High on the bluffs of Bandon along Beach Loop one can look down on many spectacular named rock formations. Here you can see table rock in the back and howling dog in the foreground.

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Along the way, one can see incredible face rock. All of the named rock formations along the coast here, including face rock, have become a part of Coquille tribal lore for many, many generations.

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Coquille River Lighthouse, a 40-foot American Colonial style light was commissioned in 1895 to help guide mariners past the dangerous shifting sandbars into the Coquille River and harbor at Bandon. A wildfire swept through this area in 1936 and destroyed most of Bandon which banrupted the city and as a result there was a drastic decline in shipping. The light was shut down in 1936 and replaced by an automated light on the south jetty.

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Close to the lighthouse is this beautiful driftwood beach as well as...

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...beautiful dunes covered in sea grass.

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What a beautiful spot to enjoy an incredible sunset. The only down side of this night was that a drone came around the lighthouse as I was taking pictures, came right toward me and hovered about 6-feet over my head. As Al picked up a rock to throw at it, the drone took off to the other side of the river and to the top of the bluff. It was scary thinking that someone was using the camera to control the thing so close to my head. Not a fun experience.

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There are many cranberry bogs here in Bandon and each year we try to find one that is harvesting so we can watch the process. We were finally successful! Russell Cranberry Co., an independent grower that sells to a brewery in Portland and to Smuckers was in full operation today. It is an extremely labor intensive process. The bog is flooded, the berries are then beat off the vine using a paddlewheel thing, and they are then floated and corralled into one corner of the bog.

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The cranberries are then sent up a conveyor belt thing that dumps them in the truck which takes them off to be cleaned and processed. The owner told us that there are about 14,000 pounds of berries in a truckload and it takes approximately 10 truckloads per bog. We even got to climb a ladder on the side of the truck so we could see

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After driving a country road that followed the Coquille River inland, we arrived in the quaint, bustling town of Coquille. We were directed to the Coquille Carousel Workshop by one of members of the steering committee. She told us that locals from Coos County were determined to hand carve a carousel. We were shown the plans and told that they had a venue for it and hoped it would be done in about 3-years.

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This hand carved gargoyle will be a part of the finished carousel.

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We had read that there were Victorians in Coquille so we went in search of them. Among others, we found the Sherwood/Bonney Home. Andrew Jackson Sherwood was a prominant lawyer and banker who founded the First National Bank of Coquille in 1903. It was also in 1903 that he built this beautiful home for his wife. Just before his untimely death, he told one of his daughters and her husband that if they would take care of his wife for him the house was theirs. The husband Luckey Bonney was the local pharmacist and thus the stately home became known as the Sherwood/Bonney house.

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Driving around Humbug Mountain we encountered some nice fall colors.

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The Northern California coast has some great rock formations.

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No matter how many times I see the giant redwoods, it's like I'm seeing them for the first time again. On our journey today we did see two herds of elk but alas my pictures were not good.

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Usually our last stop on our way south is in Morgan Hill where it's always fun visiting with Deb and Manny, our daughter and son-in-law.

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