Wednesday, July 30 Oregon coast, Umpqua River Lighthouse, Whales, Bandon

 Wed., July 30

More beautiful Oregon Coast today. Perpetua Scenic Area, Devil's Churn... 

More seals in the distance

We stop for a view of Heceta Head Lighthouse, built in 1894, and nearby we notice a woman with binoculars watching something.  Sure enough, we see a whale spout.  She says there are about 6 grey whales feeding in this bay.  We watch them blow, then disappear, then re-surface.  Here's the best shot I could get, with a little whale's tale included.

We stop at the Sweet Magnolia Bakery in Florence for coffee and a treat - an orange/cranberry scone,  a huge cinnamon roll and some high-end coffee ($6 coffee that Greg couldn't tell from the $.75 cup, but it was fresh ground, etc. and we supported the local economy...

We pass  Oregon Dunes National Recreation area where dune buggies and ATV rentals are popular.   We have been there before, so continue on.  

All of Oregon's 363 miles of coast is public land.

The Umpqua River Lighthouse is our next stop.  Not terribly impressive, but still pretty, it features a red then white flash.

We pass through the town of North Bend, another lumbering hub where we begin to see lumber truck traffic.

Another lighthouse, across a shallow cove - Coquille River Lighthouse. It was built in 1896, decommissioned in 1939 and restored in 1979.  A sign says they are raising money for further restoration.

We stop in Bandon and walk a  nice paved trail which includes and overlooks Coquille Point Marine Garden, a lovely protected area.  It is windy and cold, so it is a quick walk.  Looking for puffins which frequent this area, but don't see any.  Lots of other birds, though.

Bandon's Farm & Sea is our next stop, looking for some lunch. Nice Kelp Forest mural outside!  We have seen kelp washed up on some of the beaches.  They have a few lunch items but not what we're looking for. They are mostly a fish market, with good looking fresh seafood including crabs, scallops and fish.  Also lots of sauces and specialty items.  We decide to get some salmon jerky for our jerky-loving son Bryan, never having seen it before.

For lunch, we continue down what they call the Bandon Boardwalk, which is an assortment of bait shops, restaurants and other shops and decorations - not really a boardwalk as East Coast goes.

Bait menu

We scout out two other lunch spots, deciding to go with Tony's Crab Shack.    Very basic, it shares the building with a bait shop and has only five or six small tables inside.  

We order 2 crab cakes and fish tacos and share.  The crab cakes are almost all crab meat and absolutely delicious!  The tacos are good too. It is served with a great sourdough bread which seems to be a "thing" in this area.

We've had enough of route 101 and its traffic, so decide to head inland now instead of finishing the coast.   We'll position so that we'll be nearer to Crater Lake National Park, tomorrow's adventure.  Back into heavily forested, lightly populated areas, yeah!

Another new flower!

We find a little campground called Toketee Falls in the Umpqua National Forest ($8), about 40 minutes from the entrance to Crater Lake.

One of the few places fires were allowed!