Upon arising I look out the window and, what is that I see? It’s a bright orb. Why, it must be the sun! I imagined that there would be only chilly gloom the whole time we are here. But the day is sparkling so I grab my phone for a few pictures before the sun hides away again.
Following are some pictures of the exterior of the house, Shore Pines,that we are staying in. It is on a bluff overlooking the ocean and although you can see the beach and the ocean you have to go by car to one of the nearby beach access points to actually get on the beach.That’s really not much of a drawback since the temperatures of the air and the water are cool to cold and the wind howls off the Pacific pretty much 24/7.
The house has three bedrooms, three bathrooms, and a kitchen/great room. It is very well equipped and except for the uncomfortable queen bed and odd, not-cotton sheets is ideal. It is very isolated with no near neighbors at all.
Today we head out to Myrtle Point to the Coos County Fair about a half an hour away. As we pull into the parking lot we are directed to our space by people on horseback. This is a really rural county full of ranchers and farmers.
We are mostly interested in the animals. A couple of years ago when we were up here we also came to the fair and learned a lot about llamas at their judging. We are hoping to see some more animal competitions while we are here this time. We start out by taking a look at the goats in their enclosures.
Coos County has an active 4-H program and there are a lot of kids competing. We are a little surprised by the non-sentimentality of the people and their animals. The competitions are named by the end result, such as beef showmanship, pork best in show. We spend some time watching young 4-H-ers compete in the beef showmanship. These kids look to be 10 and under and sometimes they are more controlled by the “beef” than the other way around. But everyone is trying hard and gets a ribbon.
Next we wander over to a display of long horned cattle. Wow, do they have big horns but seem very docile. The little boy hangs his hat on one of the horns and the cow pretty much ignores him. Then the man cracks a whip right next to the cow’s face and it doesn’t flinch at all. Apparently that is an important trait of these cattle. These enormous cows are making a comeback in Texas where they were almost wiped out at the turn of the century from blizzards.
Then it is on to the llamas, John’s favorite animals. Along with Ponch, Llama was John’s nickname at his fraternity at MIT. He has a long upper lip hence the name.
It is around 2 PM when we get back into Bandon and time for some lunch. We walk around for a bit and check out a couple of fish markets. Maybe we will make some sort of fish for dinner tomorrow. During our walk around downtown Bandon the wind is so strong that I have to hold on to my hat the whole time or it would be swept off my head.
Although some intrepid souls are eating outside, we opt for the warmer, less windy Wheelhouse restaurant. John orders oyster stew which he raves about. I have a rockfish sandwich. The fish is very good and the coleslaw is really tasty too.
After lunch we head back to the house for a little nap time. For dinner John makes an excellent steak in the cast iron frying pan we found in one of the cupboards. I make a salad. We figure out how to use the TV here and watch a couple of programs on Netflix. Tonight we decide that two of us in a queen size bed doesn’t work out well so we opt for separate bedrooms. Tonight the sleeping should be better!