We have been moving pretty fast, we are not sure where we are going from here and Harris beach state park is Beautiful and has cable tv. All of these were good reasons for staying another night. I am really glad we did this beach is gorgious.
History and the beauty of the beach. We started the day by walking out to the cape blanco lighthouse for a tour and a history lesson.
Our tour guide
We then visited the Hughes house which is an ornate house built in 1898 not far from the light house which has been restored and preserved just like it was back in those days.
We then wander down the coast with our final destination being Harris beach srate park. This part of the oregon coast has got to be the most beautiful on the whole coast.
What kind of a beach trip is this? We are 48 hours into this trip and i realuzed i havent even been on the beach yet. So todays the day for sure. We stopped at face rock beach in bandon. This is a BEAUTIFUL beach.
Long sandy beach with huge rock formations everywhere and tide pools among the roch formation. A beachcombers paradise. We walked for a couple of miles one way playing in the surf and taking pictures.
Unfortunately we cant stay all day we have to keep mobing. Off the see the Coquile lighthouse (pretty boring)
and the bandon march wildlife refuge. The refuge had several viewing spots and was long on history of the area and sort on wildlife. Then the big decision of the day .. No not whats for dinner .. North to stay at the casino or south to a campground. Bunny won … Off to cape blano campground. It got 8 stars in the book…i was willing to settle with doubling down on my pair of 8’s at the blackjack table…
We find a spot close to the beach and imediately we are greet by dwight the local lighthouse host with his red cup. We are still not sure what was in that cup. But he reassures us that this part of the west coast beach is the most beautiful. We secure the rv and off to see for ourselves. I have to agree. It is a beautiful beach .. But i m thinking face rock beach was just as nice. I forgot got to mention why they called it face rock beach .. Have a look …
Do you see her? Bunny decides to go back to the rv .. I go for a long walk on the beach. I walked from one end of the beach to the cape blanco light house. I am not sure if there is a way back up to the campground from here. I followed this couple and they just went up this grassy hillside … So i followed .. We all made it up .. I later found the path up the hill which we all had walked past. Back to the rv for dinner and bed …
Day 2 starts in the casino in Florence. Our destination today is a visit to a park from my past. My dad took me elk hunting with him awhen i was young. We stayed at a park call Laverne park. I wanted to revisit that park to see whars changed. We looked it up on the garmin and found 2 routes. One was 34 miles and one was 13 miles. Knid of confusing so we just put the address in and put our trust on the garmin gods. We were on a curvy little 2 lane road which then turned to gravel. It was only 11 miles to go .. How long can this gravel road last? Well turns out this short cut is acyually a logging road. It was shorter but it was slow and a little bumpy … I hope cruise america osbt following our blog. Also the locals were using the road for some kind of jog a thon. So we were dogging potholes and joggers. Luckily we didnt run into any log trucks. Anyway we finally got to a paved road and 4 miles later found Laverne County park campground. It really hadnt changed much from my memories. I located the big bend on the Coquile river where i caught my first salmon.
Also walked to the falls where my dad would watch me try to catch salmon with my hands as the salmon jumped the falls.
The park is much more beautiful than i remember. We got a spot right next to the river with the sound of the river in the background.
The park host stopped by and we swapped stories for an hour. He said that a month earlier the fishermen were elbow to elbow pulling salmon out of the river. The next morning we walked around the park once more and it was off to Coquile. This time we decided to take the long way.
Bunny and I hit the road to start our north to south trip down the coast. Our first stop was Cape Lookout for a 2 mile hike out to the point. 
We finished around 3 pm. Next stop was a bakery in pacific city. It closed at 3 pm. The next stop was dinner at Mo’s at the devils punchbowl. We got there and they closed at 3 pm. So with our desire for Mo’s clamchowder growing we set sail for the original Mo’s on the Newport bayfront. We arrived at the public parking and walked down the hill and along the bayfront to find that the Mo’s annex is closed. Should we give up or go to the Mo’s in Florence? On our way back to the rv we realized we walked by the original Mo’s. Dinner is served. 2 bowls of clamchowder and an order of fish n chips we walk up the hill to the rv. Our destination is Three Rivers Casino in Florence. Free rv parking thats why? On the drive from Newport to Florence we past some of the most beautiful parts of the oregon coast. One place we stopped was called the devils churn. Quite the wave action. 
We pulled into the casino around 8pm and get our rv permit to park and turn in for the night.
ANOTHER RV TRIP? Yup, we are at it again. And, again, our RV of choice is a (very) reduced cost rental. You can see us filling up at the station in the photo above (paying for a 50 gallon RV tank fill up may be the ultimate expression of Highway Robbery :().Well here we are … The final day of our month in Europe. Its been a Great trip. Our final day was spent driving along the Rhine river in Germany. The stretch of river we were on had 42 castles.
I love this area of the world. I wish we could have spent more time in this area.
We are both tired and ready to be home. The flights tomorrow are 12 hours flying time from Frankfurt to Las Vegas. We then have a 5 hour layover (do they take Euros in those machines?). Then we have a 2 1/2 hour flight to portland.
We have alot of Great memories and experiences.
Thanks to those of you who have followed along and especially to those who make comments. Its really nice to know that someone besides us are reading our ramblings.
It turns out flat Ben and Scott made appearence
Thanks again for following along. Be sure to go to our photo album and view our photos from the trip. Click on the “Photo Albums” tab and answer the password hint. Its not too tough a question. Bye to europe ….
Before we launch into this blog, we need to make it perfectly clear: We are still having fun! We are still glad that we planned and executed this somewhat unorthodox vacation! We do not have “vacationers remorse” and we will remember this journey fondly!
Having said that, we have noticed a few things in this final week of the trip that may indicate that a three week period (versus the four weeks we opted for) may be the “Goldilocks” time frame – not too short, not too long. Here are our observations (these are in no particular order, except number 1 :):
Yawn… Another 12th century church…
Number 10: Read Marty’s blog “I’m usually religious about blogging”. Toward the end he notes that that fourth week means you run out of personal hygiene items, you may need to clip your fingernails (not a true vacation pastime, you know?), and you start missing English (the subtext here is that Marty is just tired of only having Bunny to talk with). (He mentions one more “fourth week hazard” – see our number 1 reason below.)
Number 9: You have time to check your VISA statement. Our advice: DO NOT DO THIS. It will only bring sorrow, weeping and gnashing of teeth.
Number 8: You start worrying about your gutters clogging (back in Portland!) due to the combination of a Halloween deluge and all of those leaves from the *%$#^+@ heritage tree across the street.
Number 7: Your attitude may become distorted (see # 8 above – we actually LOVE that tree!)
Looks like Oregon, right?
Number 6: Your face lights up when you hear bad/mediocre American/English music in stores or on the radio. Think Journey, Robin Thicke and Queen. (True confessions: Bunny loves Queen, even in America.)
Number 5: You begin to think it’s acceptable to pay 20 euros for the privilege of driving on the highway (and that’s basically every time you hit the freeway).
Number 4: Marty has quadrupled the number of French words he can say. He began with “Bonjour” and “Merci” and now can say, seemlessly, “Deux pains au chocolat, s’il vous plait!” (This SOUNDS like a good thing – Marty embracing the French language – but you have to realize here that pains au chocolat are French pastries…).
Beware the boulangeries!
Number 3: You begin to revolt – just un peu – against the French culture. An example: The French are very aggressive drivers. Marty acknowledged this for a time and adjusted his driving to accommodate them, pulling over when a French driver tailgated him, etc. He is not inclined to do this any longer. He sometimes slows down (passive aggressive, oui?). Or he will yell “go ahead and pass me, ass hat!” (Actually, that’s Bunny yelling that, not Marty. 🙂 )
Number 2: You become immune to many of France’s charms. This is a HUGE RED FLAG that you are in danger because this magical appeal is a big reason why you came here. You drive by an 800 year old church or a delightful medieval town – and you don’t try to take a photo, you may not even slow down (why should you? The French don’t). Marty started saying “looks like Oregon” (A LOT) as we drove through the beautiful French countryside.
And the number 1 sign you’ve stayed in France too long: Three words: Marty going commando.
Commando Marty – or Regular Marty? Only Marty (and Marco Rubio’s dry cleaner) knows for sure…
We got into Annecy Thursday night around 6 pm. We have spent the last 2 days exploring the city. It is a bigger city than anything we have stayed in yet this trip. The city has 50,000 people. The “Old Town” is a mix of Old and new. Several canals crisscross Annecy, making it another of France’s “Petite Venices”.
There is a big beautiful lake right next to the old town lined with big beautiful mountains.
The water in the lake is incredibly clear.
The town is mostly full of restaurants, gift shops, boulangeries, and gelato shops.
That is the biggest Pano Chocolate I have ever seen ….
Bunny and I had dinner at a restaurant which Rick Steves recomended Saturday afternoon. It was called Le Freti. Its specialty is Fondue and Raclette. We sat down and made the decision to get the fondue. We had Raclette with Claudine, but we were not sure we would know how to eat it – or rather how to MAKE it because we had read that they bring this raclette-making gadget to your table. We were glad we chose the fondue. Here is what the Raclette machine looks like.
What it does is melt the cheese to then be put onto items on your plate like meat and veggies. We got the fondue with a basket of bread and a bowl of boiled potatoes. We knew what to do with the bread but weren’t quite sure what to do with the potatoes so we just treated them like bread.
After dinner in France you finish with a coffee. I ordered a Cafe Grand.
A little different than a Cafe Grand ordered in the US (by about 15 ounces).
After dinner we were stuffed and took a walk around the lake. Sunday in France is a holiday. It’s also All Saints (Souls?) day, so we are not sure whats gonna be open in Annecy. So we stocked up on food at the Monoprix and retired for the evening.
Forgive me family and friends for I have not blogged. It has been 6 days since my last blog. I will now do 2 blogs and post 50 new pictures as my penance…
Here I am with our rental car. Its an Opel .. not sure which model but its a 5 speed manual. The driving has been pretty easy up until Annecy. This city is rather big and busy. It reminds me of driving in Amsterdam. There are pedestrians and bicycles everywhere. its one thing to hit another car .. its another thing to hit a pedestrian. So we drove 6 hours from Beynac to Annecy and parked at the pay lot down the street from our apartment. Later that day we moved the car to the free parking lot a 10 minute walk away from the apartment. During that drive I found myself following Garmin into a construction zone which I had no options as to where to go. I had a bus zone ahead and construction cones on my left. Those were my choices. The funny thing was that I had 12 cars behind me. All of these drivers had followed me into this street which was essentially a dead end. I was able to back up past the car behind me and sneak thru a small access in a parking lot to get out of the situation. The really funny part was that there were still cars going into that street. There must have been 20 cars going into that dead end. We finally found the free parking lot and got back to our apartment after a long day of driving.
Many of the roads around Beynac were essentially one lane roads on which at any point in time you could meet another car or even truck coming the opposite way. We found our selves on these roads which didnt even look like roads. but our Garmin was telling us that was the way to go, and we always do what our Garmin tells us to do… Also the speed limit on most of these roads is 56 miles an hour. I would just pull over whenever I got a local behind me because they would tailgate and push me to go faster.
The one thing about driving around the French countryside is the fall colors. They talk alot about the NE USA fall colors, but we have been driving trough some wonderful countryside fall colors. They should advertise driving around France for the fall colors … like they need more tourists.
The internet at the places we have stayed have been GREAT. I am currently streaming 2 college football games and have had no problems with the internet services. We did lose our internet services for the last 2 days at Beynac. There really is no free internet services while you are out roaming the cities. They say they are free and then they want a log in and the intructions are in french, so thats no help.
Its been almost 3 weeks since I have talked with anyone except Bunny in English. We were in the grocery store today and there was a mother and daughter behind me talking in American English. I turn around to talk and they had disappeared into the next aisle. I wanted to track them down just to talk with them. I miss English.
There is a HUGE difference between a 3 week vacation in France and a 4 week vacation in France. It doesnt seem like it would be that much of a difference, but there are many things that happen in that 4 th week that you dont realize would happen. First off is that you have to do wash for the 3rd time. Before yesterday I had worn the same underwear for 3 days. You probably didnt need to know that. Then you start to run out of those essential personal cleaning items, such as soap, shampoo, deordorant, and your finger nails need clipping. Just some of the things that happen in that 4 th week that you dont think about.
Its 11 pm on Halloween night. The 4th game of the world series comes on at 1 AM. Not sure if I am going to make it through the whole game. I watched the whole Oregon Ducks football game yesterday morniing. The game started at 3:30 am. Bunny watched the end of the game when she got up at 7:00 am….What a GREAT game….
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