Tuesday, August 30, 2005

Bandon

A few years ago, Marie and I decided to vacation on the Southern Oregon Coast, somehwere near the town of Bandon, an area that Marie knows well, and loves, that little gal with her master’s degree in geography. I had been through the area many times, years ago, when I was traveling the coast with my old band, but had never come to appreciate it, blowing through the town of Bandon, I suppose, packin’ zzz’s in the bunk of our band vehicle. I was anxious to experience the area more properly, my geographer wife in tow.

When we travel, we have a few extras to consider, our Bichon Frises, for one thing. We love to have them with us, and as long as we are not flying to China, count on us to bring them along. But accomodations where pups are allowed are few, and then, one must never leave dogs, who may bark, for example, at the sightest provocation, in a motel room, and take the chance of disturbing other travelers. So we thought we’d try to find a beach house for rent, one which allows dogs.

In additon to our dogs’ needs, when we take Blaine, which is always, we need to find an accessible situation, since he uses a wheelchair. So I hit the internet to look for a nice accessible beach house which would also allow a couple of dogs.

Today I sit comfortably in the living room of the beach house we found to rent back then, where we are vacationing for our third year in a row. We love these accomodations, and Bandon. We are staying at The Historic Bandon River House, right on the Coquille River, just a few blocks from “old” downtown Bandon. It is an old store, actually, converted into a rental. Years ago, it was a cobbler’s store. I can almost fish the river from the house’s back porch. It is large, with lots of space for a person in a wheelchair. And the dogs, currently both snuggling to my thigh as I write, well, if they could speak English, I am certain they would share their approval. I take them out back, and tie them to the porch railing while I fish. They sit so quietly and calmly, rare for them, so I am convinced they are very content.

Damn, no fish yet. I’m workin’ on it. Maybe this evening. The guys from The Port of Bandon told me to sneak out onto their “no trespassing” dock, next door, after they go home, so I am going to go out later, and get my line into deeper water, try to land a few stripers, maybe a salmon, or snapper.

In the morning, Blaine and I roll up to the free wi-fi coffee shop, check our email, whatever. One of my daughters delivered our sixth grandchild this week, so I was able to receive several large photos of our new baby wirelessly, sipping my single shot Americano. She is soooooo beautiful.

My mother-in-law is here with us, so she and Marie have been getting lots of quilting done. All in all, we are just relaxing and taking it easy, recharging. Here are some pictures of us in Bandon

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