July 8 - Portland to Bandon, OR

The weather this morning was cool and cloudy as we left Portland and caught late-morning traffic slowness out of the city. We took a route SW and out to the coast. The Oregon coast is beautiful, and this highway has many road-side stops at which to admire the views. Unfortunately, it rained all day, so we only had glimpses of the near-shore. The Oregon sand dunes were really neat - I hadn't expected so much vegetation! We even managed to avoid any collisions with dune buggies.

Having had difficulty finding accommodations at Crater Lake National Park for that evening, we opted to stay at the Seaside Hostel and Guest House in Bandon, OR. This place is in Old Bandon, right across the street from the water's edge. It's a lovely place to stay with a wonderfully down-to-earth hostess. Definitely not one of those impersonal hotel chains! We even had a chance to do a load of laundry here.

We wandered around the old town and had a really nice dinner at the Wheelhouse Restaurant (seafood, of course). Actually, we were technically in the bar upstairs, called The Crowsnest. This turned out to be a furtuitous event, as we got to sit at the window overlooking the bay and watch as the skies finally started lightening up around sunset. Also had some seemingly close-calls with gulls and starlings flying to the eaves just above our seats' window!