When I was planning this trip I looked at the distances between stops to decide whether the driving was do-able in a day. We usually like to limit the driving to no more than four hours so we can stop and see things along the way. The distance from Bandon to Westport was 324 miles. That’s a little longer than I like but the rental looked good and it would be a fun trip up the coast.
Maybe 300+ miles is okay if you are driving 75 mph but it is definitely not so good when you are averaging around 45 mph. The road is windy and there are a lot of small towns with speed limits of 25 to 30 mph. Also there is a lot of traffic. So we end up leaving at 8 AM and getting to Westport around 5 PM. Plus there are a lot of bridges and cliffs so John drives the whole thing. My bad.
We do make one short stop at the Alsea Bay Bridge Interpretative Center to learn all about transportation in Oregon in the 19th and 20th centuries and the man, Conde McCullough, who was the architect of the bridges. The bridge over the Alsea Bay that McCullough designed has been replaced but there is a model at the museum and they have saved the art deco pillars at the beginning and end of the bridge. It’s a quick visit since we are under time pressure but interesting and informative.
On and on John drives with just a very short lunch break. Finally we are at the Oregon/Washington border. Looming before us is the very long, high, narrow bridge across the Columbia River. It is pretty freaky.
Finally around 5PM we pull into the driveway of our rental for the next 3 days. The inside looks and smells like a new house but on the outside the weather and poor building materials have made it look a little shabby. The inside is really nice, though.
John schleps in all our stuff while I try to organize it. We discuss what to have for dinner and hit the local supermarket. As the sun goes down we prepare a simple dinner of corn and spinach. We are both too tired to hassle with a big production.
After dinner we take a walk to the beach except when we get to the end of the path through the reeds there is a 6 foot drop. So we enjoy the sounds and sight of the ocean from our perch above the beach. Maybe tomorrow we will find where the access to the beach is.
