Cape Argo and Shore Acres State Parks (Coos Bay)

We went to Cape Argo and Shore Acres State Parks today. This area of the Oregon coast is very dramatic. Waves breaking into 100 foot cliffs is definitely something worth seeing.

At Shore Acres State Park there are amazing flower gardens that Melissa really wanted to see. I am confident enough in my manliness to say I enjoyed the afternoon in the gardens.

Here is Melissa as she looks for the next photo she will take. She filled her entire memory card and killed one battery taking pictures of the gardens. Apparently, to say she likes flowers would be an understatement.

I spotted this tree hiding out of the way behind some other pines. The root system was huge and I thought it looked cool.

My turn to be in a picture. Fine, if I have to.

This Asian pond was one of my favorites at the Gardens. If a guy enjoys himself at a botanical garden he better be married or he is too in touch with his feminine side. Ha Ha Ha

South Slough Paddle (Coos Bay)

Ever carried a kayak 200 yards by yourself? How about two? This whole "I'm pregnant" thing is really working out for Melissa. This is the dock that we launched from.

The Coos Bay sloughs are very calm in the mornings allowing for some pretty awesome photo opportunities. I think that the reflection in the water is one of my favorite things about kayaking.

Paddling though the Estuary Reserve was pretty spectacular. It was so quiet you could almost hear the silence. Occasionally a water foul, and there were many different breeds, would take off and start squawking and the sound would carry and echo for quite a ways.

The banks of the South Slough are lined with trees making for a beautiful paddling location. This tree stood out because of how distinctly red it was.


The South Slough Reserve walking trails come down to the water even though you can't really see it in this picture I promise it is there. It is a cool picture anyway. So I am not a professional photographer, give me a break.

I think that this is the best photo of the paddle. I don't see why more people aren't into kayaking when there are things like this to see.

Here I am in my Avocet after lunch. Time to go back. This is, so far, the high light of the trip. If you find yourself in Coos Bay with a kayak or not the South Slough is a definite must see.

South Slough Research Reserve (Coos Bay)

After getting up early, going to the farmers market, the mall in North Bend, a stop at Cranberry Sweets (locally made candy), Safeway to get gas, and visiting the Charleston visitors center we arrived at the South Slough Research Center.

There are cool walking trails on the reserve that we decided to walk. Did I mention it was raining off and on and fifty degrees? Thank goodness for Icebreaker.

The paths through the forest are something out of a novel. Right when your eyes start to get comfortable with the boardwalk through the forest, the path emerges out of the dim light to give you a view of the estuary for a bit and then back in again.

At the end of the trail we chose we came to a two level viewing deck for the estuary. The deck was pretty cool but the trees blocked the view. Oh well the path down was worth the walk.

This tunnel in the trees and shrubs made me think I might see a few Hobbits in it. It was amazing to walk through forty yards of a living tunnel. I want one in my yard.

Melissa and me on our way back to the car. After this a walk on Whiskey Run beach and then Bandon for fish & chips and more shopping.

Coalbank Slough (Coos Bay)

Here is Melissa with her new boat and paddle. It was a little early in the morning for her but she was still a willing participant. Little did she know what was to come.

The morning was perfect. There was a mist coming off the water which we really enjoyed. The water was perfectly still allowing some awesome reflections.

About a mile in we came to a fork in the slough and being the curious explorer I decided to take the smaller less traveled path. At the beginning of the path it was about twenty five feet wide. No problem, we can do it. Half a mile more it narrowed and split around islands diverging and reconnecting. At that point I still am thinking that we will eventually reconnect with the main channel. Plus, the pictures I am getting are great. After about a mile though things start getting tighter. I put the camera away and have to start paddling on the bank on each side of the boat because of how narrow it has become. As if things were not bad enough the path turns in a direction I know is not going to reunite us with the main channel and now the path we are on is to shallow for even the kayaks to float. I didn't want to have to make Melissa have to back paddle half a mile to a place were we could turn around. But if we were going to have to go back I wanted to take the most direct route so I found the most secure patch of sludgy marsh I could find and got out of my boat for a better look. It is funny but God must have been guiding my way because when I stood up I looked in the direction I thought the main channel to be it was only twenty feet away over a hill. The path we were taking never met the channel again. There was only one way in and one way out. If I had of taken any of the many other options I don't know what we would have had to do. It's a good thing God loves Melissa because He probably would have let me struggle in the maze a little longer. I know I would have.



The above picture shows the main channel on the left and the one we were in on the right.

New experiences for Melissa. She had never done a portage before and with some help from myself she accomplished her first seal launch off the bank. It was about a foot and a half drop to the water, not bad for the first time. She was quite the trooper through the whole ordeal as evidenced by the smile on her face in the picture.

Smooth sailing once again.



Well almost, apparently she got some mud on her hands and was not sure if she wanted to rinse them in the water. I tried not to laugh at her too much because I got a little more than just my hands muddy trying to keep her clean while helping her in and out of her boat.


End of the road. We finally got to the end of the Coalbank Slough and stopped to eat lunch. Over all it was an enjoyable time.

Drive Me Crazy (Coos Bay Trip)

Ever traveled with a woman? You can count on about twice as many bathroom stops as you would take by yourself. Now if shes pregnant.... YIKES. I love Melissa so don't get me wrong but a bathroom stop every 60 miles has got to be some kind of record.

As we pass the metal cow sculpture on the I-5 north of Redding Melissa and I begin to realize we actually are on vacation and start to relax. But remember that relaxing while driving can cause problems. I experienced two of them when I started to get tired and Melissa needed to go again. Luckily there are a ton of Dutch Bros coffee shops in Oregon.

About an hour after we turned off the I-5 we drove past this bridge and I tried to take a picture of it. Well what can I say the windshield was a little dirty. Its a good thing Oregon isn't a hands free state because a CHP officer would have had a stroke if he saw me with the camera in my hand as I drove down the road. I probably could not have talked my way out of the ticket because even though it wasn't a cell phone I was yelling at it to turn on before we passed the bridge. I guess that Dutch Bros coffee was working. I did have a little laugh later that night when I up loaded the pictures and saw how this one turned out. Oh well you can take my word for it the bridge looks pretty cool.

We made it. After over six hours and seven rest stops, not to mention going before we left and when we arrived, we checked into our hotel in Coos Bay. I was ready to get out of the car for a while and stretch my legs. It had been a long trip and I was in need of some food. Considering everything the drive wasn't bad and I hate road trips. I guess driving north makes a difference.

We found a good Italian place for dinner and had excellent food and disinterested service. After dinner we walked around down town to get our bearings. Coos Bay is an older quaint little town. It has both organic hippy type people and, as evidenced by the sandwich sign, good old red necks. It should make for an interesting experience.