Our Labor Day Beach House, OR Coast

We arrived at South beach around 11am… which, as we know from previous campgrounds… this is too late… what were we thinking…? We were at the board trying to figure out what sites were left, and what actually constituted a site. There wasn’t a map of the campground… just tables with numbers spray painted on them… but was the site to left? The right? on the table? We had no idea so we found a spot that fit the truck and camper and put our tag on the board hoping that we were in the right spot. While this inner struggle raged on, a guy at the board just happen to tell us, “hey, only do one night in your spot, we’re leaving tomorrow, and we have the best spot in the campground, and we’ll come get you when we’re leaving and you can have it”… are you shitting me pal? Just like that you’re going to help out some total strangers and get them the best spot in the camp?… Bizarre. Anyways, we did our first night at our site. It was great, looking out at the ocean, little campfire, the people around us were nice… it was a good Friday night heading into Labor Day weekend.

The next morning was a complete shit show… people were leaving, which meant, everyone was upgrading (plus the arrival of new site stalkers). The campground had 4 rows; waterfront, and opposite the road from waterfront, 3rd row was tiered above the first two rows, and the row behind that… Everyone wanted waterfront… there were some heated words exchanged between some groups looking to get into the same spot, but Tara and I just sat back and hoped (prayed) that we were upgrading to the best spot. We went to the board and dropped a slip in spot #41 (which still had the other people’s slip) and we waited it out. As promised around 10:30am the guy from #41 came over and said that we should probably swing our camper around and get the spot because they were going to be pulling out and a couple people had already stopped and asked about taking it… he had told them it was taken. Before he went back to his camper he asked a bunch of questions about our camper… There it was… that’s why he told us about his spot, that’s why he was looking out for us… the camper caught his eye…

Side note: We can’t go anywhere without someone asking about the camper… What is it? What year is it? Where’d you get it?… and on and on… After a day away hiking we were told that people had been stopping by and taking pictures of it… I think Tara and I knew people would ask about it, but I guess we didn’t think they’d ask that much… I would have thought the vintage campers were a little more common in the camping community… but I guess not. People still love to see something that stands out… and we sure do. I’ll get to the camper in a post soon… it’s just that the internet in the PNW (that’s the Pacific North West… to lay person) is pretty much nonexistent…

So now we’re in the spot we’re going to spend the next two nights in. It’s “Waterfront” and it’s actually more isolated than the other front row sites… for three days it was like we were the only ones there… Throughout the weekend, either Tara or I would take Murphy down to the beach so he could run around (beach was dog friendly, no leash… Murph liked this place the best so far) It’s really tough to explain… the beach was huge, sleeping to the sound of the ocean, waking up to the sound of the ocean, eating breakfast and diner by campfire… this is definitely a place that will stick with us for a while.

Oh my god, I almost forgot… even after writing that this was Murphy’s favorite place, this place also crushed one of his puppyhood dreams. Ever since Murphy was a little puppy, all he’s ever talked about was becoming a Bark Ranger some day… Well Tara and I got him in the car, drove him down to Bark Ranger school…. and found out, the program had been discontinued. Heartbroken, Murphy made his way back to the car, and back to the campground. We promised him that we would find another Bark Ranger program. He’s been peeing at Ranger stations ever since…

Tara took Murphy down to the beach to try to take his mind off it…

And to continue the fashion of Tara and I somehow making everything about Breweries… The first night there I had helped a guy named Jim set up his tent. He was there with his girlfriend Erin, and their 3 week old daughter (3 weeks old…) and their dog, Lady. After talking to Jim for a little while, we found out that Jim was one of the founders of Island Hoppin’ Brewery… Orca Island I think? I’d have to look it up again… but if you’re ever in that new of the woods check it out…