Day 7: August 8, 2008
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Before leaving the Adobe Resort, I got some pictures of my room and walked around the place a bit. The semi-circular appendages are the dining area; Designed to provide maximum sea view seating. In the upper left corner of the third picture is a whale spout. A fellow had spotted three whales from the door of his ocean-side room and pointed them out to me and others. An arrow helps find the spout in the full size picture.
The first two pictures were taken from the trail leading up to Heceta Head Lighthouse. The last picture is of the two inch thick Fresnel lens. The juncture of two of the eight panels is near the center of the photo. The lens makes one revolution every eighty seconds so that flashes are ten seconds apart.
The place where I stopped to get a picture of the McCollough Bridge over Coos Bay also provided a view of some ATVs playing on a sand dune. When I did cross the bridge, I was met with a trio of (I think) Model As and an overhead welcome. I was told that the North Bend sign is the last of many such overhead greetings along the Oregon coast.
The Egyptian Theater in the town of Coos Bay was an extremely lucky find. I stopped just to take a picture of the building then walked across the street for a closer look. The lobby was open so I stepped inside and asked a fellow standing behind the snack counter about taking pictures. He told me a bit about the theater - built in 1925, currently operating three days a week - and even mentioned that a volunteer from Portland was currently doing some work in the theater. I met that volunteer when I walked down front to see the Mighty Wurlitzer. Paul is a semi-retired organist (among other things) who has a long relationship with this theater and this organ. He was with David, a preservation association vice president, and the two of them offered up lots of details about the theater and its history.

I'd love to relate everything that Paul and David told me but will restrain myself and tell only my favorite story. Not so long ago, when the theater was privately owned and in danger, plans were being made for the annual Christmas concert. Because it was somehow to their advantage, the company that owned the theater claimed that the organ was broken, a fire hazard, and could not be used at the concert. Paul knew this was not the case but his protests were useless. The concert went on -- to a packed house -- while Paul and the lady who always played the organ at the event sat a few rows from the front. When the concert was over and all but about fifteen people had exited, the pair moved to the organ, Paul turned it on, and his partner commenced to play. As many of the attendee started returning, Paul mischievously warned them to watch for fires. The company's scam was exposed.

There was more good luck - for me - just down the road. I'm not a very good geocacher but I thought I'd try to find one in each state on this trip so I had recorded a few locations. The last one I had marked in Oregon was south of Bandon and I meant to give it a try. I initially drove by but turned around at the next crossroad and pulled into a parking lot near the cache's coordinates. I decided to look inside the associated store before looking for the cache but there was a small agitated group in front of the store. Part of that group was a couple who had been just in front of a car wreck and had pulled into the first available stop. 911 had been called and, before long, emergency vehicles started arriving. I had driven through that curve no more than five minutes before walking up to the store and much less than that before the collision occurred. I've watched a bit of local news but have learned nothing more about the wreck. It certainly looked bad.

I made a half-hearted look for the cache but didn't find it. My path south was unblocked so I eventually pulled through the half-mile long line of traffic and moved on.

I know I should fear gravel roads after my adventure on the logging trails neat Siletz but this one looked quite safe. The sign, the like of which I don't recall ever seeing, was reassuring. A nice little diversion.
I spent Friday night at the Sand Dollar Inn in Gold Beach. My room is directly behind those blue flowers which no one could name. I asked everyone I could (although I failed to find the owner) but the closest I got was a maid who knew but couldn't remember. The name almost came out several times but she would lose it at the last instant. One fellow did give me the name in German but I don't remember what he said. They're pretty anyway.

ADDENDUM: Aug 14, 2008 - Both Laurel Kane and Gold Beach Promotions & Visitor Center Director Elizabeth Kuljis responded with the information that the blue flowers are hydrangeas. Many thanks, ladies.

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