Miles 4720-5065: Bandon Dunes, Bandon on the Bay, and Drive to Eureka
Yesterday morning, we had to wake up at 6:30 (leave at 7:45) so Dad and Jackson could make their 11:20 tee time. It was about a two and a half hour drive to Bandon and they wanted to hit balls at the driving range and putt. Mom and I didn’t know what we were going to do, but someone Dad talked to recommended that we walk at least the front nine with them for the pretty ocean views. We decided to walk through hole seven, which doubled back by the club house. It was a really pretty course and made me nostalgic to play golf again. I haven’t swung anything in about eight months and I kind of miss it. I know that when I first play again, it will be very frustrating. Picking up the clubs again will be tough, but I think I want to. Great time to realize it; on the road with my clubs 3000 miles away and no cheap golf courses or free time in the near future. There were some pretty amazing views of the Pacific, off some short cliffs. The Pacific Ocean is so blue and calm compared to the Atlantic, when I thought it was supposed to be much choppier than the Atlantic. It looked like a reflecting pool, smooth and motionless, but blue. I knew there were waves because there always are, but from far away, the water looked still and flat. We saw some young deer, bucks, really close up. Dad and Jackson’s caddy (you’re required to have a caddy at Pacific Dunes) told us that they know that they are safe on the course, so they don’t bother keeping their distance. At the seventh hole, Mom and I went back to the clubhouse. We got a map of a few hikes/walks that you could do in and around Bandon and planned to do the Beach Trail after lunch. We drove into Bandon on the Bay (the official name of the port/town) for lunch. We ate at Tony’s Crab Shack. It was delicious. We got a crab sandwich with 1000 Island, Swiss cheese, and lettuce with cole slaw and the lunch special, a bowl of clam chowder with a salad and ciabatta bread. We ate off of everything and my favorite was the Famous Crab Sandwich, what they were known for. After lunch, we drove back to Bandon and started the walk. Since we began on the dunes, I thought it would be a very short walk to the beach, just over the dunes. Instead we went over the dunes, over some more dunes, over a few more dunes, and then into a forest. There wasn’t much of a path, so we got stung by some sharp grass and our tennis shoes were full of sand a minute in. After we came out of the small forest, there was some flat land and then more dunes right before the beach. As we got closer to the beach, the fog really rolled in. After getting what sand we could out of our shoes, we walked barefoot down the beach. It was a miracle that we found the trailhead again. It was really cool how thick the fog was and how empty the beach was; it added mystique to an otherwise normal, if abandoned, place. There was this odd seaweed all over the beach; at least, I think it was seaweed. There was what looked like normal seaweed attached to a bulb-like thing that led into a long rubbery rope. It was very firm, not hollow, and was really heavy and slick. My mom thought that the bulb was to keep it afloat because it was full of air and when you stomped on it, it would make a very loud, satisfying popping noise. I had a really good time on that walk with my mom. I like those times when the boys go off and do their own thing, because it gives us some alone time. I may not be great at conversation or small talk, but sometimes quiet is okay. I love you, Mom, and I love hanging out with you. Don’t worry Dad, I love you too, just as much. I’m going to miss you both so much when I’m at Stanford (and maybe, Jackson a little bit too). For those of you who don’t know, I’ll be at Stanford Field Hockey Camp Wednesday the 17th through Saturday the 20th. I will do a recap post when I get back. Anyway, after our walk and trying, but failing, to get sand out of our shoes, we picked Jackson and Dad up from Pacific Dunes. Jackson had shot a 94 and beaten Dad in match play, 7 and 5, which I guess is ok for an eleven-year-old. After the boys got some souvenirs, we went back into Bandon for the boys to eat lunch… at 5 PM. They also ate at Tony’s and pronounced the Famous Crab as amazing as we did. Then we began our four and a half hour drive to Eureka, California instead of Montana this time. We drove through a few redwood’s forests and saw a few pretty big trees, but they were just a preview for what we would see the next day, when we went into the national and state parks. In Eureka, we had some snacks at our hotel and went to bed.
“Listen to silence. It has so much to say.”
