Out Of The Frying Pan And Into The Freezer

Current Location: Cape Blanco State Park, southern Oregon coast

This morning we packed up and headed out to the coast. Perhaps we're used to settling for longer periods of time, but it didn't seem possible that it was already time to go. Our hitch hadn't even had time to start itchin.

We thoroughly enjoyed Valley of the Rogue SP and would stay there again in a heartbeat. It's easily accessible with big, well-spaced sites. They do have some full hook up sites, but most are just water and electric. But with a dump station on-site, that's no problem. They even have laundry facilities which I found surprising for a state park. If I had to state one negative, it is that it is very close to the interstate and you can't really get away from the road noise. But after having spent 5 months in a park that was right next to a very active train track and in the flight path of PDX, the sounds of traffic just seemed like steady white noise to us.

And although we could have easily enjoyed several more days there, we were ready to escape the heat. The temps in the valley had been hovering in the mid to upper 90's and the evening cooldown didn't seem to begin until well after 9:00 (as I write this at 8:45 pm it is still 85 degrees at the park). The coast usually promises cooler weather, so we were looking forward to that.

Be careful of what you wish for, right? OK, maybe we had just become accustomed to the warm weather, but when we stepped out of the truck...BRRR. With the wind blowing and the fog rolling in, t-shirt, shorts and sandals were not going to cut it. Time to dig out the jeans and sweatshirts. I don't think I've had long pants on since...June? And they sure feel weird. But it's a nice change of pace. The forecast for the week is low 60's, which is a little cooler than we'd prefer but certainly pleasant enough. And on the bright side, the cool temperatures will entice us to have more campfires!

We, or maybe it was more me, were a little nervous about our arrival. This campground is a first-come, first serve and it's rather small (about 50 sites). Most of the sites are decent size with probably over half being 45' or longer. We were hoping that by coming in mid-week after Labor Day there would be lots of availability, but knowing the coast is a popular destination, we really did know. It's a little more crowded than I would have thought, but we did find a vacancy in one of the longer sites. Phew! So now I can sit back and relax again. I guess I just do better when we have reservations.

This park seems very nice, just what we've come to expect from the Oregon State Park system. It has a very secluded feel, but it is easy to get to and has everything we need. We have 50 amp electric and water hookups. Unfortunately, the dump station is temporarily closed, but our next stop after this has a dump station so it's not a problem. The brochure promises several miles of hiking trails to ocean overlooks and beach access and we look forward to exploring those and the surrounding area in the coming days. The southern coast is the one section of the Oregon coast that we had yet to visit so it we're excited to venture into new territory.