Bullard’s Beach (2)

Snail’s pace up the coast. Next stop: Bandon. We got a super early start leaving Cape Blanco because the already windy zone was set to be especially windy. We were dumped, filled, and rolling by 8 and arrived uneventfully at Bullard’s Beach by 9. We announced at the kiosk that we were “crazy early” but wanted to see if our site was empty yet. It was not, so we parked in the day use area and chilled for an hour or so. Can’t say whether it was that much windier later in the day back at Cape Blanco, but it was good to get outta there nice and early. Even in windy travel weather, it is a game changer to do these short stints. Love it.

To get in our daily Apple Watch steps, we walked out to the Coquille Lighthouse and poked around. By the time we walked back, it was 2 and officially check in time. For the afternoon activities, we biked across the scary green bridge over the Coquille River. This is one where bikers press a button before getting on the bridge, which hopefully alerts cars to go slow. So far, cars in Oregon have been well behaved.

We tootled around town for just a bit and biked along Beach Loop Drive as far as Face Rock. Here, we took a facey, of course, and then we turned around and went back to town. We made a quick stop at South Coast Bicycles to get a new lock. The owner was very helpful and gave us information on a loop ride we could do the next day. We also came back later and I bought a handlebar bag that nicely carries the new lock, plus snacks. I’ve been pondering snack carrying options on my new bike for a while and this bag makes all of the things happen. It isn’t too big to interfere with all the cables, and is just big enough to fit healthy food, which I carry as my nutritional “must do,” as well as the sliding scale of devolving nutritional value junk foods classified as “can do,” after the calories have been earned. My favorite compartment is the small netting pocket on the front, which is designated for just enough licorice bridge mix to keep my legs moving, no matter what mood or energy level I am in. The new bag leaves the back rack available to carry my spare battery, and my backpack designated for all the clothes I put on and take off as my temperature swings fluctuate. The best bet to get me to exercise is to make sure it involves organizing something.

Back in town, we got ice cream at the Face Rock Creamery. This used to be the Bandon cheese factory place, which still produces some of the best aged cheddar ever. The ice cream is from the ubiquitous Umpqua creamery, good but not exceptional. They also sell a nice variety of gift items and little specialty high end food things. We got some chocolate drizzled caramel corn, which I later enjoyed eating, one kernel at a time, pulled directly from my handlebar bag, while riding uphill. Five stars.

We made a quick stop at Ray’s grocery store to see what was there. It is a really good market and even carried Gochujang. Because they had a conspicuous display of s’mores ingredients, I felt compelled to snap a picture and send it to my friend (previously recounted back story here of the time when she bought a s’mores making container, thinking it was filled with all necessary items, only to open it at the campground and find it empty). We got a hankering for s’mores and crammed graham crackers and marshmallows into our backpacks. We don’t do campfires ever, but we do have a microwave. FYI: if you zap the chocolate, sitting on a graham cracker, for 10-15 seconds, and then put the marshmallow on top and zap it for about 5 seconds, you have the perfect s’more. It would admittedly be better with a light toasting on the marshmallow, but that alone does not justify an entire campfire. Maybe we need a tiny creme brulée torch.

We ended a long happy day with a sandy hike to the beach for a muted sunset. It’s about a mile and a quarter from the campground out to the shore, and we had miles of sandy coastline all to ourselves. I was exhausted but sure did close those Apple Watch activity rings. Those rings will start yelling at me once the school year starts.

On Saturday, we did the loop ride that was recommended, and that was perfect. It was around twenty miles going all the way down Beach Loop Road, stopping at all the named rock view points. You have to go a tiny bit on 101 to get to Two Mile Lane. This road continues on, following Two Mile Creek, for miles and miles. We only went out and back a couple miles on this road, to see if it ever got really creeky. It did not, and was mainly just a roll through fields and farms, with nice wildflowers along the sides. Pretty enough, and no traffic. We turned back and cut back up to Bandon taking Rosa Road all the way. This makes for a very pleasant loop. There was one low point on Beach Loop Road where we had to cross some water, but mostly the road surfaces were in decent shape.

We got back to town and got excellent fudge at Big Wheel General Store. This is in the old town section of Bandon, which is all cute and touristy. It reminds me of a small scale Morro Bay. You can’t escape the smell of fried fish, so I got a craving, and we got one crab cake to split at Tony’s Crab Shack. It seemed like the thing to do, and it was delicious. Then it was back to Dory for chicken and sesame brown rice with soy sauce and lemon broccoli.

The next day we did a 40 mile ride along Seven Devils Road up to Charleston. That was super fun and tells me that going about 40 miles with about 2700 feet of climbing equals one battery charge. I brought the spare, and man that makes a huge difference. Even though I didn’t use it, it meant I never had to worry about it. We both brought way too much food, and all the clothes, and had no regrets. Seven Devils Road has a long unpaved gravel section, so we avoided that by taking Whiskey Run. It’s an uppy downy ride, with low traffic and scatterings of wildflowers. There are no breathtaking views to speak of, but you do go through nicely forested (and several clear cut) areas. Be aware that right before you get to Charleston, you pass by a compost supply place. The smell stays with you for a while.

Charleston is very small, but cute, with a couple of little stores, and a couple of fried fish joints. There’s a marina and a boat launch, and the option to go out to the state parks, like Sunset Bay, to extend the day. The traffic on 540 to get to Cape Arago looked fast, with no shoulder. So we were contented with the twenty miles back, grocery shopping, and an excellent dinner of nachos with Bandon cheddar, strips of deli roasted chicken breast, and topped with sour cream and way too spicy salsa. And microwave s’mores.

And lastly, we got a perfect sunset where I got to play with the shallow waves and play with reflection shots on the watery beach. We notice that Oregon beaches seem to be more tame than the powerful churning and smashing waves of the Sonoma and Mendocino coast. Here, there is a constant roll of low waves, as opposed to the pound and crash, and you’d better stay far away from the water, type surf. On this beach, I could run way out onto the newly wetted sand, crouch down and take a picture, taunting the next round of gentle waves to play tag with me.

It was a perfect stay in a beautiful park. Bandon is adorable and has just enough services to restock everything, even a bike lock and a handlebar bag. We did great on our bike rides together, so we seem to be figuring that out. All good.

Total miles from Cape Blanco: 32.1, 16.2 mpg, 1 hour 20 min. Site 37 hookups. Yay. Great cell for Verizon. Ok LTE for ATT. Good dump. Nice private site. Recycling.