Day 9: The Southern Oregon Coast

The girls at the Japanese Garden

We had read about two state parks just South of Sunset Beach and the admission is waved when you stay at the campground, so we headed that way first thing this morning. We drove a short distance to Shore Acres State Park. This land was formerly owned by a man named Simpson. He built an amazing estate right on the ocean and even had his own private beach. The house burned down and he built a second home, but couldn't afford it and eventually had to sell everything to the State of Oregon. The house no longer exists, but the magnificent formal gardens have been maintained. We wandered through the grounds and saw plants from all over the world. The girls LOVED the Japanese Garden! We would like to come back in the winter when they light everything up and have special Christmas hours!

Cape Arago Lighthouse

We then drove to Cape Arago. You can see the Cape Arago Lighthouse, but can no longer drive up close to it. It is privately owned by the Native American tribe in the area. We took a LONG distance pictue to prove we'd seen EVERY lighhouse on the Oregon Coast! The views at Cape Arago State Park were stunning and we heard many sea lions and seals making noise. The girls drew pictures of them and said, "there were HUNDREDS of them mommy!"

The girils in front of the Coquille River Lighthouse

All of us at the top of the Coquille River Lighthouse

Due to the exhaustion of our girls we determined the beach was not going to happen and decided to hook up the trailer and continue South. Our next stop was at the Coquille River Lighthouse. From the research we had done we assumed this lighthouse wouldn't be open, but we at least wanted to stop for a photo. We were pleasantly surprised that they were about to open the building when we arrived. We also found out that they were allowing people to go to the top of the lighthouse! This lighthouse is no longer in use and the light is not at the top, but it was still fun to see the view and hear about the history of this lighthouse.

The girls posing in Bandon!
Next we visited Bandon. We planned to stop for lunch here and wander around a bit. The girls were not very interested in window shopping or browsing. So we found a quick place to eat and were VERY disappointed. We later saw several other places we would rather have eaten at, but the girls were happy and ready to pose for pictures so we counted that a blessing!

FACE ROCK

We had to visit Face Rock, a place where Brett has fond memories growing up. I will honestly admit I did NOT see it at first. I was looking for a frontal view of the face, but after looking at the pictue and understnading it was a profile view, I DID see it!! Brett will laugh about this often I'm sure =)!

The girls waiting to climb the stairs!

All of us at the TOP of the lighthouse!

Looking intot he Fresnel Lens!

The girls in front of the lighthouse!

We had made reservations the night before at a KOA between Bandon and Port Orford for several reason: we wanted a pool to swim in (hot tub was a bonus), we NEEDED to do some laundry, and I was hoping to have Wifi to upload several of these blog updates. (Alas the internet was SO slow that I gave up!!!) So we parked the trailer at the camp ground and headed a little further South to visit the Cape Blanco Lighthouse.

This is the oldest lighthouse in Oregon and the furthest West lighthouse in Oregon. We were able to go all the way to the top and watch the Fresnel lens rotate while taking in the breath taking views of the amazing terrain. This is a VERY windy location, but a treasure to visit. Just down the hill from the lighthouse was the Hughes House.

Brett and the girls outside the Hughes House!

This house was built LONG ago. We had a delightful tour and the girls got to do a scavenger hunt as we learned about more history of the area.

Girls on a train ride!

Abigail eating a HUGE sundae!

Norah being goofy!

Back at the KOA we swam, the girls made friends and we relaxed. Brett started the laundry, which proved to take quite a while, but at least we got it done! Later that evening the girls went on a train ride through the camp ground, they were able to sit with the friends they had made earlier at the pool! Following the train ride we purchased HUGE sundaes, the proceeds went to cancer research. So we of course had to support that and enjoy a frosty treat! All in all a great day! Tomorrow we're headed to Brookings and hope to find a lighthouse that is privately owned!