We were headed back to Highway 101 this morning with me using the GPS part of Dave’s iPhone to help us make the right turns when the phone rang. So I answered his phone. It was for me Very weird. It turns out that Dave applying for Social Security triggered a mandate for them to call me to tell me I could apply under his and mine when my time comes. I thanked them and assured them I certainly plan to apply under his since I’m pretty sure half of his will be more than all of mine.
Back at Am Solar Deb had said she didn’t think Seven Devils Road was paved but a customer in the shop at the time said it was. Deb admitted it had been a few years since she’d been on it. So we decided to risk it rather than go north to go south. It turns out they were both right. It is paved as far south as the junction with Beaver Hill Road where we turned towards Highway 101. South of there it is not paved and there is a warning sign recommending motorhomes not go that way.
Once we got back on Highway 101 my phone rang. I tried answering Dave’s phone again before realizing it was mine this time. Our daughter and I were chatting away when we drove out of my coverage area. I’m having trouble getting used to that.
While I was still talking to her, Dave signaled to get my attention. Another Winnebago View was about to pass us. The copilot of that one and I waved to each other. It’s amazing to me how many Views we have being seeing along the west coast. I think lots of people have decided smaller is better given the current fuel situation.
Another thing I am enjoying in these tourist towns is the names on some of the businesses. Today we saw “Jailhouse Rocks,” a jewelry shop, and a restaurant actually named “The Greasy Spoon.”
At Cape Blanco State Park, we stopped for an ocean view fix. Here’s the lighthouse there.
The park has camping with water and electrical hookups for just $12 but the dump is closed due to failure of the drainage field and the only campsites with a view of the ocean have cabins on them. Oh, well. There are other places on the ocean to camp.
In Port Orford we stopped at The Crazy Norwegian for lunch. It felt like we were Up North in Minnesota. There were lots of signs about lutefisk and Uff Da and a sandwich named The Scandihovian. Small place but good food. No lefse, though.
The we stopped at Battle Rock City Park for another ocean view fix and to read the sign telling more of our nation’s embarrassing history.
We stopped at Humbug Mountain State Park to check out their campground. It’s in a shady valley with a trail at the end of C loop leading under the highway to the beach. Dave estimates it’s about 1,000 feet to the beach. Their dump was also closed also but I don’t know if it’s permanently so here.
We stopped at lots of scenic overlooks where Dave took lots of pictures of the ocean. He now has several of them cycling on his desktop since he couldn’t decide which to use.
We didn’t stop at Ophir State Beach. We could see it is a paved wayside with restrooms, overlooking the ocean, and somewhat sheltered from the highway but we don’t know if camping is allowed there.
We had intended to buy diesel in Port Orford but didn’t do so. We were glad when we got to Gold Beach to discover it was 10 cents a gallon cheaper than it had been in Port Orford.
In Gold Beach there are RV parks on the ocean. We may stop at one of them someday but not today.
One of the interesting things I learned with all these ocean view stops is that I need to be able to see the beach not just the water. Without the waves lapping the shore the ocean just looks like a big lake to me.
We crossed Bruce’s Bone Creek. I decided not to speculate about that name.
We camped at Harris Beach State Recreation Area. We paid an extra $1 for a site with cable TV even though we don’t watch TV because the only sites with a view of the ocean had cable connections and you pay for what the site offers, not what you plan to use. Much of life is like that.
TTYL,
Linda