HAPPY BIRTHDAY, HELEN!
CAMPGROUND SCOUTING, MOTHER’S, BANDON SQUALL & REDFISH.
Day 172 – It was still windy this morning when we got up at 7:30 a.m. Most of the campers departed today and only one trailer replaced them. That was a surprise because of the upcoming weekend and the wind, we thought it would be more crowded.
We were away from the campground most of the day. The city of Coos Bay is 40 miles north of here; that’s the farthest north we’ve ever been along the Oregon Coast. We had thought we’d go to Coos Bay next, after we leave this campground, so we drove there today to scout out campgrounds in advance. We looked at three, and none of them knocked our socks off. Coos Bay is a popular area; the 3 campgrounds were all nearly full. So since we already visited Coos Bay in 2017, we decided to skip it this trip and go beyond the city to less busy areas for our next stop.
On the way back to the RV, we stopped in Bandon to run a few errands. Bandon is a nice town and we like it as much as Port Orford near our campground. Both are small enough to be homey and not too busy, but large enough to have everything you need. In Bandon, the most important thing we did was have lunch at Mother’s Natural Food Store. We’d eaten there last time we were here and already knew it was good. We had an excellent vegan lunch, splitting the Vegetable Shepherd’s Pie & the Vegetarian Tamale, each with a side dish of a Broccoli Salad (which was fantastic). This lunch left us enough room to be hungry for going out to dinner tonight. We then went to the Bandon Rain Tap Room. Last time we were here we discovered Bandon Rain Squall Cider, a very tasty cider made with Bandon-grown cranberries & apples. We hoped we could get some Cider to go since we know of nowhere else we can find it. We bought 8 pints to go – happy day. Then we went to a grocery store and got a few grocery staples. We drove around the coastline south of Bandon. Right now is the time of year for these incredible yellow flowers on bushes to bloom; they are blazing everywhere.
We drove back to the campground, put up the groceries, woke up the girls, and sat around studying maps and Apps to see what campgrounds were above Coos Bay. Then we left for dinner at Redfish in Port Orford. We discovered Redfish in 2017 when we stopped there for lunch. It was so good that we went back for dinner. And again on our last night there, we went back and sat on the patio for dinner while the sun set. Redfish is one of our favorite restaurants in the U.S. We had been worried that they might be a COVID casualty like many other places, or that the quality or ambiance might have changed. No need to worry, it was all still perfect.
Redfish is a nice restaurant where you are fine either dressed up for a special occasion or casual after a day walking the beach below the patio. They are situated on a hill above a bay. It’s very scenic. The windows are all glass, all views, or there is seating on the large patio. It was only 55 degrees and windy, so we sat inside at a table by the large windows. Rob ordered a Porter and I ordered a cocktail made with Cranberry Cider, Vodka, and Lime Puree. We split a bowl of the soup of the day: Tomato Bisque with Dungeness Crab fresh from the bay, topped with a Chile Oil & homemade bread with Kalamata Olives, AND the Crab Rangoons with two dipping sauces – thai peanut and avocado wasabi. That was the appetizers. Dinner for Rob was the Homemade Pasta with Smoked Steelhead Salmon, Asparagus, Sun-Dried Tomatoes, and Artichoke Hearts in a Creamy Pesto, and I had the Shrimp Risotto. No room for dessert! Everything was extremely good. On our way out after dinner, we made reservations for tomorrow night – our last night here this trip. Oink. Oink. The food descriptions above are dedicated to our friends, Mark T. and Carol.
It rained a little on the way home. The high today was 56 degrees. It was less windy overall than yesterday. Tomorrow we plan to drive into the woods to take two Forest Service Roads recommended to us by the ranger in Gold Beach. He told us about a few riverside campgrounds in the trees.
That area is where Mark’s parents lived for ~20 years and we had wonderful visits there!! They lived in Bookings/Harbor. We went to Bandon, Coos Bay, etc. Often took the mail boat up the Rogue River to Lucas Lodge for lunch. Agness, OR was my favorite place. (p.s. and unrelated — saw this and thought of you guys https://www.allaboutbirds.org/news/mesmerizing-migration-watch-118-bird-species-migrate-across-a-map-of-the-western-hemisphere/)