Last Trails, Last Sunsets -> Adieu OR Coast (‘Till Next Year)

We’ll be back…oh yes we will

We’re winding down our very last few days here on the gorgeous OR coast. On Monday we’ll be packing the rig, waving our last teary coastal goodbyes and moving inland. Current jello plans have us in Eugene for a week, then Crater Lake and then (possibly) another fall drive down our favorite highway in the entire country (spectacular Hwy 395) before we land our jacks for a month of spa at Desert Hot Springs. After then? Likely some random boondocking in the SW desert, maybe a little jaunt to San Diego and possibly some adventures we’ve not even thought of yet…we’ll see…

Hiking north beach at Cape Blanco..all alone too!

View from one of the many great trails at the Cape

Staying on the coast this summer has been one of the best decisions we’ve made in our 3 years of RVing. We’ve hit perfect temps, near perfect weather (getting better each month), discovered our new fav city on the coast (beautiful Bandon) and experienced something we’ve wanted to do for a while -> lighthouse hosting. After a personally tough start to the year, this summer was a soul-soothing balm and has only solidified our love of the wild and wonderful OR coast. It was also wonderful to slow down, enjoy the space and soak in the full experience of the southern coast with time to spare. Our month in Bullards Beach was fabulous and this past month at Cape Blanco has been enchanting, poetic and gorgeously wild. We’ve throughly enjoyed the park, the lighthouse job, the trails and yes…even the crazy weather!

Soaking in the view by Battle Rock at Port Orford

The Crazy Norwegian…go for the fish and chips

Our time at Cape Blanco has also given us the chance to discover nearby Port Orford, the oldest city on the coast. It’s not quite got the charm and size of Bandon, but it’s a neat little town with a mix of eateries (go to the Crazy Norwegians for lunch and hit Red Fish for an evening glass with a view), history (the Lifeboat Museum is a “must see”), natural beauty (Port Orford Heads is a fabulous short hike with jaw-dropping views), art (several galleries in town) and even a cute little Sat AM farmers market (the locally caught fish and pastured pork are amazing). Given time it’s a town I could grow into….and it gets bonus points for having a RedBox too.

Late afternoon view from Port Orford

Between the stunning nature here at the Cape, nearby Port Orford and lovely Bandon we’ve been totally satisfied and have practically turned into locals. I now order “the usual” at the local coffee roaster, have exchanged recipes with the pastured pork vendor and am on a first-name basis with the fish monger….what more could you want in life?

This won’t be our last Cape Blanco sunset

But alas our nomadic itch  is scratching and despite sad adieu’s we’re excited by the next stage of our fall plans. We may have seen our last OR coast sunset this year, but it certainly isn’t our last time here. We’ve signed up for another 3 months lighthouse hosting next year (including Sept…our FAV month) and almost can’t wait to come back.

Adieu beautiful OR coast. We’ll see you again soon…and maybe you’ll join us here next year too?

Just another crowded day on the beach

And just another great sunset

A misty morning at the Cape

Cute downtown Port Orford

Simply pretty

Simply green

Another great beach day

And another great moody one

Want To Be A Lighthouse Host in Sept? Come & Apply At Cape Blanco!

Wouldn’t you like to be hosting here?

Are you coming to the OR coast? Have you dreamed of becoming a lighthouse host? Don’t have any firm plans for Sept? If the answer is yes, yes, and yes then come and apply!!! Turns out Cape Blanco has a lighthouse host position open for next month. If you read my round-up of the coast from last year you’ll know that I consider September to be one of the best months in Oregon and if you’ve read my last 5 posts you’ll know how very awesome I think Cape Blanco is (I mean, it literally inspired me to poetry!). If we didn’t already have plans we would stay here in a heartbeat, but sadly we’ve made commitments to move on.

This could be your beach in Sept!

The good news is that means there is a juicy spot open for someone else who might be inspired. You’ll get a gorgeous (free) campsite in a gorgeous spot with a great hosting job, so if you’re interested contact our ranger Greg (either by e-mail or phone 541-332-6774 ext. 5) and let him know. It’s short notice I know, but sometimes the best opportunities in life are the ones that come along unexpectedly. Oh and do let me know if you decide to take up the job!

Simply….A Day

Our lone sunset on the beach

A Day

A brief moment
A mere blink of time
I sense the passing of images
Blinded by rushing light
Blurred with a touch of emotion
The light caress of a day gone by

A lifetime
The eternity of being
I dwell in the myriad of images
Swim in endless tides of light
Sway with the winds of emotion
Embrace sweet scars of a day gone by

Flowers in the forest

A passing of time
Merged together in marriage
Bonded by the imprints of life
Bathed in woven threads of light
Overcome with emotion
A sunrise, a pause, a sunset
Timeless infinity
Simply…a day

Nina Fussing
Aug 2012

Low clouds over the pacific

Somehow my day yesterday just inspired poetry. We bathed in the most beautiful sunshine, walked the most gorgeous paths and finished the day alone on our own private beach with the most spectacular sunset. It seemed like a brief moment, yet took a delicious eternity to pass. In truth, everyday is like this but we don’t always see it. Here’s hoping your day today is felt just as deeply as mine

P.S. Thank you to everyone who commented on my last post. It’s so great to see links and inspiration to and from others. Love the interaction!

Last sunset over the horizon

Intricate webs of weeds

Late afternoon glow

Light on the forest floor

The RV Journey -> Three Twists I Never Expected When We Started Out

Five years ago I never even knew what an RV was…

I was thinking about the journey of life today….and by extension the journey of RVing. I’m not sure if it was the fog or the long, still walk we had on the beach but thoughts turned inwards and I marvelled at the twists and turns of life. Five years ago I’d never even heard of an RV, and although I’ve always travelled I’d never have imagined being fulltime in a big ‘ol 40-foot beast on the road. This journey has been amazing, enlightening, sad and joyful all at the same time (kinda like life really), but it’s also taken surprising positive twists that I never expected. It’s those very twists I what to share with you today. Here’s three turns in the road I never expected when we started out:

1/ RVing Is So Darn Social!!

Friends on the road. Polly poses with RV buddies Tally Ho’s pooches on a hike in Eugene, OR

I’m a natural-born nomad so travelling and being a happy (albeit very outgoing) loner is in my blood. When we embarked on this journey I totally expected it to be a fun, but undoubtedly very solitary experience. The reality was so very different from what I expected. In the short 3 years we’ve been on the road I can honestly say we’ve met more people and made more friends than we ever did living in an apartment. Interestingly enough the folks over at Tin Teepee blogged today with a quote that exactly mirrored my thoughts “when you buy a house, making friends in a new neighborhood is hard, when you roll into a RV park everyone is your friend.” Not only has this been our experience, but many of these folks become firm buddies, and we’ve managed to stay in touch and even meet on the road again.

On a hike with our caravan buddies Alex & Ellen in Lone Pine, CA

Last year we met a lovely couple in Eugene and ended up caravaning with them (another thing I thought I’d never do). This past winter we joined up with a group of young RVers in San Diego and reconnected with folks we’d met boondocking in the desert, and next month (Sept) we’ve made plans to re-meet with some RVing pals we met last year. And that’s just a small selection of the many interesting people who we’ve met and interacted with along the way. This is all without ever having joined a RV rally or been to a group meeting. Who’d have thought?

2/ Blogging Can Be Inspirational

Soon-to-be fulltimers Lisa & Hans over for a glass at Cape Blanco, OR (they bought the wine too!)

When I started this blog I had a dream that one day, in some way it might serve as inspiration to others seeking this lifestyle. Deep down, however, I didn’t really expect that to happen. As the blog has grown however, it’s managed to touch a few folks and it tickles me no end of joy when I find out that’s true. Just these past 2 days we’ve had visits from 2 sets of RVers whos’ fulltime journey was somehow, in some small way, helped along by my little blog ->; Trent & Barbara who just started fulltime RVing a few months ago and came by to meet us at the lighthouse, and Hans & Lisa who we met earlier this year in San Diego, have just sold their house and are planning to go fulltime in a few months. We may not have been the bridge, but we were a stepping stone along the way of their own journeys and THAT is so very cool!

3/ There Are Many Ways Of RVing

Who’d have ever thought we’d end up spending 2 months on the OR coast?

I guess when I first started RVing I didn’t really think about how exactly we would do it. Our first year we were so very excited about travelling that we just wheeled out like crazed chickens across the US spending little more than a few days at each location. Exciting! Our second year we settled down to a more relaxing pace extending stays to a week or more but still did alot of miles. Cool! This year we slowed it totally down, taking it really easy by spending several months in one spot (something I never expected when we started) and happily escaping the entire USA inland heat with a lovely cool summer on the coast. Perfect!

Choose your own path & your own pace….

The point is there is really no “right” way to RV. You’ll find folks that love moving, snowbirds that only drive in winter, summerbirds that only move in summer, workampers that stay in fixed locations for many months, couples that only do luxury resorts or people who boondock 100% of their time. All are RVers and all are valid variations of how to enjoy this lifestyle. As we progress we see ourselves continuing this slow pace. We’ve already decided to spend this winter knocking around the SW desert and next summer we’ve already decided to come back as lighthouse hosts in Oregon. Who knows what we might decide to do after that?

Three things I never expected, yet all three were positive and fun surprises. I guess the moral of the story is the same as life -> there ain’t no roadmap, but as long as you’re open to possibilities and the journey is fun, wheel on…

Smokin’, Drinkin’ & Mushrooms -> Experiments On The OR Coast

There’s nothing quite like a good title to drum up a little intrigue, and a little intrigue always gets the blog clicks going which is, after all, rather fun. As it so happens these past 2 weeks we’ve been doing all three above-mentioned activities right here on the Oregon coast. It’s been an interesting and experimental time, but perhaps not exactly in the way you might think. Still, it’s rather intriguing, is it not? Rather than keep you on edge with anticipation, I’ll just jump right in and tell you all about it…

(Upfront disclaimer -> I apologize to my vegetarian friends for #1, to my non-drinking friends for #2 and to mushroom-haters for #3. I will either offend you all, or offer something for everyone…only time will tell…)

1/ Smokin’

Now that’s the look of a happy man

Paul has had visions of smoking while boondocking in the desert for years.  The open plains, endless skies, perfect solitude…and yes…a meat smoker. Somehow it all meshes together in perfect picture harmony as well as playing to his creative side -> smoking is after all an art more than an occupation, or so I’ve been told. Well three years into our RVing lifestyle the dream has finally come true. After preparing meticulously for its arrival including a winter purge of excess stuff in San Diego, measuring the storage compartment space obsessively and combing hundreds of online reviews we’ve finally bought the perfect smoker for the perfect space. The Weber Smoky Mountain Cooker (WSM for those in the know) arrived here at Cape Blanco just days after his birthday last week, and although we’re not quite boondocking in the desert Paul has indeed been smokin’ wild in the great outdoors. Oh yes it’s been hot…very hot…and very, very good.

Home-smoked ribs, sauteed farmers-market green beans and garlic/ginger spinach….YUM!

Our first experiment was mere days ago with two racks of pastured ribs from our local farmers market, and today we’re tackling a shoulder roast from the same source. These are all-day affairs lasting between 6-12 hours with constant monitoring, adjusting and stoking of the coals. Paul has immersed himself in smoking forums (oh yes, they exist) and temp/time/wind-flow analysis to attain that pure-perfect, and nearly mythical “smoke ring” on the meat. The ribs turned out excellent for a first try…tasty, moist with good smoke flavor…and since it’s all electricity-free we plan to do alot more of it boondocking in the desert this winter.

2/ Drinkin’

Show-time for our new boxed wine

Having ventured so boldly into new territory with the smoker we decided to fearlessly branch out and do the same with our wine. We are what you’d call traditional wine drinkers…a glass every evening or so from a decent $10 bottle  is about our tempo. What we’ve never done (at least not since I was desperate in my youth) was drink wine from {{gasp}} boxes. My memories of box wine are a nasty acidic alcoholic juice, drunk in excess for its’ cheap price and maximum effect.

As it turns out though, box wine has come a long way in the last 20 or so years. More serious wine makers are considering the medium and some of the classier  box wines approach 90-point ratings (according to Wine Spectator). Not only that but they are super-portable (4 bottles in a clean, easy-to-carry box), earth friendly (half the carbon footprint of glass) and last for 4 weeks after opening at a very attractive price. Could boxed wine be the new green RVing classy beverage of choice?

Paul and I decided to give it a try attacking our first box, a Black Box Cab on the same night we smoked the ribs. And our results? Surprisingly good! Despite my initial misgivings I am happily impressed by the wine and could easily see buying more. Box wines still don’t offer anywhere close to the range of choice you can get in bottles, but I can see a few of them becoming handy stables for our regular meals, and for less than $5/bottle it’s a darn tasty deal.

3/ Mushrooms

I love Kombucha drinks!!

While Paul was dreaming of meat and wine, yours truly has been thinking of mushrooms…or to be more precise I’ve been brooding over yeast cultures, gluconacetobacter xylinus, and growing a mushroom “mother” for brewing home-made Kombucha. You see I love fermented foods. I’m rather fascinated by gut bacteria, our “second brain“ and its’ impact on human health (it is an amazing and eye-opening area of scientific research), so one of the things I strive to do is keep my gut microbes diverse and happy. We regularly eat Kimchi, sprout and ferment various foods, and eat fare rich in probiotics. I discovered Kombucha, a sparkling, lightly acidic fermented drink last year and immediately added it to the list, but the problem is it’s so darn expensive…$3.50 a bottle…yikes!

So, ever since I’ve been trying to grow my own mother.

She may not be pretty to you, but she sure is pretty to me!

Now just like smoking, mushroom-growing is a rather mysterious art that requires more “fiddling” than exact science, and thus far my experiments in the RV have been a total flop. I’ve used cultures from existing bottles, “fed” them faithfully with a green tea & sugar formula, looked after them, cajoled, talked and sung to them…but my brews just haven’t worked out. The mother hasn’t grown properly, the brew didn’t have the right fizz and everytime we got close to growing a decent top we’d move the RV and break her up. What I really needed was time and some good humid, warmish weather to make the magic happen.

What I really I needed was Cape Blanco!

In the 2 weeks we’ve been here we’ve had total mushroom success -> a wonderful mother growing like bloomin’ crazy in just the right conditions. She’s sprouted out from a single strand, grown to the size of my hand, thickened to at least a half inch and she is just perfect! I feel the pride of a parent seeing the first success in her child and the beauty of creation that only a loving creator can see.

All in all an interesting and experimentally fun two weeks. Like I said before, it probably wasn’t exactly what you were expecting in the title, but it was still rather intriguing was it not?