Brookings and the Final Bits of Oregon

I know I am repeating myself, but it must be said! Oregon is by far one of the most beautiful states I have visited! It just keeps getting better! The drive from Coos Bay to Brookings provided seemingly continuous jaw dropping views. My pictures truly do not do the scenery justice.

Example of bad light on a beautiful beachscape

Since we travel generally between 11:00AM and 3:00pm, the sun is never well placed. Taking this into consideration means that 50% of the time, I would have to shoot into the sun to get the most beautiful views. So, take what you see and double it and you start to understand the beauty that is everywhere on this coastline.



Brookings is pretty much the most south western town in Oregon, close to the California border. We stopped for a great lunch on our drive down in Port Orford. It was a tiny little town but our restaurant had a great view and amazing menu. Of course I found bay view real estate for sale! This was not the first time that we half-dreamed of selling in CA and moving somewhere like this for immediate and permanent retirement. Still, I'm sure eventually even these lovely small towns would not be enough for us.

Not that I have been contemplating moving back to TN, but it is the "other" and "much cheaper" location that comes up in our minds as a comparison to San Diego all the time. We have a paid for house there and could easily sell the CA place and both of us be retired on easy street. However, I think it was in Port Orford that I decided that TN is definitely out of the question. Being near water seems calming to me and I have heard that Williamson County is not what it used to be. Lots of improvements and job opportunities, sure, but lots of people and congestion as well. Obviously, when you no longer have to work, more remote (and beautiful) locations open up for you.

Port Orford - view from restaurant

These revelations, not that they are earth shaking, are the things that I expected to learn during our travels this year. Gaining more self-awareness and an extreme appreciation for our lives as we have them back home are great side benefits of travel.

People are always hiking
on the beaches

Look for the hole in the rock

Jeff booked another amazing campsite in Brookings. This time we are actually ON the beach. Our campground was not as naturally beautiful as the one in Charleston, but you cannot beat these sunsets and the sound of waves crashing all through the night.

We were back in the favor of the Weather Gods and both enjoyed running and walking here. On our first full day after Jeff had another conference call and we both got cleaned up after our workouts, we went into town to run errands. We had a nail in one of the tires on Betty that had to get plugged (for free). We made a trip to Ace Hardware to add more safety equipment to our arsenal after reading the latest post on "Living in Beauty", the blog of fellow Coronado Airstreamers. Of course, we had to stock up at the grocery store and see what we could find at Good Will. We have started to stop at Good Will whenever we see one. At this one, I scored a like new sweater for $3.50. Yes it is true that I way over packed for this adventure, but having lived in SoCal for 9 years now has left me with very few sweaters to my name. I'm pretty sure when I am not in my ski gear, sweaters and jeans will be my uniform in Utah, so I'm keeping my eyes peeled.

On our last day in Brookings, we took a long walk on the beach until we ran out of sand. It was nice to have a combination of sand (so we could walk) and beautiful volcanic rock formations for pictures.

I rarely give a shout out to restaurants, but the Black Trumpet Bistro is going to be an exception. Yes, the food was amazing! A limited menu, which almost always means that they are serious about what they do offer. We met the owner and chef and learned that this area of Oregon is one of the best places to go mushroom picking IN THE WORLD. It's true, they have a mushroom festival in early November that we will miss. I learned that a black trumpet is a mushroom and most dishes at the BTB feature mushrooms in season. If you are in Brookings, GO!

Since the entire West has been under a fire ban since we started traveling, campfires have been out of the question. However, in Brookings we got to celebrate the recent rains and enjoyed our first fire of the trip. I didn't know fire building was one of Jeff's talents?

I usually make Jeff smile for the camera, but this casual shot is sexy, no? It was difficult to sit by the fire without alcohol - even for Jeff. He ended up with a Scotch and I made myself a fizzy electrolyte drink ;)  On the next day we were headed back to California and the redwood forests.

Goodbye Oregon