Day 6 Lone Drivers Newport to Coos Bay

Today was going to be a sight seeing drive to hit some places along the way to Yachats and our day’s endpoint in Coos Bay. We took our time leaving Newport heading south on Highway 101. We didn’t make any stops along the route we had ridden yesterday to Seal Rock. The travel was a lot faster and took less work on our part when driving the van and pulling the trailer.

Although it looked nice, we didn’t stop at the headwaters near Bayshore and Waldport. We had a good enough breakfast that we didn’t need to stop at the diner where Ron and I had our second breakfast 2 years ago. Our first stop was at Tillicum Beach.

In spite of the enormous temptation, Mike didn’t want to step into the cool/cold ocean waters, so I did instead.

When I was done cooling my feet and collecting a few shells, we went back to the van. Mike was really curious about a trailer similar to his that had been converted into a camper. He struck up a conversation with the owner and we spent the next half hour learning the finer points of bedding, air flow, portable sinks, ramp doors, and how to repel 2 legged predators.

With lots of ideas for future projects, we went on to Yachats. As we cruised around Marina Drive, we searched for a spot to unhitch and leave the trailer so we could more easily make the climb to Cape Perpetua Lookout and the other sights around Yachats. Mike made the great suggestion to double back 5 miles to the Tillicum Beach lot where we saw some other trailers parked. Once we left the trailer, we headed for Devil’s Churn.

From there we drove the 2 miles up to the Cape Perpetua Lookout. It was much easier without the trailer.

As I was filming a panorama from the top of the Lookout, a bald eagle decided to join the scenery.

We headed back down into Yachats and had lunch at Yachats Brewing.

Afterwards, we relaxed at a nearby park and watched the waves.

The day had started at 70 degrees, but it was up to 86 now. We drove back to Tillicum Beach to retrieve and hitch the trailer. We made a couple more stops on our way south out of Yachats before we proceeded on to Coos Bay.

Although there were some things that looked interesting, such as some massive sand dunes, we didn’t do any more sight seeing. We had the windows down, the A/C off, and it was over 90 degrees.

Mike couldn’t get over the idea that I had ridden over the bridge leading into North Bend and Coos Bay. Or that I did it a second time with Ron!

It was an ordeal parking at the hotel with the trailer attached. After a couple of attempts, we gave up on a space that was long by most standards but too short for us. Mike then did a super job backing it into a space where we disconnected the trailer, then parked the van in a normal spot. The A/C in our hotel sure felt good to repel the 93 degrees outside. We hit the deli at Fred Meyer for the second night in a row and ended another memorable day.

The Not So Lone Rider (In a van)