On the move

Well we have come to the end of our stay here at Cape Blanco State Park. What a great park this is and the people responsible for making it great are Supervising ranger Paul Wayne and his Ranger Assist. Debbie. These people have made our stay here one of the most fun and enjoyable experiences we have had since we started volunteering 5 years ago.

We will be back.and soon!

We also want to say thanks to Dave and Will the other rangers we worked with.(they were too busy keeping the park beautiful to get their picture)

We also want to thank Gary and Elsie,our co camphosts for showing us the ropes and guiding us along the way.These two special people are camphosts with know how and can do attitudes.We hope to see them again down the road.

Jeni has been down with what she thinks is a sinus infection. The last week has been tough for her.I took her to the Dr. yesterday and got some antibiotics.Hopefully she is better soon.

Yesterday we hooked up and headed north on the 101 toward Coos Bay. It is only 28 miles but with Jeni still not feeling "up to snuff" we will stop for the night.

We stayed at the"mill" casino in their RV park right on the coos River on the bay.

With Jeni feeling much better,the next morning we headed over to the casino for breakfast and some "action"! What a beautiful casino and RV park.Flowers and lush greenery everywhere.Jeni especially liked these hanging baskets along the walkway from the casino to the RV park.

We headed out north on the 101 to Florence headed east to Eugene and took the I-5 north toward Portland.

We left the "Mill "casino a little poorer but we enjoyed our stay.I'm happy to report that Jeni is feeling much better now and she is back to her ole self again,keeping me in line.And that is one tough job!!

About 5pm and 27 miles south of Portland,we decided to pull in to a State park just off I-5.We had heard that if you are a volunteer and traveling from one job to another,you can stay free in the State park for one night,so we thought we would try. We pulled into "Champoeg " state park where we were greeted warmly by the ranger,given a beautiful spacious site,and,oh yea,Comped!free! What a deal! The state parks in Oregon are so beautiful.

tomorrow we will trek on in to our new assignment at Dechutes State Park.

But tonight we will enjoy our free site here at Champoeg.

Birthday at the Cape

Well we have had a time with our computer and Internet service. The gremlins did a number on us but I think we have solved the problems and were ready to roll again.
We are near the end of our stay here as volunteers at beautiful Cape Blanco State Park.
Happy Birthday to my beautiful wife Jeni. The girls here at the park went out and picked a bouquet of flowers for her and sang happy birthday. She had a great day.
Thanks to Elsie,Debbie,and Gary for making it a special day for her.It is great to volunteer with special people like that

And what did I do for Jeni on that special day,well I took her to dinner at our favorite place for the freshest seafood we have ever had. Griffs right on the dock at Port Orford. We had lunch here a couple of weeks ago and really loved it. you are nestled right in with the fishing boats on the dock with a specular view of the ocean. We had Halibut for dinner and the portions were big and fresh. Believe me, the best halibut ever.Oh did I mention, caught that day! The waitress gave us a table by the window which made it a great birthday dinner for my girl.

I didn't get a picture of our delicious halibut dinner,but I did get a pic. of our lunch a few weeks earlier. We had fish and chips with fresh cod and red snapper that was in my delicious cicada sandwich.yummy!

We had the same table with the ocean view and it made for a special afternoon.

We took an all day jet boat ride up the rogue river out of gold beach a couple of days ago and had a great time.The boat cruises at 60 miles an hour and with some of the most beautiful scenery in Oregon,we traveled about 104 miles up into the wild wilderness of the Rougue river.What a great day.

Jeni and I were up early to go on our boat ride and in the park we came upon these elk grazing in the meadow. 2 mamas and their yearlings we think.

We have seen a lot of wildlife here in southern Oregon. Gray whales lounging in the ocean not a hundred yards off shore,elk in the meadow,tons of deer,turkeys,sea lions,harbor seals,and lots of dogs,but no Bears yet!

These sea lions we photographed on the jet boat back in port after our trip.

We had a great day.One of the things we enjoyed the most was the"360's" the boat captain would do to liven up the passengers. He would get the boat going about 60mph then start weaving side to side ,then do a complete circle with the boat and hit the brakes. Better than a roller coaster!It was a thrill'

Half way up the river we stopped for lunch at a little restaurant on the river,then back on the boat headed for port.We saw a lot of Bald Eagles,and Osprey.

While Jeni and I were on the bluff above the ocean enjoying our view,we spotted this wayward whale.But we were not sure what kind of whale it was. Actually it is a big rock about a mile off shore.It sure looks like a whale though.Jeni said it looks like the whale in Pinochle.

We are going to miss the ocean views when we leave this park. We will definitely be back.



As we always do when we at any park,we get a picture of us and "the sign". It has been a "hoot" here at the"Cape" as they call it.But we are excited about our new adventures coming up in July.

Dechutes State park awaits us in July and August, and we will be pulling out in the next few days,But that's another story for later.For now its great friends,ocean views,cool breezes and fun,fun,fun!!

Volunteering at Cape Blanco

This is our phone booth where we can get cell service just outside of the campground. Pretty nice aye. Jeni loves this place. We have seen gray whales here playing not 100yds off shore.
This is by far the most beautiful state park we have ever seen.
Jen and I drive the "ole" gator to this spot for lunch,breaktime,dinner,and phone calls. Its our favorite spot.

Here I am chopping kindling for the campers. this is the wood shed. There is 6 cords of wood in here. The park has these little carts that we load with fire wood and sell to the campers for $5.There is usually 9 or 10 pieces of wood in the cart. What a deal!
Jen and I load the carts {we have 5} and pull them over to our site about 5pm. We set in our lawn chairs and greet the campers and sell them wood until about8pm. Its a tough job, but sombody has to do it!


Jeni and I found a great place for breakfast a few miles from the park in Port Orford. A place called "The Paradise Cafe" Nothing fancy but hugh portions.Jeni wanted pancakes,she looked on the menu and they only sold 1 pancake. Regular or blueberry. Jeni ordered 1 blueberry pancake and an egg over easy. Our eyes poped out of our heads when we saw the pancake!! Thats a 16" plate that pancake is on and the egg is totally "dwarfed" by the cake. Wow! We both shared it and could not eat it all. The prices are great too.

It gets a bit windy at the "Cape" as the locals call it here. If it isn't rainingt, its windy or foggy. But now and then the sun sneaks out. It stays in the 50s for the high temp. here so we wear a coat most of the day. Jeni almost lost her scarf posing for this picture.

There are many wonderful overlooks at the park and each one is different.

I may have trouble getting Jeni to leave this place.

While we were in Port Orford,we toured the coastguard museum.This boat was used to rescue people off the oregon seas in the 1940s and 50s.This boat amasingly can right itself if it capsizes. The dosent says there is a ton of brass in the hull. It makes it top heavy when capsized so it just rolls over to right itself.

Port Orford is a neat little community.Jeni grocery shops and does laundry here. When we eat out we come here.

One day when we were off, we toured the Cape Blanco lighthouse. It is still a "working"lighthouse and still guides ships around the rocky shores of the cape. It was a beautiful day and the views from the top were breathtaking!

There are lighthouse hosts that man the tours,and they live in the campground like we do. There are 7 hosts in all in the campground. We are the camphosts,then there is the cabin hosts who take care of the rental cabins,4 lighthouse hosts,and the "Hughes house" camphost.

And this is the Hughes House!

This is a turn of the century project built by Mr. hughes for his family.They built an empire in the Dairy industry.

They amassed about 2200 acres which they later on donated to the State Park that is now Cape Blanco.

The inside is ausume. with all the amenities for that time period.

Jeni and I really enjoyed it.

Another place we like is Bandon,about 20 miles north of the Cape.

It has shops and lots of little seafood shacks along the wharf. We had the best cvlam chowder and fish and chips we ever ate! Its a cool little town.

The wharf is been redone and modernized and they have installed many benches, rails,and even a glass enclosed shelter with tables, chairs, and benches made out of "Myrtlewood" which grows locally here.

This is the enclosure.Jeni and I were playing checkers while watching sealions on the boat dock. Jeni kicked my $%?>" in checkers.

It is windy here and they have a couple of cool kite shops that we browsed through.

Actually, I lost because I fell asleep while we played! But Jeni never caught on.

Next week we have plans to head down to Gold Beach to ride the Jet boats.





This is Coquille lighthouse at the head outside Bandon. It is smaller than Cape Blanco and is not in service anymore. It is out on a point and there is another State Park just north of the point called Bullards Beach. We toured it and it also is a great park. The park is at beach level unlike Cape Blanco which is 100 or so ft. above the beach. They also have what they call "yurts". these are like cabins but are made from canvas.

The campground is bigger than Cape Blanco,with more sand and less vegetation.

We are enjoying Oregon so far and the sightseeing has just begun. We will surly be back to the Cape every chance we get.

Cape Blanco

Sorry we have not posted in a while but
we have no cell service at Cape Blanco State Park.
I have posted some pictures of our site here and the park itself, but they are in random order so my script may not match up with the nearest picture.
Our trip here from Sotherlin was a smooth one.We got settled in nicely for our month stay here.
We are the "camphosts"for the campground.In the site next to us is the "cabin hosts Gary and Elsie.Our days off are Monday and Tuesday's and the other hosts play camphosts for us.Gary and Elsie are off on Wednesday and Thursday's and we

play cabin hosts for them.

This is by far the most scenic park we have ever visited.The campground shrouded in forest and being able to look out to the ocean from about 100 ft. above. Assume! Some of the most sptacular views we have ever witnessed.

Cape Blanco lighthouse is also here. It has 2 lighthouse hosts that run the gift shop and help with the lighthouse tours.

In spite of the persistent rain and wind early in the month,we have taken advantage of the many vista points of the ocean along the coastal trail which runs through the park.As you can tell in one of the pictures,Jeni is a "happy camper "when she is by the ocean!

We have a "Gator" cart for running around in to do our chores.(DJ would like this cart as it has an enclosed cab so he could stay warm).Cape Blanco also has "horse camp"sites with corrals to keep the horses in and a riding trail just for horseback riding.Pretty cool!

Oregon State Parks have a great host program.Far superior to any other park we have volunteered at. They issue you a cap,vest,and name badge. They also issue you a park binder with all the info you need for the park and the surrounding area. By day two you are orientated and ready for work. The parks also train you on what they call "safety modules" for all of their equipment so that you are proficient to operate them within days of your training.

The best thing Jeni and I have gotten so far though, is a one foot by three foot sign with our name one it with big bold letters!We love it! We take our sign with us anywhere in Oregon that we are hosting and we display it so we are recognized as the "camphost" of that park.

Our site at the park is right next to the pay station and has a nice big patio.across the street from our site you can see through the trees to the ocean.It just doesn't get any better than this!

As I said earlier, Jeni is one "Happy Camper"!

Once we get our first days off we will be exploring the surrounding areas. There is a lot to see in the area and we can't wait to get touring.

Well I'm writing this blog up by the lighthouse overlooking the ocean. What a veiw! It is getting dark so I have to get back to camp.This we found is the only place where we get a signal for our phone and internet. But what a great place to be,the ocean at dusk,the lighthouse lit up and beaming it's beacon to wayward ships,and the cool ocean breezes,WHAT A PLACE!