Monday - We both got up fairly early this morning and got a good start. Un-rigging the step takes a few extra minutes, but we were on the road by 9:20. We stopped for fuel in Newport about 10:00, enjoying our coastal views but not stopping at the pull-outs today. We did stop at one, but otherwise, we continued on our way. There was sea mist, but eventually we ran into smoke (it took a while for us to figure out it was smoke and not sea mist). We had reservations in North Bend at the casino RV park, so when we checked in, we asked where the smoke was coming from. Lo and behold, it is from Brookings, Oregon, which is where we have reservations for the holiday weekend, in just 4 days! We didn't even know there was a fire there. We will have to play that by ear, see what develops in the next few days and decide whether or not we can stay there.
Our stop at Devil's Churn, just past Yachats and Cape Perpetua, allowed Joe to fine-tune his step rigging. He forgot to bring it inside when we left the campground this morning, so now he has the rope better situated on it. So while I checked out the scenery, he did a little maintenance. Yesterday it took us almost 6 hours to get to Yachats, today we made it in an hour and 15 minutes.
The Oregon coast is beautiful, and the road follows it for miles and miles, curves and hills and valleys.
We got to the bridge at North Bend, drove through the town and found out campground (Old Mill Casino) by 12:45. We had encountered heavy smoke and it was pretty bad here. Setting up camp is a little more involved these days with our broken parts -- Joe had to set the step up again, and since it was 79 degrees here and smoky, he worked on the air conditioner to get it running again.
There is a ship here in the bay being loaded with lumber. We saw it as we drove in, and since we are right on the waterfront, we can see it from our campsite.
We can watch fishing boats go past through our front window. The visibility has cleared considerably since we arrived, so I hope the smoke is dissipating. After we drove into town for lunch, Joe came back to the RV to clean up and rest, so I spent a little time checking out the casino.
We drove 117 miles today, a little over 3 hours. Traffic was steady but moving, and it seemed like the little towns were more spread out as we got further south. There was a buffet at the casino for $9.99 (with 10% discount) with real food -- not seafood! It wasn't great, but it was ok, and at least it wasn't fishy! Joe got his player's card and we played for a little while, he came on back, then I followed shortly after. No big winners, but we did come out a little ahead.
We have found a scenic drive to do from here, and several things in the area that seem worth checking out, so we may extend a day here to give them an extra day to get that fire in Brookings under control. Our time in Oregon is getting short, so we need to make the most of it.
No comments:
Post a Comment