Been too long since the last rant... and this'un is a lil' disjointed... 12 hour days in a cacophony of noise has my kaleidoscope buzzing!
Hmmmmmmm... It's curious.
The vaunted Federal Gov't came grinding to a halt amid the calls of looming disaster and agony from the highest office in the land... Oh... that's right, he's not especially known for pragmatic statements of reality... Mostly just hysteria and fear mongering.
I got up the next morning expecting to hear sirens and see the smoke of the conflagration of the world around me... all from the absence of that institution...
Buuuut... Hmmmmm... the cars in Montana are still rolling, along with the Beet trucks. The stores still opened their doors at the appointed time, and the time clock still clocked. People continue to go on about their daily chores, and ~ SHOCK!!! ~ They're doing it without Federal assistance!!! A-Freaking-Mazing!!!
Could it Be? Could the Truth and Reality BE... that the Feds need us... but we DON'T NEED THEM???
Personally, though it'd cost me my Army disability pension... I'd kinda like to give it a years trial. No U.S. Federal Government for the next year... see how well it works. The 20% or so increase in take home pay (from lack of Federal Extortion) would be kinda nice. ;) More than make up for the loss of my disability... I'm game...
... of course, somebody needs to go back to D.C. and cut off the paychecks to the Congress and Senate... since those despicable verminous, Demothugs and Republiduds... passed a law to make sure that THEY continue to get THEIR paychecks...buuut then, with no Feds, there's no IRS... so no income to pay the useless suckers! :)
... same kind of deal when they exempted THEMSELVES from the Obamination of Obamacare... You know, the THING that was supposed to save ever'body a whole pile of hard earned cash... and has resulted in the reduction of services AND a two digit increase in Insurance premiums every year since passage? The thing that was So BAD, we couldn't expect THE CONGRESS to endure it!
I'd bet the rest of the world would sure be happy to see the Feds back on a leash... Just think of all the Wars that WON'T get started... The numbers of Drones that WON"T come Screaming out of a clear blue sky at people we Suspect of wrongdoing...
Yup... the world would be a lot more peaceful place... with the Military/Industrial complex Eisenhower warned about fifty years or so ago... Back On A Chain.
No new war in Syria... no new war in Iran. All of which I don't understand... didn't mr. Obama... decry all the wars before him? and say there'd be a change? ... Oh... guess he just meant; "I'll change the wars to a new location..."
Yup... shut the sucker down... and LEAVE it shut down.
It's Time To Sink or Swim Girls
Brian
A broken down Ol' Cowboy goin' RV Boondocking ...
...and Yondering, to the beat of a different Biker Cowboy Drummer
Showing posts with label Disable Vets Benefits. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Disable Vets Benefits. Show all posts
Wednesday, October 2, 2013
Thursday, June 27, 2013
From Top Dollar Scenery in Free Camps and Rollin' Homes that Have Gone Debt Free...
... to another Gift Camp from the State of Oregon, it's been a good week.
We stayed in Bullards Beach for five full days... Most of which rained. :) Which was OK since it allowed me the excuse I needed to sit inside doing... Cover your Ears!... work!
I been doggin' it too long and really been buckling down to get the site rebuilds done. While doing that I've been studying and researching and signing up and getting approved by a variety of affiliate sponsors.
The idea being that as I get the rebuild a bit further along you'll start seeing the links for camping equipment, clothing to have you dressed to the nines out in the woods, and there's even an outfit where you can get your best travel shots or whatever photography you do printed into high quality canvas prints for display.
As always, it's my intention to keep those low key and out of your way so you can find the info you want... and those links will just be there for you if and when you want 'em. Of course the deal with affiliate sponsors is that when you do utilize that vendor, I get a small piece of the pie for sending them the customer.
That leaves me the responsibility of only presenting quality companies to serve your needs. I'm looking forward to working with 'em! and lining up a place where you can have some confidence you'll find a reliable company.
So... that's a little bit more coming to the sites over the next few weeks... assuming I don't fall off the wagon and go completely back to the lazy drifter I've been for a bit! :)
In between rain showers we were able to get out and around a few times and collect up some memories and views of the place.
I was pretty impressed with the paint and the dun below.They stood quiet facing into the wind while the A-Rab above dinked around all goosey in the breeze. I have to admit, the sand was pretty stinging, but those two below showed how a good mount should do it. ;)
I always wanted to ride on the beach... There's just no room beside the Raider to carry a saddle on the truck... and I'm pretty sure loading a horse in the fiver is a non-starter!
Even if the wind is blowin'... come back over the dunes off the beach and you're quickly sheltered by the trees and shrubs that fill the park and add plenty to the feel and privacy of the place. Even though there might be gobs of people close by, I didn't get that claustrophobic sensation I often get in such camps.
We made the short run up to Coos Bay from camp for a moh-mentous OH-Kay-shun last Tuesday. The rig that was supposed to have got cleared by the sale of the house three years back, and didn't but you already know that story... finally got cleared according to the original 12 year plan. We made the final payment!
As hard as we've used it, the last year has been a horse race to see which would come first, the end of the debt or the end of the rig. She's road weary sure and certain. But now, as of Tuesday, our home on the highway is free and clear. Hopefully she'll hold up for a few more miles of at least repairable wandering! HooYa!
Coos Bay is an interesting place. If you only see the bit that lays along Hwy 101 you'd take it to be a worn, kinda shabby place. That would be a mistaken first impression. You have to turn west and climb the ridge away from the highway, and a whole other personality is gonna open up to you. Don't trust first impressions.
One thing I'm really taken with in Oregon is the attention they give to Vets. Ever'where you look there's plaques and memorials. It makes an old soldier feel kinda good, and grateful.
We're cheapin' out as much as we can this month in our continuing effort to catch back up after last months fun in Lincoln. ;) so when the Free Five day limit on our New Oregon Special Access pass for Vets rang the bell... we bumped a few miles north to just below Florence.
We're now settled in another state park to finish out this months allotment of ten free days at Jessie M. Honeyman state park.
Now... me being an inveterate boondocker and all... hmmm... that sounds a lot like a spineless cheapskate if you think about it! :) anyway... whichever I am... it's a bit of a surprise how nice these state parks are in Oregon. I expect the fact that I'm getting them as a gift to Disabled Vets has a hell of a lot to do with my change of heart!
But I'll tell you... being able to walk over to the shower house that's hidden in the trees just behind our camp... and stand under a hot shower till my silky soft lil' kiester is wrinkled like a prune from all that hot water is pure luxury... to a fella accustomed to bein' stingy with water and waste tank space!
Combine that with the scenery 'round about and like I was concerned the other day... these camps could be my ruination!
They don't build bridges the way they used to. It's a shame. The bridge at Coos Bay is a thing of beauty
Who decided that they should stop building bridges and public works that are beautiful anyway? I mean, If we're going to spend billions rebuilding the failing infrastructure of the country... why don't we follow some of the lessons of the past and QUIT with the nasty, ugly slabs of concrete?
Send the bridge architects on a trip to Oregon and Washington... and remind them how something utilitarian can still be a work of art that makes you smile and remember when you cross it...
Can you remember the last bridge you crossed? Did IT make you think; Wow, that is awesome! ???
We're running into one lil' burp in the road... the 4th of July... Since planning and reservations and such are not something I function well around ... We've got no place locked down to take us through the fourth.
Our "Cheap" stay here runs out the morning of the first. We could stay on I guess, but then the price jumps to $25 bucks a day or so... which for us is a budget buster... that is... if we had a budget left to BE busted. :)
This year the 4th comes earlier in the week... and there's NO reservations to be had at this late date... Soooo... what we're shootin' to do is be ready to roll, bright and early on the 1st... and try to scoot into a non-reservable site, just another bump north, to hog until the holiday passes!
Part of this biker cowboy master minded plan is to leave a six pack sitting out on the steps the next few nights... tucked into the back of one of those live traps, with one bottle popped open allowing its sweet scent to waft back into the forest... with any luck I'll catch that lil' Murphy pest and leave that merry mutant chained to the flagpole when we leave! Ha!
But then... like I said... me and plans...
Anyhoo... if you're comin' to the Pacific North West... find a way to take your time. Get out of your rig and walk on the beach... stroll through the tall timber... and be glad that you were able to be here.
Mountain High ~ Low on the Coast
Brian
We stayed in Bullards Beach for five full days... Most of which rained. :) Which was OK since it allowed me the excuse I needed to sit inside doing... Cover your Ears!... work!
I been doggin' it too long and really been buckling down to get the site rebuilds done. While doing that I've been studying and researching and signing up and getting approved by a variety of affiliate sponsors.
The idea being that as I get the rebuild a bit further along you'll start seeing the links for camping equipment, clothing to have you dressed to the nines out in the woods, and there's even an outfit where you can get your best travel shots or whatever photography you do printed into high quality canvas prints for display.
As always, it's my intention to keep those low key and out of your way so you can find the info you want... and those links will just be there for you if and when you want 'em. Of course the deal with affiliate sponsors is that when you do utilize that vendor, I get a small piece of the pie for sending them the customer.
That leaves me the responsibility of only presenting quality companies to serve your needs. I'm looking forward to working with 'em! and lining up a place where you can have some confidence you'll find a reliable company.
So... that's a little bit more coming to the sites over the next few weeks... assuming I don't fall off the wagon and go completely back to the lazy drifter I've been for a bit! :)
In between rain showers we were able to get out and around a few times and collect up some memories and views of the place.
 |
| *The grass covered Dune at Bullards Beach* |
I was pretty impressed with the paint and the dun below.They stood quiet facing into the wind while the A-Rab above dinked around all goosey in the breeze. I have to admit, the sand was pretty stinging, but those two below showed how a good mount should do it. ;)
I always wanted to ride on the beach... There's just no room beside the Raider to carry a saddle on the truck... and I'm pretty sure loading a horse in the fiver is a non-starter!
Even if the wind is blowin'... come back over the dunes off the beach and you're quickly sheltered by the trees and shrubs that fill the park and add plenty to the feel and privacy of the place. Even though there might be gobs of people close by, I didn't get that claustrophobic sensation I often get in such camps.
 |
| *View of the Draw Bridge from Bullards Beach* |
We made the short run up to Coos Bay from camp for a moh-mentous OH-Kay-shun last Tuesday. The rig that was supposed to have got cleared by the sale of the house three years back, and didn't but you already know that story... finally got cleared according to the original 12 year plan. We made the final payment!
As hard as we've used it, the last year has been a horse race to see which would come first, the end of the debt or the end of the rig. She's road weary sure and certain. But now, as of Tuesday, our home on the highway is free and clear. Hopefully she'll hold up for a few more miles of at least repairable wandering! HooYa!
Coos Bay is an interesting place. If you only see the bit that lays along Hwy 101 you'd take it to be a worn, kinda shabby place. That would be a mistaken first impression. You have to turn west and climb the ridge away from the highway, and a whole other personality is gonna open up to you. Don't trust first impressions.
One thing I'm really taken with in Oregon is the attention they give to Vets. Ever'where you look there's plaques and memorials. It makes an old soldier feel kinda good, and grateful.
We're cheapin' out as much as we can this month in our continuing effort to catch back up after last months fun in Lincoln. ;) so when the Free Five day limit on our New Oregon Special Access pass for Vets rang the bell... we bumped a few miles north to just below Florence.
We're now settled in another state park to finish out this months allotment of ten free days at Jessie M. Honeyman state park.
Now... me being an inveterate boondocker and all... hmmm... that sounds a lot like a spineless cheapskate if you think about it! :) anyway... whichever I am... it's a bit of a surprise how nice these state parks are in Oregon. I expect the fact that I'm getting them as a gift to Disabled Vets has a hell of a lot to do with my change of heart!
But I'll tell you... being able to walk over to the shower house that's hidden in the trees just behind our camp... and stand under a hot shower till my silky soft lil' kiester is wrinkled like a prune from all that hot water is pure luxury... to a fella accustomed to bein' stingy with water and waste tank space!
Combine that with the scenery 'round about and like I was concerned the other day... these camps could be my ruination!
 |
| *Bridge at Coos Bay* |
They don't build bridges the way they used to. It's a shame. The bridge at Coos Bay is a thing of beauty
Who decided that they should stop building bridges and public works that are beautiful anyway? I mean, If we're going to spend billions rebuilding the failing infrastructure of the country... why don't we follow some of the lessons of the past and QUIT with the nasty, ugly slabs of concrete?
Send the bridge architects on a trip to Oregon and Washington... and remind them how something utilitarian can still be a work of art that makes you smile and remember when you cross it...
Can you remember the last bridge you crossed? Did IT make you think; Wow, that is awesome! ???
We're running into one lil' burp in the road... the 4th of July... Since planning and reservations and such are not something I function well around ... We've got no place locked down to take us through the fourth.
Our "Cheap" stay here runs out the morning of the first. We could stay on I guess, but then the price jumps to $25 bucks a day or so... which for us is a budget buster... that is... if we had a budget left to BE busted. :)
This year the 4th comes earlier in the week... and there's NO reservations to be had at this late date... Soooo... what we're shootin' to do is be ready to roll, bright and early on the 1st... and try to scoot into a non-reservable site, just another bump north, to hog until the holiday passes!
Part of this biker cowboy master minded plan is to leave a six pack sitting out on the steps the next few nights... tucked into the back of one of those live traps, with one bottle popped open allowing its sweet scent to waft back into the forest... with any luck I'll catch that lil' Murphy pest and leave that merry mutant chained to the flagpole when we leave! Ha!
But then... like I said... me and plans...
Anyhoo... if you're comin' to the Pacific North West... find a way to take your time. Get out of your rig and walk on the beach... stroll through the tall timber... and be glad that you were able to be here.
Mountain High ~ Low on the Coast
Brian
Saturday, June 22, 2013
State Parks Can Put a Guy In Danger of Ruination...
I lied... Just north of Coos Bay... turned out to be a ways south of Coos Bay. We worked hard all morning to finish loading up and hit the Sixes River Road just before 11 in the a.m.
Yeah... we really leave early when we're pushin' hard. Especially when we need to make most of forty miles or so! ;)
So... somewhere along in there I realized, it's Friday on the early edge of the heavy season, and we're Moving Camp? Why do things sensible and move mid week? Where's the adventure in that?
So, I'm rollin' down the road draggin' 36 bikes, a furniture truck and 95 cars of various makes behind my rolling road block...
As I'm driving I was cogitatin' that the BLM camp we'd just pulled out of was filling fast... to the point that the people there to 'get away from it all' were already arguin' loudly with the rangers about their loose dogs and double the vehicle/people limit per camp...
hmmmm... maybe we oughta not pass a possible spot early in the day on the lead in to a weekend...
Sooooo... we passed on early lunch burgers at the general store in Langois; which are storied to be worth your first born... and kept moving with the pressure building to find a camp before all the refugees from Salem, Eugene and Portland slide into the last spot and win the RV Musical Camps game.
We rolled past the Farmers Market in Bandon and hung a hard left into Bullards Beach State Park. If we can beat the last spot parkers... we can ride back to the Farmers Market in the morning.
So... that Free Park Pass for (service connected) Disabled Vets only gets you the "spot" right?
The gate keeper gal is going through her list and saying; "These two have full hook ups but this'un here is only water and electric. Go pick one and let me know."
To which the stingy, grump of a biker cowboy busted up Vet asks; "Well, I got the card 'cause it really helps out my pathetic budget. All we need is a dry camp, how much extra do I have to pay for the hookups?"
"Nada! It's all the same price for you guys. FREE!"
Now, how am I supposed to turn down that deal? :) So...we go pick the best looking of the available sites; one that gave us a bit more separation and some high bushes to give my shy self a bit more sense of privacy... and then went back to tell 'em which one...
"You took the one without the sewer hook up? The others didn't work for you?"
Ha! What can I say... I can't even manage to pick the FHU when they're available to me FREE! :) I never even noticed the missing sewer connection.
But, this State Park thing could ruin me! FHU's, Paved roads in and out for the Raider... The town is just 'bout a mile or two up the road to recharge the brew rack... coffee huts with better joe than I make... and beaches to walk on right by the camp...
A boondocker that goes and gets himself used to this easy livin' could really mess up his ideas on his proper place in the Universe and trigger one of those conflagrations that you see on the covers of the grocery store scandal sheets; When parallel universes collide !
The sea gulls were flying an orbit around us... Coasting along into the wind up the dune... then they'd cut back over us and the sea... to circle around to make another pass... Apparently they've got it real tough too.
Looked like feathered wind surfers just playin' in the breeze.
We walked along in the afternoon watchin' the kids sail their kites, the birds sailing, the surf rolling... and all for the price... of simply bein' here.
Once again... folks say they can't live this life... or just about any they might choose, because they're too poor; and I say baloney. We're in the freakin' hole deep after last month's breakdown. The store income is down... book sales are down... website income is down...
So what! I can be poor back in that other grinding life... or I can be poor here!
I'm as Rich as a Serf Robbin' King!
All ya need is a dream and the guts to have confidence in your own resilience ~ and THAT ~ is a Choice.
Livin' High and Living Free!
Brian
Yeah... we really leave early when we're pushin' hard. Especially when we need to make most of forty miles or so! ;)
So... somewhere along in there I realized, it's Friday on the early edge of the heavy season, and we're Moving Camp? Why do things sensible and move mid week? Where's the adventure in that?
So, I'm rollin' down the road draggin' 36 bikes, a furniture truck and 95 cars of various makes behind my rolling road block...
As I'm driving I was cogitatin' that the BLM camp we'd just pulled out of was filling fast... to the point that the people there to 'get away from it all' were already arguin' loudly with the rangers about their loose dogs and double the vehicle/people limit per camp...
hmmmm... maybe we oughta not pass a possible spot early in the day on the lead in to a weekend...
Sooooo... we passed on early lunch burgers at the general store in Langois; which are storied to be worth your first born... and kept moving with the pressure building to find a camp before all the refugees from Salem, Eugene and Portland slide into the last spot and win the RV Musical Camps game.
We rolled past the Farmers Market in Bandon and hung a hard left into Bullards Beach State Park. If we can beat the last spot parkers... we can ride back to the Farmers Market in the morning.
So... that Free Park Pass for (service connected) Disabled Vets only gets you the "spot" right?
The gate keeper gal is going through her list and saying; "These two have full hook ups but this'un here is only water and electric. Go pick one and let me know."
To which the stingy, grump of a biker cowboy busted up Vet asks; "Well, I got the card 'cause it really helps out my pathetic budget. All we need is a dry camp, how much extra do I have to pay for the hookups?"
"Nada! It's all the same price for you guys. FREE!"
Now, how am I supposed to turn down that deal? :) So...we go pick the best looking of the available sites; one that gave us a bit more separation and some high bushes to give my shy self a bit more sense of privacy... and then went back to tell 'em which one...
"You took the one without the sewer hook up? The others didn't work for you?"
Ha! What can I say... I can't even manage to pick the FHU when they're available to me FREE! :) I never even noticed the missing sewer connection.
But, this State Park thing could ruin me! FHU's, Paved roads in and out for the Raider... The town is just 'bout a mile or two up the road to recharge the brew rack... coffee huts with better joe than I make... and beaches to walk on right by the camp...
A boondocker that goes and gets himself used to this easy livin' could really mess up his ideas on his proper place in the Universe and trigger one of those conflagrations that you see on the covers of the grocery store scandal sheets; When parallel universes collide !
The sea gulls were flying an orbit around us... Coasting along into the wind up the dune... then they'd cut back over us and the sea... to circle around to make another pass... Apparently they've got it real tough too.
Looked like feathered wind surfers just playin' in the breeze.
We walked along in the afternoon watchin' the kids sail their kites, the birds sailing, the surf rolling... and all for the price... of simply bein' here.
Once again... folks say they can't live this life... or just about any they might choose, because they're too poor; and I say baloney. We're in the freakin' hole deep after last month's breakdown. The store income is down... book sales are down... website income is down...
So what! I can be poor back in that other grinding life... or I can be poor here!
I'm as Rich as a Serf Robbin' King!
All ya need is a dream and the guts to have confidence in your own resilience ~ and THAT ~ is a Choice.
Livin' High and Living Free!
Brian
Friday, June 21, 2013
Oregon Tips the Scales in Favor of Disabled Vets
We've been dawdling along in northern California and southern Oregon even slower than what's become usual for us from a shortage of diesel... and... 'cause we were waiting to see if our new Card would show up...
...and it finally got approved and caught up with us.
I know several states have programs to benefit Military Vets in their park systems. But all I've found until now have been strictly for Vets that are residents of that state.
Oregon has done the others one better.
They created a program that gives Disabled Vets ten free days a month in their State Park System. The one better is that this gift is for ALL Disabled Vets, of any state, not just their own residents.
AWESOME Oregon!
The only stipulations are the disability must be service connected and the stays are available a max of 5 days at a time.
You can stay longer than the five days but then you pay full rate. If you move to another park you can take the remainder of the ten days.
I'd heard about it some time ago and just didn't pursue it. Foolish Me! After being reminded recently by a reader, I sent in my paperwork and the Card came today.
Thank You Oregon! Your generosity is sweetly appreciated.
Though our long term preference remains boondocking back in the woods or out in open country... in the thick and steep terrain of the Pacific Coast, those State parks are a gift for us, for sure and for certain.
We love to camp right on the coast, but there's only a couple of National Forest Camps and at $24 bucks a day and more, those other available camps are too pricey for us to allow a leisurely trip down the coast. We've had to move fast to get back to the places our budget would allow.
Ha! We was wrong!
Now that we've found the reasonable priced camps inland in California, a few BLM camps here in Oregon, and Now the gift of Ten Days of State Park use a month, our Coastal trips can slow down, stretch out and get Sweeter! Utilizing the Oregon State Parks that are now more easily available to us, thanks to the generosity of Oregon, along with the USFS camps we know of... combined with the inland BLM camps we're discovering... The cost of a coastal migration for this wandering biker cowboy is no longer prohibitive. Suh-wheet!
While we were keeping our fingers crossed that the card would be approved and show up we took a lil' stroll up to the top of the hill where they'd built a Coast Guard Lifeboat Station back in 1934. It's just out the north end of Port Orford.
But the directions didn't make sense to me... Seemed to me that a Coast Guard setup is gonna need boats for a life boat station. ;)
Does that make you scratch your head too? A lifeboat station... on TOP of a hill? Sounds like typical bureaucratic thinkin' don't it? Actually it makes sense once you find out the particulars.
This part of the coast had wrecked more than its share of boats I guess.
So, they built a 30 some foot tower on top of that hill and manned it 24/7 to watch for distress flares out at sea ... :) Their boat house from where they'd mount their rescue operations was in a small cove at the bottom. The boat house burnt down a long time ago, and the tower was taken down when they closed the station in 1970.
The only thing left are the buildings that housed their barracks, which is now a museum for what they did. We got there just as the museum was shutting down for the day... so poor me only got to stroll along the trails through the forest on top of the hill.
The state is trying to change the name of the beach from what its been called... to something the indians named it... but... since I can't spell that :) I'll just call it Agate Beach like ever'body else does.
We've spent several hours there, hunting agates and have captured a nice lil' collection. I say lil' 'cause though plenty of Agates the size of goose eggs have come off that beach... we've only found 'em the size of humming bird eggs... from small humming birds... with calcium deficiencies. ;)
Pretty nice view from up there. There's a rock off the northern end of the cape where a good bunch of seals were sunning in the... ahem... sun.
I tried to take their portrait... but from my vantage point they just looked like a lot of hairy sausages layin' about in the sun.
We're making another bump north in the morning. Hoping to find use of our new card at one of Oregon's camps just north of Coos Bay. Seeing as our timing for running out of days here in Port Orford is bumping into the weekend and that weekend is in late June... our fingers are tightly crossed that we'll find a nice spot to pull in for another few days without severe difficulty.
The real problem is that we've found long camps are tougher to break than short camps... Gravity has a way of spreading junk out when it has more time to work on it than short or overnight camps. Camp goods flow outward like thick mud.
After 14 days in a camp... it takes twice as long to pack up and go! ;)
Packing and Stuffing
Brian
...and it finally got approved and caught up with us.
Oregon has done the others one better.
They created a program that gives Disabled Vets ten free days a month in their State Park System. The one better is that this gift is for ALL Disabled Vets, of any state, not just their own residents.
AWESOME Oregon!
The only stipulations are the disability must be service connected and the stays are available a max of 5 days at a time.
You can stay longer than the five days but then you pay full rate. If you move to another park you can take the remainder of the ten days.
I'd heard about it some time ago and just didn't pursue it. Foolish Me! After being reminded recently by a reader, I sent in my paperwork and the Card came today.
Thank You Oregon! Your generosity is sweetly appreciated.
Though our long term preference remains boondocking back in the woods or out in open country... in the thick and steep terrain of the Pacific Coast, those State parks are a gift for us, for sure and for certain.
We love to camp right on the coast, but there's only a couple of National Forest Camps and at $24 bucks a day and more, those other available camps are too pricey for us to allow a leisurely trip down the coast. We've had to move fast to get back to the places our budget would allow.
Ha! We was wrong!
Now that we've found the reasonable priced camps inland in California, a few BLM camps here in Oregon, and Now the gift of Ten Days of State Park use a month, our Coastal trips can slow down, stretch out and get Sweeter! Utilizing the Oregon State Parks that are now more easily available to us, thanks to the generosity of Oregon, along with the USFS camps we know of... combined with the inland BLM camps we're discovering... The cost of a coastal migration for this wandering biker cowboy is no longer prohibitive. Suh-wheet!
While we were keeping our fingers crossed that the card would be approved and show up we took a lil' stroll up to the top of the hill where they'd built a Coast Guard Lifeboat Station back in 1934. It's just out the north end of Port Orford.
But the directions didn't make sense to me... Seemed to me that a Coast Guard setup is gonna need boats for a life boat station. ;)
Does that make you scratch your head too? A lifeboat station... on TOP of a hill? Sounds like typical bureaucratic thinkin' don't it? Actually it makes sense once you find out the particulars.
This part of the coast had wrecked more than its share of boats I guess.
So, they built a 30 some foot tower on top of that hill and manned it 24/7 to watch for distress flares out at sea ... :) Their boat house from where they'd mount their rescue operations was in a small cove at the bottom. The boat house burnt down a long time ago, and the tower was taken down when they closed the station in 1970.
The only thing left are the buildings that housed their barracks, which is now a museum for what they did. We got there just as the museum was shutting down for the day... so poor me only got to stroll along the trails through the forest on top of the hill.
 |
| *Agate Beach* |
The state is trying to change the name of the beach from what its been called... to something the indians named it... but... since I can't spell that :) I'll just call it Agate Beach like ever'body else does.
We've spent several hours there, hunting agates and have captured a nice lil' collection. I say lil' 'cause though plenty of Agates the size of goose eggs have come off that beach... we've only found 'em the size of humming bird eggs... from small humming birds... with calcium deficiencies. ;)
Pretty nice view from up there. There's a rock off the northern end of the cape where a good bunch of seals were sunning in the... ahem... sun.
I tried to take their portrait... but from my vantage point they just looked like a lot of hairy sausages layin' about in the sun.
We're making another bump north in the morning. Hoping to find use of our new card at one of Oregon's camps just north of Coos Bay. Seeing as our timing for running out of days here in Port Orford is bumping into the weekend and that weekend is in late June... our fingers are tightly crossed that we'll find a nice spot to pull in for another few days without severe difficulty.
The real problem is that we've found long camps are tougher to break than short camps... Gravity has a way of spreading junk out when it has more time to work on it than short or overnight camps. Camp goods flow outward like thick mud.
After 14 days in a camp... it takes twice as long to pack up and go! ;)
Packing and Stuffing
Brian
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