Honeymoon Day Eight - Sand, Sunshine and Sea Lions

We woke up on Tuesday to sunshine and a beautiful view of the Bandon harbor. We packed our bags and grabbed breakfast at a locals favorite, the Minute Cafe. After breakfast, we walked around the town of Bandon and visited several shops to buy locally-made fudge, some funky earrings and postcards. We also drove down to the beach to see Table Rock and Face Rock, which has an Indian legend associated with its formation.

Leaving Bandon, we headed north on Hwy 101 to see the Oregon Dunes! To get our caffeine fix before our ride, we stopped by one of the many drive thru coffee stands that are scattered along the Oregon roads and highways. The Human Bean looked like our best option and Stacy had a latte and Jed a Strawberry smoothie. (These drive thru coffee shops are an excellent idea and we are plotting where to put one in Raleigh!)

The weather was perfect, the sun was shining and the sky was blue. A perfect day for a dune buggy ride on the sand dunes. Neither of us had been on an ATV in the sand so we decided to have someone drive us around and show us the area. Our Spinreel tour guide was a lifetime Oregonian named Art Bell who knew a lot about the history of the dunes and the local floura & fauna. Art drove us around the dunes, the beach and other in-between areas - all the while teaching us about the landscape and telling stories of legendary characters like Jedediah Smith ("Old Jed" Smith). Not all of the tour was educational. Art also got our hearts racing by drving up and over some of the bigger dunes. A fun and beautiful ride.

Then we continued north on Hwy 101, stoppping by a Jedediah Smith monument, the world's largest sea lion caves, Devil's Punchbowl State Park, the Rogue Brew Pub in Newport and the most exciting of all, Cape Perpetua. (Phew!) From Cape Perpetua, we had a fantastic view of forest, rocky coastline and ocean. And we could see a good amount of the southern portion of 101 that we had driven so far. We also spotted five bald eagles circling around the cape, and we were both excited as this was our first sighting of these birds "in the wild."

Driving further north, we reached our hotel for the evening, The Surfrider Resort. It was oceanfront, just off Hwy 101 and had a pool, spa, restaurant, and bar on the premises. We stuck with seafood for dinner again, and we selected different halibut dishes. Afterwards we relaxed in the room with a movie and had the last of our Rogue beers including a Chipotle Ale (spicy!) Today was a good day!

Windmills at Bandon



Wind Chimes at Bandon



Face Rock (Lobster) - Can You Spot the Face?



Little Dune Buggy!



Up the Dunes



Dunes Tour Guide and View



Jedidiah Smith Gant Reads Jedediah Smith Monument



Sea Lion Caves



Cape Perpetua Scenic Viewpoint



1, 2, 3, 4, 5! Five Bald Eagles!



Rogue Beer Pub