Sunset Bay State Park is in Oregon, and So Were We

We have a close, longtime friend who lives on the Oregon coast. The three of us used to work, more or less together, at Apple Computer, in the Bay Area, back in the 80s and 90s. Many good times, and many other times, were had.

We all fled the Bay Area at some point — Sooz and I to Washington, and Jane — we’ll call her Jane, though that’s not her real name — to Oregon.

There were those who wondered at our choices. “Doesn’t it rain a lot up there?” But I was a kayaking addict, Sooz likes the natural beauty of the area, and Jane — well, Jane likes the rain.

Not just tolerates it — likes it. Prefers it. Seeks it out. And you may not know this, but if you like rain, the Oregon coast is a good place to be. They get lots of rain — more than twice as much as we do here in the greater Seattle region. (Why are we famous for rain and the Oregon coast is not?).

When we get a downpour here in Gig Harbor, we say to each other “Jane would like this.” (We also say this when we see something purple. Jane likes purple, too.)

So when we arrived at Sunset Bay State Park last July, on our way north toward home, we thought of Jane. Because it rained for most of our stay. Between repeated Jane-mentions, we mostly stayed inside and celebrated not being in a tent.

Note: it’s green outside. Why? Rain.

This park hunkers down, along with two other Oregon State Parks, on a stretch of coastline surrounding Cape Arago. In addition to Sunset Bay, there is Shore Acres State Park and the aptly named Cape Arago State Park, and they’re all just a half-hour or so from Coos Bay, in case you’re wondering.

One day, during a brief not-quite-as-wet spell, we went out exploring.

The botanical garden at Shore Acres State Park, on a drizzly day.

Sailor’s Dread Reef? Devil’s Cauldron? I can’t remember the name. Call it Sensory Overload Cove — it was chilly, quite windy and loud at this spot, midway between Shore Acres and Sunset Bay.

After these forays, the family warmed up in The Toto.

Some will say that it’s possible to overly obsess on Cairn Terriers. The terriers disagree.

We had reserved a campsite as close as possible to the beach, thinking how smart we were to do so. As it turned out, the sites further back into the campground looked more appealing. Our site did have at least one thing in common with the rest of the park: absolutely no mobile network coverage. In that sense, we were in the wilderness.

Jane would have loved this part of the trip. She says she’s going to get her own RV someday, and maybe she’ll head directly for Sunset Bay. Of course she could end up disappointed, arriving on a day like (of course) the morning we left.

Yeah. Sunset Bay, in the morning. Another few hours and we might finally have seen a sunset there.

Maybe we will be back to enjoy this admittedly alluring spot. Not sure… so many new places to explore. For now, our memories of Sunset Bay are mostly…

Can’t complain about the company! I like these creatures.

On that (one) sunny morning, we packed up and headed north toward South Beach State Park, which is very close to where Jane lives. Maybe we would see purple rain, we thought.