Staring Down the Dinosaur

June 22-25, 2019

Bay Point Landing, Coos Bay, Oregon

Day 8-11

Another outstanding morning; peaceful, cool with a little fog on the river. Really picturesque; too bad my trailer is blocked by a motor home. Turns out that most pull thru spots do not have the best views, so I need to keep working on my parking skills so I can get the scenic spots on the outer loop.

Hitching is becoming easier too. We finally left around 9:30am and arrived around 2pm. A little later than I would have liked, but fortunately, this is another gorgeous drive with very little traffic. Weather ranged from mid-50’s to mid-70’s along the coast. Much of the trip was very windy and hilly. Drivers are very polite in Oregon. Maybe it’s their highway signs…” keep right except to pass”? Took at pit stop at the Prehistoric Forest. Got a funny picture of Sparky staring down a dinosaur which I love.

This is the second time I have been to Coos Bay. I'm staying at a beautiful, new, RV camp! They have 100 RV slots with full hook-ups, tiny cabins and 25 new Airstreams to rent. Once a former lumber yard, this is located on a small bay with its own beach – which is dog friendly! This place is just like a luxury hotel, except your RV is your room. They have a nice reception area with high-end local snacks, beautiful indoor pool, fitness room with Peloton bikes, kids’ game room and a media/lobby room to relax with complimentary coffee and tea (note, they need Rishi!!!). Nice showers and laundry facilities too. They even escort you by golf cart to your spot. I love it already!

Unhitched and took Sparky to the beach. Met another camper/dog who is was part of a Montana rally (big huge RV’s) here this weekend. There must be over 70 of them! Later, he invited me to see one of the new ones being shown. This trailer was so big – 40 feet!!! And, you need a huge truck to pull it. A little dark inside and the furniture seemed so large…almost like the size made up for the low quality. Not my style but seems to work well for others.

Met another couple on the beach who lives in Coos Bay and here just to check this place out. Talked about local things like were to buy fresh fish for tonight…Chuck’s in Charleston! Sped over there before they closed only to find the same couple buying fish for themselves, lol. Chuck’s packs American Tuna brand line caught albacore. Just down the street is Oregon Seafood (Sea Fare Pacific) which I will see tomorrow. BTW, I had the salmon for dinner, it was awesome.

Reception on my new iPhone 7 has been horrible. Even with shutting off airline mode and/or shutting down the phone completely, it has been inconsistent. On top of that it's really hard on the people I talk to. Putting them on speaker is better, or staying the truck and using Bluetooth works too, but it is a pain in the ass for me.

Funny observation…Sparky loves the truck more than the Airstream. Sometimes, I have to pull him in the trailer. He just wants to adventure all day!

Day 2 - Spent most of the morning doing home office stuff. Low tide at the beach was interesting. Very soft and muddy sand with lots of seaweed. Not the best situation to throw the ball.

Met Jimmy of Oregon Seafood, his wife Miriam and their adorable 2-year-old Mia for lunch at Miriam’s restaurant, Margarita’s. Had a great lunch and time visiting. As many of you know, this is my favorite tuna brand. I found Jimmy, and Mike the owner, at the Fancy Food Show a few years ago. Their tuna is line caught (one line, one fish - not a long line), fished in Pacific North West waters, hand-packed here in Charleston and, most uniquely, they hand-pack tuna belly into each pouch. Other tuna companies sell that tuna belly to someone else. (Tuna belly is the most expensive meat and it's where all the flavor is.) They are super nice people with such high standards. In retail, they are known as Sea Fare Pacific. I just love them.

Came back and napped in the sunshine, like a cat. I love that the Airstream feels so spacious. You can have all the window shades up during the day and no one can see in thru the tinted windows. It makes this 25' trailer seem so much larger because of all the windows.

Finally able to get TV reception, which I haven't had for days. Anticlimactic though, nothing good to watch. Just hung out looking at the sunset instead. Great day resetting my buttons for this wonderful new life.

Day 3 – Sadly, I discovered a crack in one of my trailer windows. My first battle scar. A stone probably kicked up from the truck. It's covered by insurance, buy my deductible is $500. Airstream forums say to hold off until my trip is done, as I will probably have more beauty marks added by then. The window damaged is actually tinted plexiglass, to protect the real glass window behind it, so that's good. I'll hold off fixing it.

Drove around to some of the places Jimmy mentioned like Arago State Beach and Shore Acres Park. Both were not dog friendly, so we walked around on leash for a while.

Decided to have lunch out and ventured up to Winchester, about 45 minutes away. Small finishing village with a few fish stores and restaurants. Lunch was ok. The fish in the tacos was GREAT, the taco could have been too if the tortillas weren't served cold. The service was really friendly though.

Stopped by to see Jimmy at the plant. He hooked me up with my favorite tuna and their awesome tuna coconut curry chowder they do for retail. LOVE IT. I am well stocked in tuna for weeks to come😊. I am so happy.

I have to say, I really like Coos Bay. I would even consider living here if the weather was warmer! I’m told it really doesn’t get past 75 very often…mostly 50-65. It’s not too big and has a small-town feel. Their economy is healthy from lumber and fishing. The houses seemed kept up and affordable and the roads were in good condition. Everyone I encountered were genuinely nice. I only saw a few homeless,s and I did not notice too many empty retail spaces. I would definitely come back and stay at Bay Point Landing too.