Day 32 - Eel creek campground to Bullards Beach state park

Day 32 (June 5) – Eel creek campground to Bullards Beach state park

When prepping to leave, the sun actually came out again - here's a pic of the camper heading out:

The camper heading out

The picture is foggy because there was condensation on the inside of the lens from the day before.  Shortly afterwards, I uncorked everything and let it dry out.

It turns out that the campground that we landed at was quite pretty in the sunlight.  It was positively blooming in some of the campsites:

A campsite in bloom

Then I rode off towards North Bend.  Right before the bridge, I stopped at a memorial on the water:

the whole memorial

Too true.  Way too true

While at the memorial, I stopped to talk to a guy who was doing essentially the same trip (in an RV) in the opposite direction.  Then the three Brits that I met before showed up, and we were all chatting when Sharon pulls up.  I introduce her to them and apparently, Dee paid me a really big complement - saying that she'd been on the road for more than a year doing this, and that she was really impressed by the fact that I was pulling away from her.  On an uphill.  

Later, we decided to go over the bridge en masse.  I was really glad that they suggested this, a the bridge into North Bend was UGLY.  They were doing work which closed the southbound walkway, so we had to ride the one lane over.  No shoulders.  Luckily for us, the first car decided to just shadow us, and kept the hordes at bay.

Going through North Bend, I saw a couple of interesting businesses.  For example:

I think that they did...

Then there's this one:

I'm sure that they don't sell what they would in SF with a name like that

Then I was through North Bend and into Coos Bay:

There were some fun sights along the way.  For example:

From there I continued on until I found where I turned off - Seven Devils Road.  They seem to like devils around here.  Also, I think that I met three or four of he devils on this road - they're all hills.  As I got to the crest of the last hill, I saw this in the road:

This helped with the climb

Then on the way down the hill, I found a curious burro (I think) sharing a field with a couple of sheep and a cow:

Then I finally got to the campground.  Sharon had set up shop, and had bought the ingredients to make Cioppino.  She said - you scrub the shellfish & butcher the crab, and I'll cook it up.  While I did that, she also told me that she broke her (temporary) lower denture plate, and might not be able to eat much of the Cioppino.  Oy.  Well, more about the joy of Sharon's lower plate in upcoming posts.

Statistics:

41 miles

7.0 mph avg

34.4 mph max

Max altitude 512 feet

Music:

Tom Waits – The Mule Variations (2^nd half)

Traffic – Mr. Fantasy

Warren Zevon – A quiet, normal life

Warren Zevon – Learning to Flinch

Warren Zevon – Mr. Bad Example

Warren Zevon – The Wind

ZZ Top – 1^st Album

ZZ Top – Rio Grande Mud