Blogs from Bandon, Oregon, United States, North America

I hope this doesn't come as a huge shock. We decided to stay here in Bandon. The whole point of this trip was to assess the viability of residing here. Sure it's a small town, but it's doable. We found a studio above a candy store that is going for $550 with a view of the port and river. We saw a sign in the shop window. Classic! I was talking to my massage therapist (fan-bloody-tastic by the way) about how she ended up here and she convinced me that it's not such a far-fetched idea. This is our fourth trip up here in three years. I've talked to a lot of different people about how they make a living. There is a large retirement population here but that doesn't bother us one bit. Older people ... read more

Each Christmas shopping season, the Bandon Chamber of Commerce offers an incentive to the community to make purchases in its own town. If you spend more than $85 at gift shops or restaurants and bring your receipts to the Chamber of Commerce, you will receive one of four Commemorative Pint Glasses featuring Industries of Bandon: cranberries, timber, fishing, and golf. This offer is pretty cool and got us thinking that we should actually check out the shops around town. Whenever we come to the coast, we don’t usually do a whole lot of shopping. I’m more than satisfied with the photos I get to bring back home. This time we figured we’d at least take a look around and see what this town has to offer. It would do us some good to actually be around ... read more

K- Arrived at Crater Lake in Oregon this morning. It is truly beautiful and enchanting but also freezing! There is still 20 feet of snow on the ground and it started snowing as we drove up to the rim..... in our open topped car..... and Mark in shorts. First rule of traveling is obviously to do your research and ensure you are as well prepared as the most zealous boy scout. But apart from the fact that Mark is wearing shorts - we skipped that part. I had also forgotten how glamorous traveling is - just look at the attractive fleece, body warmer and ski hat ensemble I just 'threw together". I also just noticed that our blog is obsessed with clothes (or lack of them!) which is weird because even (especially) our best friends would ... read more

Here I am on Christmas Eve, sitting in our room at the Sunset Motel in Bandon, Oregon writing to you. At this moment, I can’t think of a cooler place to spend Christmas. I know you are supposed to spend Christmas with family but this year my boyfriend and I wanted a change of scenery. We decided to have our first Christmas together (with just the two of us) in our favorite little town on the Southern Oregon Coast. As some of you already know, we have made the trek from Southern California to the Southern Oregon Coast twice before in the past two years. We keep returning for the peace and quiet and for the gorgeous views too. This time around we will be visiting Bandon (surprise!) and Yachats (yes again). :) Our trip began ... read more

Another trip for golfers on the must do list are the fairly new golf courses in Bandon, Oregon. The resort and golf complex is owned by and developed by the American Greeting Card owner, from Chicago. In fact, we can see him fly in from Portland on his private helicopter when he visits Bandon. There are three courses here now, with a fourth being planned. The two courses on the ocean, Bandon Dunes and Pacific Dunes are the jewels of the Oregon coast. Both are already listed in the top 50 courses in the U.S. My faithful friend Mike and I drove up to Bandon in his new Corvette. It is an 8 hour drive, up Interstate 5, then across to the city of Bandon. The other option is to fly to Portland, and take ... read more