Coos Bay and Charleston, Oregon

The drive when we left Tugman State Park was a short one--we went 23 miles to Coos Bay and The Mill Casino. There, we dry camped (boondocked) for 3 nights in the casino rv parking lot. There were many other rvs and travel trailers in the rv lot. They have an rv park, but the sites are not level and the price starts at $29. With our solar panels we are able to boondock as long as our water tanks don't fill (gray and black tanks). We can refill our fresh water tank and we can empty the gray water, but the black has to be done at a sewer outlet---ugh! While boondocking at the casino our solar panels recharged our house batteries (which run our lights, computer, and tv) by 11 a.m. every morning!

We explored Coos Bay, Charleston, and the 3 state parks near Charleston while parked at the casino. Geocaching was our means of finding interesting places.

We started caching the afternoon we arrived. Our first cache was near Coos Bay Boardwalk. We found 2 caches on the boardwalk.

While we were looking for the second cache, we saw the man who owns the sailboat filling the gas tanks of his seaplane. Must be nice to fly from one boat to another!

The next day we tried our luck caching in Charleston and at the 3 state parks near Charleston--Sunset Beach SP, Cape Arago SP, and Shore Acres SP.

We found 6 caches in the village of Charleston. By the time we found the 6 it was lunchtime so we ate at Fisherman's Grotto. Bob had fish and chips and I had fish and clam chowder. Both were excellent. Unfortunately, 2 men at tables near us did not know that using cell phones in restaurants is rude. Both took and made calls in the time we were there. We now know everything we never wanted to know about them and the people on the other end of the signals!

Our first stop after lunch was Sunset Beach SP. We had 3 caches to find on the north shore along a cliff. We had a great view of the rocks offshore...

...and the tide pools as it was low tide. When we completed the 3 caches, the tide was high and you couldn't see the rocks with the tide pools that you see in this picture.

From our third cache, we had a great view of Cape Arago Lighthouse. It is not open to the public.

We went south of the beach to find some more caches. There were great overlooks at every turn.

Next stop, Cape Arago and Simpson's Reef Overlook. Seals, elephant seals, and sea lions like to rest on Shell Island at Simpson's Reef.
The seals were barking the whole time we were watching them until I turned on the movie camera and then they hardly made a sound!
From Cape Arago SP we went back to Shore Acres SP to see the formal gardens. Not many years ago, the salt sea spray killed most of the exotic plants in the gardens. The state planted native trees around the park to buffer the salt spray. Today there are over 600 rose bushes and other plants in the gardens. We entered through the rose arbor on the north west side.

These are the roses covering the arbor.Once inside the gardens, you can see the gardener's cottage which is the only original building left from the early 1900s.This is the path that leads to the rose garden.
Just before you enter the rose garden is a monkey puzzle tree which came from South America. It is definitely a strange tree. Once you enter the rose garden, the rows of roses are labelled. Most are blooming and if they aren't, they have buds. The ones blooming are gorgeous!

Some of the rhododendrons are still blooming, but most are past the bloom stage.
The Japanese garden was impressive. It surrounded this pond.

Here is another view of the pond.Just outside the Japanese garden was a path that leads down to the beach. At one time the owners had dressing rooms on the beach.
We had a good time looking for our record 14 caches. When we got back to the rv, we celebrated by going to the casino. Yes, we did spend time in the casino. Bob played blackjack with house money (casino gave you 15 chips for $10) and won $10. We both played the slots and came out even!

Our last day at the casino we did laundry and played the slots a bit more. All in all, we didn't do too bad. The slots entertained us for almost 4 hours for only $10!

When we left the casino, the plan was to camp at Cape Blanco SP for one night then go on to Harris Beach SP where we have reservations for Thursday-Sunday. It is a popular park and we were told reservations were a must. Thankfully, someone cancelled or we wouldn't have reservations!