Saturday, August 4, 2007

Day 18






















Picture 1 - Beach picture at Bandon, OR. Picture 2 - Face Rock at Bandond. Picture 3 - A really beautiful oceangoing yatch in Coos Bay, OR. Picture 4 - Unique bridge design in Coos Bay. Picture 5 - Coos Bay Dunes Recreational Area.


Well I am back on the road again after spending two full days in Medford, OR. On the way out of town I took a short trip to Jacksonville, OR. Jacksonville is a picture-perfect historic village and center for musical arts in the heart of Oregon's Wine Country. Betty and her sons highly recommended that I take some time to see the town and some of the beautiful homes that can be found there. Jacksonville is also the home of the Gary West Artisan Food Store and production facility. Gary West Foods produces many food products but is best known for making the best beef jerky in the world. They have been featured on numerous national TV shows that have promoted their products. I did a little tasting at the store before purchasing any, but since beef jerky is my main food when I ride, I couldn’t resist buying two pounds of their jerky. I then rode through one the housing areas in Jacksonville and I was really impressed by the homes. The entire community looked like all the houses were Victorian era or Cape Cod type design (but everything was new construction). Every home was immaculate and to set it all off the yards, streets, and landscaping were built and designed to match the beauty of the homes. I was totally impressed.

When I left Medford the temperature was very pleasant. Within about an hour or two, I could feel the temperature begin to drop significantly. My guess is that it was the altitude that was doing it, but I am not totally sure. I eventually had to stop and put on a long sleeve shirt and my leather jacket. Once I turned west, I was heading down hill but I was also getting closer to the ocean, so the temperature just continued to drop the rest of the day. Riding through the Oregon Mountains was absolutely beautiful. The tree covered hills and the beautiful valleys kept me mind active as I soaked up the beauty of the ride. I eventually made it to the coast at a town called Bandon, OR. Once there I headed to the ocean to find “Face Rock.” Face Rock is a large outcropping of rock in the ocean that resembles the profile of a person’s face. You can see it in Picture 2 above. Bandon has a nice little historic downtown area with numerous gift shops, restaurants, and a very active marina. Commercial fishing and charter fishing are quite active here. It was a nice town, but I decided it was too early to quit riding so I headed up the coast to Coos Bay to find lodging for the night.

Highway 101 from Bandon to Coos Bay ran inland several miles so I did not have much chance to see the Oregon coastline. What I have seen of it, however, gives me the feeling that it is going to be a sight to behold as I continue north tomorrow. At Bandon I cold see that there was definitely more beach than anything I had seen in California (Picture 1) and the beach sand looks a lot more like the beaches on Lake Michigan back home. In Coos Bay, there is a huge dunes recreational area that allows dune buggies and other off-road vehicles (see picture 5)much like the State Park in Mears, Michigan. Getting to the Dunes area I had to cross a delightful old bridge that crossed the huge harbor that is located at Coos Bay. This bridge is large enough to allow ocean going vessels to pass beneath it. Its architecture was quite unique. It was like riding through a cathedral. You can see it in picture 4 above.