Welcome to Part Three of the travelogue from our RV trip to northern California and coastal Oregon in the fall of 2017.
Map of Part 3 route
Friday, Sept 22, 2017 (Oregon)
Cape Blanco State Park to North Bend (The Mill Casino)
Before hitting the road today, we called the West Coast Game Park Safari adventure to find out if we would be able to pet a baby tiger today and they said YES. Woohoo! We had an opportunity many years ago to pet an adult tiger (Kirby, may he rest in peace) at the Shambala Preserve in Antelope Valley, but we’ve always wanted to get up close and personal with a tiger cub. What we really wanted was one that was small enough to cuddle, but petting 3-month-old Katara was still fun. As with the adult tiger, the petting occurs while the trainer is feeding them. When we had our encounter with Kirby many years prior, he had been on a heavy chain leash, and the trainer was feeding him a large steak in between every petting/photo-op customer, whereas Katara was on a more typical leash and the trainer was feeding her from a bottle.
We also got to sit with and pet a young Bobcat. ‘Ruckus,’ was 18 mos. old, fully grown, and weighed about 25 pounds. He was quite a ham! On a long soft leash, the trainer would encourage him to play while the next customer came in for their turn, and almost every time, without her assistance, he would jump up on the bench and step onto the person’s lap with his front legs, look at the person holding the camera, and paws ;-) for a picture. Absolutely adorable!
'Ruckus' the Bobcat
'Ruckus' the Bobcat
The 3-month-old tiger cub Katara
The 3-month-old tiger cub Katara
Our next stop was the town of Bandon. We first checked out the view of Face Rock at the beach, then walked around downtown. We bought fish-and-chips for lunch at a fish shack by the marina, and took it to the pub across the street where we could enjoy a draft beer with it. After lunch we carried on northward looking for an RV park for the night where we could do some laundry, and that ended up being overflow parking at ‘The Mill’ casino in North Bend. The town of North Bend had a good view of the Coos Bay Bridge, and the colorful flower pots hanging from gracefully curved arms on the street lamp posts were delightful.
Looking north from Face Rock Viewpoint
The Coquille River Lighthouse at Bandon, OR
Pausing for a rest while walking around Bandon, OR
Coos Bay Bridge, near North Bend, OR
Coos Bay near North Bend, OR
Coos Bay Bridge, near North Bend, OR
Saturday, Sept 23, 2017 (Oregon)
North Bend to Siuslaw National Forest (Carl G. Washburne Memorial State Park)
We stopped at the Umpqua River Lighthouse near Reedsport. The overlook had several educational signs and a jawbone from a Humpback Whale on display, which provided a good sense of scale for these majestic animals.