It doesn't take imagination to see why this well-known rock is called Face Rock. She's a landmark on Bandon Beach and one of many named and unnamed looming rock formations.

Most tree trunks, battered and scarred such as this one, are washed in after heavy winter storms.

Many of the beach houses such as these are vacation rentals.

Many kinds of seaweed are washed to shore. This one is appropriately called a Sea Palm.

The most common seaweed on the northwestern coasts is bull kelp. It comes in many forms and is very fast-growing in the ocean waters, where it harbors and feeds all types of marine life.

Bandon provides a couple of sprawling overlooks for its beach and rock formations. This one overlooks Face Rock. Steps from the viewpoints lead to the beach.

This is a picture of the Coquille River Lighthouse taken from Bandon's Beach Loop Road. Also seen is the calm Coquille River and, in contrast, the Pacific, separated by the north jetty on which the lighthouse sits.

On the river's south jetty sits the fog horn (an automated beacon) station. It didn't take long for the distant sound of a horn to become the norm. At night, it was almost soothing, far enough away that it could barely be heard on shore. A tourist in Depoe Bay tried to convince me it was whales talking to each other. She said that's what she was told on a whale-watching expedition. Being a tourist myself, I didn't argue, though I'd bet a hundred dollars on a stack of pancakes she was a bit confused on her facts.

Okay, while we're talking about confused tourists...here's what I heard a couple years ago when I was touring Glacier National Park in Montana. A tourist asked one of the red car drivers when it was that a deer turned into an elk. The driver was speechless, but came up with, "I guess right before he turns into a moose." Whaaaaaat?

Jetties are an important part of areas where ocean and river meet. Normally, there are two jetties, one on each side of the river entry. Among other purposes, they serve as breakwaters and aid in the shifting of the sand and water currents.

The Coquille River Lighthouse is located in Bullards Beach State Park two miles north of
Bandon. Once the responsibility of the U.S. Coast Guard, it was determined the lighthouse was not needed. It sat abandoned for 24 years until it was purchased as part of the Bullards Beach State Park. In 1976 major renovations were done to repair damage from massive pieces of driftwood (as seen in these pictures) that wash ashore during winter storms.

The next few shots were taken on the jetties of the Coquille River at Bullards Beach State Park north of Bandon.

Bandon's Old Town is filled with eateries, shops and galleries. Its boardwalk, which lines the Coquille River, makes a wonderful stroll for watching crabbers, river otters...and people. Paralleling the boardwalk is the crabbing pier (in the picture to the right).

Happy....cheerful...colorful....that's how I'd describe Bandon.

In September of 1936, a forest fire swept through Bandon and devestated all but 16 of its 500 buildings. This chimney, which stands in its original location, all that's left of a bakery, serves as a memorial to the town. Ten people perished in the fire.

Bandon is the cranberry capital of the world. Late September and early October seem to be the harvesting time. I was a couple of weeks too early to see the red cranberry bogs that we see on the Ocean Spray commercials. This is as close as I got. This bog is flooded, but they've not yet started the process of removing them. Most of the bogs are off the Highway 101 south of Bandon. That's also where the Ocean Spray Processing Center is located.

Not sure in which state of the process this bog is. It appears the berries have been removed. Hmmm...that rake sure looks clean!

This, however, indicates movement of the berries!

These bogs (Above and Below) are in the pre-flooding stage. Perhaps the berries are not quite ripe enough yet to harvest.

White feather pampas grass does well in the Oregon coast climate and can be enjoyed all along the way. I found this one when I was on the Bandon back roads looking for cranberry bogs.

This picturesque cemetery belongs to the Curry County town of Denmark, just south of Bandon. Population (of the living): less than 50.