Shakedown Cruise, day 4, Simpson Reef and Shore Acres
Little groggy this morning
Coffee and granola, quick check-in visit with dad and on to Simpson Reef and Shore Acres. As always, lots of pinnipeds, no elephant seals today though.
We met a young, very social, beginning birder.
“I think I’ll have a hobby.”
and his little sister
“The freckled-stomach robins are the teenagers”
We shared our scope so he could see oystercatchers (she was on to other things).
Now I know that oystercatchers rarely eat oysters. They like mussels, cockles, and easier-to-open things. Beginning birders determined to have a hobby read the entire entry.
Lovely sunny day. Not much wind and lots and lots of whale spouts (no penises).
Crow couple
Back at mom and dad’s we made corned beef and cabbage, visited a bit and slept snug and uninterrupted in Brave Horatio—both phones turned UP.
Well the griddle we bought is NOT going to work. That’s what happens when you whim-purchase without knowing the dimensions of your campstove. The holes-that-are-also-handles extended half-way over both burners. We had half hot griddle, half raw flames.
Equipment changeout 1: rehome the too-small griddle. MEASURE the stove and shop sensibly for a replacement.
Bill and I both have celiac disease and we’re trying out some new products. The Bob’s Red Mill GF pancake mix was a little sweet but tasty. The weird griddle-campstove mismatch turned out half-raw/half-burned pancakes. Oh well. Put enough butter and syrup on and it goes down fine. It was actually a pretty good match to our second batch of bad percolator coffee with grounds in.
As we packed for this trip, Bill tried to convince me that my big blue speckleware percolator was a bad idea. I had fond memories of percolated camp coffee so in it went. My palate has either become more refined or my memory more vague, likely a combination. That coffee was awful—overboiled, full of grounds and just nasty.
Equipment changeout 2: toss the percolator innards, heat water in the lovely blue speckleware pot, and dedicate a French press to Brave Horatio.
Coffee aside, we’re pleased with our planning and feel reasonably well equipped for comfortable camping.
More in-town stuff and fish tacos at Tony’s Crab Shack for lunch (a must-have for us every trip to Bandon). Bill bought a sweat shirt to go with his many Tony’s t-shirts (they’re soft, the neck doesn’t bind, and the design is neat).
Tony’s Cab Shack’s super soft T-shirts are Bill’s favorites.
Dinner at mom and dad’s again (leftover, but yummy spaghetti) and back to our campsite.
Our Canadian neighbors invited us to share their campfire. It was a BIG campfire. We had a great chat. They came from Ontario to Vancouver for a military reassignment. Interesting folks. She’s 13 years older than he is…seem pretty well matched…big-ass motorhome.
All tucked in and drifting off, we were surprised by a soft knocking on the door.
“Mary, it’s mom.”
My phone was losing its charge so I’d turned it off and plugged it into the cabin slot to top up. (I’m notorious for keeping my sound off, phone off, phone elsewhere. It usually doesn’t matter.)
Each time we visited mom and dad, he seemed on a good healing trajectory. Horrible daughter that I am, I wasn’t at all worried as I turned my phone all the way off.
Mom drove all the way into the campground in the middle of the night, found our spot and knocked on our door to let us know they were heading into town and the ER.
OK, we’re awake!
We sent them on their way, dressed quickly, and followed.
Bill and I frequented a wide variety of hospitals on both coasts when our kids were small. (We have medically intense kids.) This was, by far, the smallest ER we’d ever seen. The wall slides back and you walk from the waiting hall into the treatment room. Nice people and dad was fine, just some edema from inactivity. Several hours later we were tucked back in, my phone now on with the volume up.
Shakedown Cruise, day 2, Bullards Beach State park
I woke up as Bill wiggled into his clothes—a sequence of moves we now call teardrop yoga. I snuggled back to sleep into my warm nest and woke again to the sound of cooking—one of my favorite parts of camping.
The new stove worked well. Extra btu is a marvelous thing and I’m glad we spent time researching and reading reviews. Eggs, bacon and really bad percolator coffee. Camping!
We visited the lighthouse and drove around Beach Loop. The Whale Watching Spoken Here sign was out by Face Rock Viewpoint so we stopped in.
Whale penises
Amazing, marvelous, unmistakeable.
Wow!
Such vibrant pinkness on the gray ocean.
The whales were just behind the Cat and Kittens (to the right of Face Rock)
MY rock! Cathedral
Inside looking South
Inside looking East. Hi Bill!
Inside looking North
Tunnels from the outside
Closer view from the outside
We made mom and dad scallops for dinner that night and they were tasty but couldn’t dislodge thoughts of “oh my, oh wow!” “whale penises!” from my brain.
Shakedown Cruise, day 1–Pickup in Eugene/camping in Bandon
So excited to pick up Brave Horatio. We spent Friday night at Amy and Dave’s in Portland, got up early, had breakfast with Lin and Arthur at the Sunrise Café in Eugene and met Brave Horatio at Sawyer and Jon’s at eleven.
One cashier’s check, lots of nice discussion, and some angle grinding later we were off to Bullard’s State Park just north of Bandon. We stopped at my folks to check on dad’s convalescence, made and shared spaghetti, then drove to A-loop to set up camp.
Jon used his angle grinder to modify LuLuBelle’s odd hitch.
It was raining a little. Not a problem.
We put on raincoats and unpacked. It was a little like playing house—finding the best, or at least a reasonable spot for each item.
There was a surprising amount of space.
Shelf over the head of the bed will hold flashlights, keys and booksSurprisingly roomy, curvaceously designed clothes cupboardsWe got a great deal on our Orca cooler. (Alabama was in a bowl game or something. Sweet!)This stove has more BTU than our old one. Should bring our old Speckleware percolator to a boil right quick.Brave Horatio has more storage than I’d imagined. There is more than enough room in Brave Horatio’s galley to store tableware for 6 (including wine glasses), ample cookware and food. The counter hatch leads to a ton of under counter space.
We made the bed with our lovely new Pendleton blanket—Raven and the Box of Knowledge, based on a work by Preston Singletary, and a fluffy down comforter. All the fancy dining stuff found homes and the food had plenty of room down under the hatch.
Glamping
We celebrated with a glass of Happy Camper Red provided by Sarah and Erik. While we sipped by the fire we tried to figure out where to hang their sign.
This sign started here, migrated to the middle of the utensil drawer, and now lives on the inside of the galley hatch cover.
I began my quest to roast marshmallow whip coated something in the campfire. The whip was too cold. I persevered, molding stiff marshmallow whip around a vertically sliced banana and hershey bar sandwich, jamming it toward the coals, and twirling in a fruitless ☺ effort to keep the whip on the fruit. What looked so easy on the Martha Stewart webpage turned out to be a gloopy, gloppy mess. Fun though.
