Day 35 – We were up at 8 a.m. The girls were maniacs this morning. 40 degrees out, sunny. Birds everywhere, hopping around on the ground eating bugs. We had paid for 2 nights when we got here. We’ve decided to stay longer, at least one night, maybe two. Next time we’re out we’ll go over and pay for one night at least until we make up our minds. Got some biking, hiking and birding to do yet.
It’s a little hazy out & since we’re inland, not on the Ocean, we wonder if it could be some smoke from the fires? Doesn’t smell like it though. Speaking of fires, yesterday on the jet boat, there was a couple sitting behind us who asked where we were from. We told them and got the standard, wow, you’re a long way from home, in return. We asked where they were from and she said halfway between Sacramento and San Francisco. The subject of the Santa Rosa fire obviously came up. She said her son lost his home on Monday in Santa Rosa, but that was okay because at least his family didn’t lose their lives. Said she woke up and saw on Facebook that he’d lost his home during the night. They lived in that housing complex which was destroyed.
She said they’d been out camping; they’d come back the day before. He’d taken the day off to clean up the trailer & unpack. They heard on the TV that the fire was on the other side of the freeway, no big deal, it’s not going to jump over all those roads. Then they heard it wasn’t getting better, so they decided to pack up some things & take the trailer back out. One of his daughters has Asthma & she came out from her room & said she was having trouble breathing. He opened the door & saw smoke; the housing project was on fire, He grabbed up the family; they jumped in the car & left. They didn’t even have time to get in the trailer. They lost everything. It was that quick. He said that the fire was in the forest on the other side of the freeway, It leaped over the roads, started the bushes on fire outside the housing project & immediately leaped into trees by the homes. They had a “classic” car in the garage; when they came back there was no evidence the car had been there. The fire was so hot it completely disintegrated the car. Another fire story – just awful.
Today we went into Gold Beach. Had lunch at Port Hole Cafe again. They have excellent fresh fish sandwiches. We drove around a little, to the beach, and took a couple of small local roads. Picked up a few groceries, bought some fresh shrimp, and filled the Growler with Bandon Squall Cranberry-Apple Cider. Back at the RV we got out the chairs, grabbed the books, the camera, and some cider, and sat out in the open field waiting for the herd of deer to come out & visit. They didn’t show up till later today, but we did get plenty of bird pictures. The open fields (and most of the campsites) are surrounded with bird-friendly bushes & trees. We took pictures until the sun went down. End of Week 5, Trip #3.