I had to revert to simple journaling to get my thoughts out of my head because there is no internet where we are, so we’ve been using the personal hot spots on our phones. Turns out there’s a limit to how much we can do that. AT&T doesn’t terminate after a certain amount of time, they just turn the speed way down to a point where it’s basically useless.

So, I’m doing this using MS Word then I’ll transfer it to my blog thing when Wi-Fi is available. That won’t be until Sunday when we move to Honeyman State Park in Florence. I’m pretty sure that’s the plan.

… you can relax now because my hot spot is functional once again and I’ve transferred my efforts in Word. Thanks for your patience.

Let’s see … the day before yesterday we wandered around in Bandon just looking at stuff until we decided we were hungry. Sometimes we get lost in the moment and forget that food is required. When this need presented itself, we were on the pier downtown. We’ve eaten there before so after Diane parked us, I walked over to our favorite fish place just in time to be their first customer to show up after they closed. That was a bummer because we were both needing fish and chips. So, I took a short jaunt down the pier to Pete’s Crab Shack thinking we would get something good there.

It’s not a very big place but they were doing a lot of business and folks were eating outside even though it was cold and windy. I checked the menu and spied grilled cod which appealed so ordered two of them at $17.50 each. Not a bad price, I thought, until I got them and learned they were cod sandwiches.

Now, I’m not totally against fish sandwiches but as a rule, don’t normally order them knowingly. It’s my belief that fish shouldn’t be in either tacos or sandwiches. In my head, it’s just wrong but I did my best and gave it a shot. Turns out my beliefs were correct in this case because the sandwiches were soggy and didn’t have enough tartar sauce, making them very bland. We both took the fish out and ate it alone, which was good, but all the rest was a waste. In this case, Diane was totally on my side about how wrong it is to waste perfectly good bread by wrapping it around a piece of fish. I suppose I could have avoided that if I’d only read the menu. However, we were hungry, and it was late.

Yesterday we drove to Coos Bay for a hamburger which is what Diane was craving yesterday. It’s been on her mind for a few days now. When we got to town, we stopped at the first place that advertised Burgers. Its name was actually “Burgers and Shakes” so we were confident they had hamburgers.

They did and I got two with one side of fries. We drove into town thinking we’d eat on the waterfront picnic tables in Coos Bay, but it was still chilly. Instead, Diane parked in a bank lot between First and Broadway. They were tasty, and Max liked the fries. He got a few nibbles of hamburger, too but earlier he had subtly let us know he’d rather have seafood.

After lunch, we cruised by DQ and got dessert. I had my normal chocolate malt, and Diane had a peanut buster parfait. She planned to keep it until we got ‘home’ but decided to eat it while driving. She did an excellent job. Didn’t wreck the truck even one time. Made me proud.

It was a very nice afternoon when we got back to Bandon, so we went down to the docks and watched the pelicans dive for dinner. They were fishing close to the pier, so it was a lot of fun watching them dive. There’s an art show on display all around the railings, too. Must be a couple hundred paintings and drawings by people of all ages. Most are from schools in the area, but some are by adults – maybe teachers. We strolled along and looked at every one of them. Max looked, too.

With Max in tow, wherever we go, he’s the focal point and is serving us well as a conversation starter. We get to talk with a lot of folks we would normally just say “Hi” to then mosey on down the road. With Max, however, the Hi turns into a conversation that most times results in trading lots of information about each other with people we just met. Funny how many new friends we’ve made since this little dog entered our lives. It’s a lot of fun and we treasure each moment.

We met some folks near the end of our tour of the posted artwork who were from the Bay Area in California. You can assume, as did I, that they were from San Francisco. We learned that they are planning to move to Bandon. Nice people who would make good Oregon residents.

Now it’s the next day, probably Saturday. I lose track but it really doesn’t matter, does it?

It’s Saturday and we chose to spend the day scouting around Coos Bay instead of watching college football. It was a struggle for Diane to pass up the ball games, but she agreed to come with Max and me to see what was going on in town.

The first destination was the closest thrift shop we could find. Diane loves those places and finds some interesting stuff. Good thing we have a pickup. Max and I normally stay in the truck, talking, while she searches for treasures. Occasionally, we find a store where dogs are welcome. I put Max in a cart and do some shopping myself while he gets to know everyone we pass. It’s fun. I hardly ever buy anything. This time she found a Lions Thrift Store and we waited in the truck. He stared at the door the entire time she was in there.

Once the thrift store itch was scratched, we headed back to the Bandon docks to get fish and chips from our favorite place. I’m sure it has a name, but I have no idea what it is. We just know where it is which is the important part.

As usual, the place was packed, and orders were stacking up, so I braced myself for a lengthy wait to get our order. During a lull at the cash register, Nora greeted me as I rested against the front counter, out of the way of hungry patrons. I was wearing my Navy hat, like normal, and she asked me if I’d ever been to Japan. I had, so we had a friendly conversation about life overseas. She and her husband were stationed in Yokosuka, Japan for a couple of years and loved it. I countered that with 2 years in Okinawa with my new bride. We visited until she had to get back to work. It’s nice to encounter folks like that and make new friends.

When the order was ready, I made my way out of the small facility and passed their outside tables just as one was being vacated. I promptly plopped our order on it and went to get Diane and Max to join me.

I got Diane halibut fish and chips, and I got a crab salad. It’s a lot like a crab Louie without a boiled egg. Really good. Dungeness crab, of course. It was a great lunch and Max got to eat a few french fries.

Then we went home and Diane made chicken caciatore for supper while I just played couch potato with Max lying on me. It was a valid reason to just lay there and do nothing. So that’s what I did.

Tomorrow we break camp and head north to Florence where we have reservations at Honeyman State Park.

See you there.