Thursday, September 29, 2016, Oregon Dunes

We took a little road trip to get away from the casino for a while.  We backtracked a few miles north to Reedsport and then east two miles on Highway 38 to the Dean Creek Elk Viewing Area.  It was our lucky day. A sizable herd of elk was in the west end of the park.  They were too far away for a really good look, so we just enjoyed them from a distance.

Maybe a mile away we saw another group of elk.  Every one of them was lounging like it had been a hard day.  Then I noticed they were all males.  I guess it was a stag party.

Back in Reedsport, I had to stop at the Sugar Shack Bakery for some specialty doughnuts.  They are home to the "Big Foot".  It was about an inch and a half thick, the size and shape of a full-grown foot, stuffed with creamy filling and covered with maple icing.  I opted instead for some great looking cinnamon pecan rolls, something called a "crunch", an awesome apple filled maple covered danish and a couple of chocolate old-fashioned doughnuts for Mike.

We visited the Oregon Dunes Welcome Center to get some advice on the best bet for a hike.  We wanted to see the 300 to 500 foot high dunes.  First, we drove the access road for the off-roaders.  The size of the dunes was staggering.  The trees below help to gauge the scale.

The Umpqua River Lighthouse made a nice showing from the Off-Highway Vehicle designated dunes.  We decided this was close enough and chose to skip a closer inspection in favor of getting to the trails.

The John Dellenback Dunes Trail was recommended to see the largest of the dunes without the off-road vehicle buzzing.  The trailhead started in dense forest but quickly changed to sandy soil and strange plants.

The trees got shorter and then were replaced by bushes.  The bushes gave way to grasses and then there were acres of beautiful sandy dunes. 

You know we had to climb that dune because it was there.  The other side had an even steeper angle.  It would have been a blast to have a sled, but the trip back to the top would have been tough. 

From the top of the dune, I looked east towards the forest and Oregon's mountains.

Looking west I could just see the Pacific a couple of miles away.

In the picture below you can see footprints that were not from hikers.  I thought they were probably from a neighborhood deer, but the sand did not hold the print well so who knows?

The shadows were starting to lengthen adding some drama to the pictures but they also were telling us it was time to head back to the car.

Tuesday, September 27, 2016

Our next stop was dry camping at the Three Rivers Casino in Coos Bay.  It was free and the stop allowed us to see a little more of the fantastic Oregon coast.  The drive was just like I like it - a short 78.6 miles (79, 854.0 total).

Sixteen miles south was a dump station on 101 across from Carl G. Washburne State Park.  We were thrilled to make it two weeks with four people showering (Tillicum does not have a dump station).  

I was fascinated by the clouds blown up and over one rather tall hill.

A little further south is the beginning of the Oregon Dunes National Seashore.  Highway 101 veered east before continuing south.  One of the few sections of the highway where we could not see the ocean.

Just before reaching Coos Bay Joani caught this dune out the window. They reminded me of Indiana Dunes at the southern end of Lake Michigan.

The casino was not much larger than an average grocery store.  One corner was a restaurant that had some pretty good deals (we had breakfast there one morning and dinner there one evening).  The rest of the floor was electronic gaming machines.  There was no room for any card games or roulette.  In the "campground" we had plenty of company, but I never really met anyone - they were either inside gambling or out exploring.  The casino was right across the street from the Honda dealer, however, where we had an appointment for some recall work.

Three Rivers Casino, in Coos Bay and in Florence, allows four nights of dry camping with no strings attached.  Four additional nights are allowed with strings (a little gambling).

This is a tiny lot for a casino.  Less than a dozen RVs could fit and only if everyone parked a certain way (arrive early in the day).

I did play the machines inside (with free house money), but sadly, I did not win a brand new truck.  Joani and Katie did manage to turn $50 of "free play" money into $25 of real take-home money.

They gave us $10 each to sign up for a players card plus David and I received $5 extra each for getting the kids to sign up for a players card = $50 free play.

A small caravan rolled in late on the second night.  These folks travel from place to place and volunteer any way they can help.  They have a Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/thevagabus) and anyone is welcome to join them, but we decided to continue on our own.

David is not crazy about this picture, but I love it. "Best friends"

Sunday, September 25, 2016

We met some nice Oregon people on the road a few years ago in Capitol Reef NP in Utah and later we met up again in Casa Grande, AZ. We were now in their neck of the woods and planned to meet in Corvallis for lunch.   There was a big craft fair in Central Park, so Cynde and Joani combed through the interesting booths while Rob and I talked house restoration and motorhomes.

44th Annual Corvallis Fall Festival

Vicki Green took the time to explain her process to achieve the murrine millefiori in glass.  Fascinating!  But is it still called millefiori when glass rods are not used?  Instead, it is a process of glass plates (multi-colored) stacked in a special kiln, heated and then pulled through a hole in the bottom.

Ok, my google research says this is murrine (murrini, murrina).  If you grouped these rods to make flowers, it would then be called millefiori.

I appreciated Artist, Barton DeGraaf's whimsy.


These books looked amazing!  We talked to the author and begged him to do a digital version for RVers, but he said that will be up to his heirs.

After a few hours, we figured we had seen most of what the fair had to offer and we headed to a nice little micro-brewery pub for some lunch. Block 15 Brewing Co. had some interesting and unique beers and delicious burgers and sandwiches.  Rob had to get back to work on a deck with a deadline looming, so we went our separate ways by about three.  

Hope to see you on the road again soon!

We reveled in the sunny 89-degree weather a little longer before heading back to Tillicum beach.  After a month on the coast, I had not realized how much I missed the warm sunshine.  It really was surprising how much different the weather was just 45 miles west on the coast.

Saturday, September 24, 2016

Mornings like this make me happy I have a dog who demands his early morning exercise.  The trees were so thick at the Tillicum campground (part of the Siuslaw National Forest) that it looked dark under the trees at midday.  I also walked under the trees in a light rain and never felt a drop.  I'm just saying the trees were thick!

With a little better planning today we returned to Cape Perpetua at high tide.  The waves were very active. 

A lot of folks were willing to get up close and personal with Thor's Well. Maybe they worked for National Geographic.  I'm sure most of them got pretty wet.  I'm afraid my timing was off - I never caught one of the big sprays.

In the next inlet over, another hole in the rock would spout like a whale when waves blasted water up from below.  Appropriately enough, it was named the "Spouting Hole".  Again, my timing was never good enough to catch the really big blow, but it certainly was impressive to watch live.

Thursday, September 22, 2016, Cape Perpetua

Tillicum Beach was only a few miles from Cape Perpetua.  There were many interesting features to explore including the iconic Thor's Well.

The tide was less than optimum for the best Thor's Well action.  Even the low tide waves looked pretty rough in the hole, so I kept a respectable distance. 

The tide pools and the geologic formations were more than enough to keep our interest for a few hours. 

Exploring the rugged coastline sometimes required a little climbing. Not long after this obstacle, we were finally thwarted by a crevasse we were not willing to jump.  It was only 4 feet wide, but at least 6 to 8 feet down to the water and who knew how deep it was.  Oh, the edge was also covered with slippery moss.

We probably covered less than a half mile of the shoreline before we were turned around.  It felt more like five miles, but it was not long enough to bring the tide in, so we decided to come back another time.

Wednesday, September 21, 2016

What do you do when you are at the beach, other than walk the beach?  That was our plan.  We were not thinking about much other than just enjoying the beauty of the beach.  Of course, we were always looking for agates.

Without the cover of sand, this guy was at the mercy of the gulls - it usually did not end well for the crab.

I tried a little training exercise with Sam.  I let him off leash and when he wandered too far I would whistle and call.  When he came back he got a treat.  A few times he came back expecting a treat even though I had not called him.  He figured out if he ran straight away as far as he could I would always panic and call him back.  He would get his treat and immediately go for distance again.  Makes you wonder "who trained who?"

Sam enjoyed the dog-friendly Oregon beaches!

Peek-a-boo