Bunkers and Blooms and Our Ode to Cheyenne

Coos Bay, Oregon
September 18- 22, 2016

I can usually sum up the places we explore in one lengthy (usually too lengthy) post.  But Coos Bay was different.  So much there.  Of all the beautiful things, the memory that will always be the most treasured by us all...Cheyenne.  This is our 3rd post on Coos Bay and I want to dedicate it to sweet Cheyenne of Coos Bay who totally made our day.

On our last night in Coos Bay, we sought out to see the sunset in a new place on the Bay.  We settled in at a beach we hadn't visited yet and found scores of people set up, waiting for the sun to go down.  Among them, was the most adorable girl I'd ever met.  She was on the beach, mostly a silloughette from where I stood.  All I could see were her precious buns, set high on her head and enormous bubbles being set free into the dimming sky.  Naturally, while I set up our stove on the picnic table, all of our children raced out to meet her.  But you see, the really special thing about Cheyenne, is that she wasn't out there to just blow bubbles by the beach.  She had brought everything she would need to share with any stranger brave enough to say Hello.  

Cheyenne patiently taught them all how to use her tools, basically a long string attached to two dow rods with a washer in the middle.  She showed them how to dunk it carefully into the bucket and pull it out.  After some practice, you could make bubbles as big as a small child.  Like my small child.  And if you ran with the wind, you could make a tunnel for chasing.  They stayed with Cheyenne until the sun finally set and you could no longer see the magic you were making.  

The next day, we stopped in a few other places on our way out of Coos Bay.  We played in a WWII bunker that still stood, hidden in the forest.   We walked through the Shore Acre Gardens and got motivated to go home and make one of our own.  Since then, we have sought out and purchased all of the beautiful roses and dahlias that we found there and made our own gardens to remind us of our time there.

Our own Coos Bay garden is not as impressive as Shore Acres.  But we love it and it does help us to remember our time together.  But honestly, now, even a year later, a week doesn't go by when one of the kids doesn't mention Cheyenne on the beach.  They wonder what she is doing.  They tell other people about her.  They've made their own giant bubble makers.  They bring them to the park and they always bring enough for strangers so they can show them how it is done.  

I've heard that sweet Cheyenne had a baby a few weeks ago.  When I told the girls, Ivy sighed and said, "Oh...she will be SUCH a great mom!"  I think so too.  Congratulations Cheyenne!   Congratulations little Ada Grey on scoring such a cool mama. 

And thank you, Cheyenne, for the good time and the sweet memory.

Coos Bay

Coos Bay, Oregon

September 18 - 22, 2016

Coos Bay is a place we loved.  A setting of low ferns and towering trees.  Cliffs and surf.  Whales and snails.  Each day we merely surrendered to the setting sun and the promise that, tomorrow, it would still all be there.  We perched on rocks and watched the waves crash below us.  Watched the surfers paddle out and surf back in to the rocky beaches. We took long trails, always damp, always green with a pine needle littered floor.  The trees were wiry and full of arms reaching.  The cliffs were high and steep and filled with the low sound of water rushing through caves below us. 

Olive found the best rock face for climbing and Tom took the chance to give rock climbing lessons to both the girls.  Olive's feet always seemed to know just where to go.  By the end of the day, Tom had taught Ivy the same and she stood victorious at the bottom, having finally made it to the top and back again.   I held my breath and my tongue at the bottom.  Eventually, I celebrated with them all when it was finally over.  We came back to to that rock many times over the next few days.

Most days we spent on the hunt for tide pools.  Touching anemones and learning all their names.  We discovered a surf shack and collected sea glass for an entire afternoon.  On one day, we took a drive to an enormous sand dune and spent the day running and sliding, even swimming in the sand.  We only face planted once.

Each day was long and also somehow too short.  Oregon is now on our short list of places we could live.  Who knows?  

Sunset Bay - Beware the Raccoons

Sunset Bay State Park Campground
September 18- 22, 2016

We were just passing through.  Just searching for a place to spend the night on our way down the coast.  And then...we stayed for five days.  Every time we turned around, there was another thing to see or another path to saunter.

Another reason we enjoyed this particular route is that, apparently, Oregon is obsessed with the Sasquatch.  At every turn, another pun, another joke, another t-shirt, another statue.  We didn't skip the opportunity to lay our hands on one.

The Coos Bay Campground was an especially tranquil, lovely place.  We settled into our first site by perfecting our sitting log.  Tom chipped away at the downed log, bark flying, until it was just perfect.  I made pancakes and the kids laughed while the flying wood chips made their way into our pancake batter.  Wood Chip Surprise Pancakes we called them.




Our first morning started out so quiet, but that peace was abruptly dashed when an RV pulled in right beside us.  Normally, this wouldn't have been a problem, but they felt the need to run their generator the whole time.  Despite the giant bushes between us, that generator was only a few feet away from our campfire. The campground was nice enough to let us move spots, and since we had already taken great care to set up our home just right, we decided it made more sense to just pick up the whole thing and walk it through the campground.  We gave all the other campers a little giggle as they drank their morning coffee while we marched down the road carrying our tent.  And then we tied a rope around our sitting log and drug that to our new campground as well.  I have to say...the new site was a serious upgrade!   Big shout out to the obnoxious RV generator people for forcing our hand!

  

Each morning, we drove down to our breakfast spot to cook our breakfast and do some whale watching.   And each morning, sitting on that table would be a bouquet of flowers.  A local told me that an old man brought them each morning as a memorial to his wife.  It was also their favorite place to sit and rest.

Days were full of walking the trails and watching the whales.  Nights were full of UNO games and toasty campfires.  There was one unfortunate night when the campground was subjected to my screams as a maniacal hissing raccoon tried to jump me on the way to the bathroom.  But despite that, we will probably make our way back to Sunset Bay.  Five thumbs up.