Oregon coast

Rick & I planned our trip down to Pismo on the basis of dividing the days into equal driving hours, knowing that we wanted to have time in San Fransisco as well as somewhere on the Oregon coast about half way to SF. After studying the map & internet (what a wonderful resource!) we settled on a place called Coos Bay. The pictures showed that it was right on the water, so we booked two nights there, with high expectations.
When we drove into Coos Bay, I gotta say, I was ready to cancel the hotel & drive on. It looked like a dumpy little industrial town; NOT on the ocean, but rather on an inlet of the ocean. I said to Rick, " What in the world are we going to do here for a whole day" (or something like that:) )
But we decided to check in for the night anyway, and while we did, I asked the receptionist whether there was anything to do in Coos Bay. Well, she looked at me like I had just grown horns - all insulted (but very friendly) - and proceeded to explain that not 10 minutes down the road we would be on the actual coast where we could enjoy a whole list of attractions. Which she listed quite proudly. So, we decided to stay two nights & do some exploring.
I have to say, that next day on the Oregon coast was one of my favorites of the whole vacation. We spent alot of the morning at Cape Arago, watching hundreds of harbour seals & sea lions (oh, the noise - it was unbelievable) & also trying to capture a whale (on camera). We saw alot of blowhole spray, so I just kept shooting & actually caught some parts of it.
We found a beautiful, almost deserted beach, probably because it was a little overcast. I just wanted to lay in the sand, watch the waves roll in & read. So that's what we did. I started in jeans & sweatshirt & after awhile it cleared up & got hot, thus the swimsuit shot.
We also had some entertainment show up. There was a group of kids trying to surf, not very good, but fun to watch. A professional kite flyer - maybe not professional, but pretty intense. And then Oregon's finest took a guy down on the road just behind where we were lying. Not sure what he did, but it was weird, in a quiet sort of way. You just never know what's going on a few feet away when you're sheltered by reeds & engrossed in the magnificence of the ocean.
Another phenomenon we enjoyed that day were the sand dunes - ALOT of sand, beautiful white rolling hills of sand. I was really quite impressed - never seen that before!
Add to all this a couple of yummy dinners; one Thai, one Mexican & we would definitely go back. Who knew? Sometimes you get lucky!