March Madness and Coos Bay!

This has been another good week in Oregon.  We spent most evenings playing our new favorite game, Farkle and enjoying the extended daylight with evening runs and outdoor basketball.  Due to the 3 hour time difference, the tournament games start while I’m still at work (around 4:15).  So, on Friday Eli drove down to Roseburg to meet me at a local bar, so we could watch UNC whoop Marquette!!  We are bummed that UNC just couldn’t pull it out against Kentucky, but we are definitely on the VCU bandwagon!!!

Tony's Crab Shack

On Saturday, we put the pups in the car and headed to the coast to meet Laura Hutchinson at Coos Bay.  She is stationed there with the Coast Guard, and took the day to show us a good time.  The weather was  crazy as we counted over 10 times that it switched from pouring down rain to sunny skies and back to rain.  Laura told us we could never say the “s” word (sun) because that would surely bring more rain.  We started off heading south to Bandon where we walked through the cute downtown and went to several candy shops.  We also ate some delicious seafood at Tony’s Crab Shack.

Coquille River Lighthouse

  After exploring Bandon, we drove along 101 to some beautiful sites, including the Coquille River Lighthouse. We are still surprised by the differences of the west coast with jagged rocks and huge waves in comparison with the east coast which is equally as pretty, but just different.

  Once we had made our way back to Coos Bay, Laura gave us a tour of the cutter (boat) that her and her crew takes out. The cutter is a 110 patrol boat and is named the Orcas. Laura is a lieutenant on the boat and is the second in charge of a crew of herself and 15 men! Touring the cutter was the highlight of the day!  It was wild to see the tight living quarters of a crew of 16 and just how they jam so much into such a small area.

After touring the boat we went driving to a part of the coast where we were able to do some hiking with the dogs and enjoy some gorgeous views! After exploring around a bit we met up with Laura's friend, Patrick, who is a pilot in the coast guard. We all went to a local pizza place for dinner and had a good time hanging out and talking.  We got back home late, but enjoyed sleeping in Sunday morning. Sunday we spent a lazy day watching basketball and then relaxing in the hot tub Sunday night! We have been here for over two months and just realized that we are counting down the days to our next destination.  We still have a lot to explore but are very excited to find out where our next location will be!