Another Beach, Another Injury, Lots More Beautiful Views


We woke up in Coos Bay and I was delighted to finally see the sun. After my weekend in Eugene, I was about ready to start building an ark. But the wet spell was broken, just in time for us to enjoy some really nice coastal driving.

We stopped at many places along the route from Coos Bay to Gold Beach. There are some breathtaking sights along the way. I could have stopped every ten minutes.

We stopped at a beach front park to run a little bit and have lunch. I made a salad in my pie plate and ate it sitting on a park bench while watching the waves. 

After eating we went for a little beach excursion, and I brought my camera:

It was at the very end of this walk that River climbed up on the top of a wall and then walked along it as it got higher. Then he jumped off on the high part. I didn’t know it at the time, but I think this is when he hurt himself.  He was limping pretty badly by the time we were in the motel that night.

Another stop we made along the way was a town called Bandon. They had an “Old Town” section of town, that I couldn’t resist stopping for. I was just going to drive through town, but when I saw some art sculptures that were so compelling to me that, I decided I had to park the car and go for a walk.
This is about seven feet high.
It was so impressive, I parked my car and got out to get closer to it.
These two pieces so impressed me when I drove by that I parked my car and got out to get a closer look at them. The closer I got, the more it became apparent it was just pieces of plastic. I got emotional as I stood and looked at it.
A seal sitting on a rock.
Both of those sculptures were made entirely out of plastic that had been collected out of the ocean.

It was sunny and nice out and the town was so cute, it was almost like Disneyland. We walked all over taking pictures and meeting people.
Showing off his striking red head harness
 River got lots of looks and compliments as we walked through the town and admired all the public art.
River has to wait while JAG uses his iPhone
 It was so nice to be able to take my camera out without worrying that it's going to be rained on when I take a picture.
River sees himself a farm dog

There was art on every corner of Bandon.

River is fascinated by his namesake
 We also walked out to the end of that dock that you can see in the back ground of the above picture. We couldn't go out onto the breakwater though, because one of us is a dog.
furniture? art? nature?
 This reminded me of a table my dad made when I was a kid.
River is especially fond of art on the ground

JAGs favorite was this squid
At one point, as we were walking through Old Town Bandon, River’s attention was suddenly and strongly pulled toward a group of four teenagers and a woman. I couldn’t figure out why the sort of attention usually reserved for other dogs, or cats, would be garnered by this group of humans. But then I heard the woman call out as the boys ran from her, “River, get back here!” and one of the boys turned and slowly walked to her. Later, I walked past the boys and asked the kid if his name was River. He said it was, so I said, “So is his!” Everyone enjoyed that.

We got to the Motel 6 in Gold Beach, and I was surprised to see that it looked like a chalet lodge. I was used to the typical motels that look like apartment buildings, but this one was a bit fancier, with wood accents and rustic touches. It was situated right on the Rogue River and looked out over it and the historic Rogue River Bridge.

It looks like there are some beautiful walks to be had around here.  But since both of us are limping, we decided to chill in the room.  River spent most of the evening in his crate, and I was here, at the computer, catching up on my emails, facebooks and blogs. I’d been so busy traveling, I hadn’t had time to be online.

Tomorrow, we’ll be sure to take advantage of this scenic beauty, with a nice leisurely stroll before motoring off. But we don't want to tax our legs too much, so we'll avoid a lot of running, and stick to walking and maybe some sniffing of things. We have a good chunk of road to cover tomorrow, as we want to cross over into California and end up in Eureka. It's a two and half hour drive straight through, which could take all day when you're driving through the Oregon coast and the California Redwoods.

I am going to need to get a driving hat. Today with the sunshine, and the roof open, I realized, I'll be sitting in direct sunlight. So what kind of hat would be right for motoring in a Mini?

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