and headed toward Coquille River Lighthouse just north of Bandon, Oregon. Since this lighthouse marks the entrance to the Coquille River it is much smaller than some of the other lighthouses we visited. In fact, this one is no longer in service. The Coast Guard has a beacon on the south jetty (opposite the lighthouse) that is used by ships in the area.

We were able to climb the ladder to view the lens room, but the lens was thrown out about 30 years ago--no one knows where.

It was just a short drive from Coquille River LH to Bandon, Oregon which is a small town on the Oregon coast with interesting shops. Once we found a parking spot for our rig, we walked around town. We sampled the candy in the Myrtlewood Candy shop (Rachael Ray visited the shop on $40 a day). The toy store was also interesting. From Bandon we proceeded to Cape Blanco State Park to spend the night. We usually stay in an area more than one night, but we had reservations for Harris Beach State Park the following day. We found a nice spot, then went exploring.Our site was located across from a road leading down to the beach. We decided to walk the coast trail instead of going down to the beach. The coast trail follows the cliff around the beach. We got a good view of the driftwood on the beach! Cape Blanco is the westernmost point in Oregon.

As we neared the end of the trail we got a good view of Cape Blanco Lighthouse. The tours ended at 3:30 so we planned to visit it the following morning.

We walked along the campground road to return to our site.

The next morning we walked down the beach road since the tide was low. One thing we found out is that you don't want to be on an Oregon Beach when the tide comes in--there may not be any beach left and you could be trapped along the rocks. We have the schedule for tides that we keep handy and refer to often when planning beach visits.

We walked along the beach, Joyce near the water and Bob along the driftwood, looking for rocks and driftwood.

The lighthouse opened at 10 and we were there shortly thereafter to take the tour.Cape Blanco LH is still in operation. The light is on 24/7. The horn has a distinct whooo-whooo sound.

We waited on the watch level for our turn to go into the lens room. Cape Blanco is on of the few lens rooms you can actually enter.

The glass at this lighthouse was the clearest we had seen. The view of the ocean, however, was hazy.Bob took this picture of the steps before we descended.
Port Orford was our next stop. We wanted to see the Coast Guard Rescue Museum. Its true name is Port Orford Heads State Park. The building that houses the museum was once Coast Guard crews quarters. It was an interesting museum with many models of coast guard ships once used at Port Orford. There was also a room devoted to the lumber industry in the area.

Outside there was one rescue boat on display. The boat was self-bailing and self-righting--it was used in heavy surf to rescue sailors on sinking boats. The long, thin rectangles are the self-bailing feature.Check out time at state parks if 1:00 p.m. so we headed back to Cape Blanco State Park to get the rv and head to Harris Beach State Park in Brookings, Oregon. We are enjoying the drive south on the Oregon Coastal Highway. The views are spectacular!

As we were checking into Harris Beach, the ranger told us that we had one of the best spots in the park! Sure enough, we did. Our site was one of the few that had an ocean view! This is the view from our side window.

We plan to be at Harris Beach until Monday when we have to check out. We are looking for a good place to bide our time until after the 4th of July holiday weekend.