Winchester Bay Sunsets, Sand Dunes, Lake Marie

June 11th, 2016

Let's start the day off with a picture of this handsome chap.  Not that we're biased or anything!!!!  Good to see him looking so well out on the high seas.        
                            

We stayed in and relaxed today and then nearly missed the sunset.  Here's a couple of pictures as we caught the sun setting.

June 12th, 2016 

We went for a drive.  First stop was the sourdough bakery where we saw this buoy that reminded us of a frog.  We also saw some goodies that we will stop for on the way back!!!

These water lilies were at a stop along the way.

We eventually got to the Oregon Dunes National Recreation Area overlook.  We started to walk a trail down to the dunes and the beach but changed our minds when we saw that it was quite a long trail and we knew we were going to be walking later in the day.

We took these pictures from the overlook instead. The dunes stretch along a 40 mile stretch of the coastline.

We headed back to Winchester Bay, passing these old carriages on the way.

Unusual wood carving in Winchester Bay.

Pretty flowers

Next short stop was an overlook where we could see the top of Umpqua lighthouse

and the Oyster Triangle.  If you look closely you can see the strings of oysters hanging in the water.

Then we drove to Lake Marie, where we were going to do the one mile trail around the lake.
                                      

We started on the trail.  I'll let the pictures speak for themselves.

This is a Western Red Cedar. Indians stripped and pounded the soft stringy bark to make clothing.

Birds

Cobwebs

Sue

Bryan

Spot the dragonfly

Here's the dragonfly on a dead leaf. Looks like a stick insect.

Tree Roots

Bryan admiring the view

More cobwebs

I covered my head through this more overgrown part as there were a few bugs and I had already got bitten the minute we stepped on the trail!!!  There weren't enough to be really bothered by them though and this was more of a precaution on my part.  In fact, by the end of the walk I still only ended up with one bite.  I have been taking Vitamin B-1, which I heard helps to keep mosquitos at bay.  Since I have been taking it, I haven't been bothered by bites.  The real test will come when we go through the more wooded areas inland on the drive back south.  Keep your fingers crossed.

Bryan catching up

We walked past this family fishing and from the opposite bank we got a picture of them.  Shortly after this picture they decided it was time to go home and pulled their catch out of the lake where they had kept it.  There were a number of good size fish there that they proudly showed us from across the lake.  We gave them a thumbs up.

We finished our walk around the lake and decided to drive to the nearby Umpqua Dunes. There were some riders out there enjoying the weekend.

They were driving up and down this steep bank.  There was a campground close by and it was good to see these families enjoying their weekends out with their toys.  Here is a  VIDEO of them going up and down the slope between the trees.

This memorial plaque was by Winchester Bay.

We decided to have dinner at a local seafood restaurant that happened to be on a boat. Ungers Bay Fish N Chips had good reviews with the exception that it was slow.  As we weren't in a hurry we decided to try it.

                            

Good old fish fryers, like a proper fish and chip shop!!!

The final product was good and we didn't wait very long at all.

We went home full and relaxed the rest of the night.

Winchester Bay, Umpqua Lighthouse, Dean Creek Elk Viewing Area, Sunsets

June 9th, 2016

We left Beach Loop RV park at Bandon this morning.  It was a nice quiet park, with a new weight room that Bryan tried out.  They told him he was the first to use it and the equipment survived and so did he!!!! They also have cabins here that are available and quite big, some with garages.  Now, if there was an ocean view it would be perfect.  This area is quite nice as well.

They had a really clever way of stacking firewood.
                             

On the way to Windy Cove B Campground at Winchester Bay, we went across the Conde B McCullogh Memorial Bridge.  Mcculloch built a lot of the Oregon Route 101 bridges.  This one was his favorite and after he died it was renamed from Coos Bay Bridge as a memorium to him. We have been over many of them on this trip.
                             

                             

We arrived at Windy Cove B Campground.  We have a view of Winchester Bay and the harbor.

Hattie's View

There was a mist hanging around the harbor.  This was our view from the side window.

The sun setting

June 10th, 2016

We went to the Umpqua River Lighthouse and Museum.  It was less than a mile from the campground.

Museum

There was a separate charge for the museum and the lighthouse tour and as we wanted to do both we paid both fees.  

We started to look around the museum while we were waiting for the next tour.  It had a lot of interesting items and was on two floors with a gift shop in the basement.

This is the damaged Fresnal Lens from the Cape Blanco Lighthouse which was the first Oregon lighthouse that we saw.  We had been told this was here, when we learnt about the vandalism while touring the Cape Blanco lighthouse.  In 1992 two local teenagers broke into the lighthouse and used sledgehammers to break a part of the lens.  It took two years to repair at a cost of $80,000.

We were in the middle of touring the museum when the next lighthouse tour was starting so we left to go to the lighthouse.

Read about this self righting lifeboat HERE.

This is Umpqua Oyster Triangle.  This triangle between two jetties was originally used to train the coastguard but they stopped using it for training and it is now leased as an oyster farm.  it is unique in that the oysters are grown on suspended lines stretched across the triangle so the oysters never touch the ocean floor.  This means they don't get the gritty sand that many do.  They are considered the best oysters around.  As neither Bryan or I like Oysters we wouldn't know and didn't want to find out.   Bryan's dad would have loved them I'm sure as he loved Oysters.  My dad may have had Oysters but I can't say I remember him ever having them. I think that's probably because they were more of a delicacy in England and very expensive.  I am sure he would have loved them as well, as he liked all seafood.

The original lighthouse was built down there but didn't last very long as it collapsed due to being built on the sandbar.

The Umpqua River lighthouse has red lenses as well as white which is very unusual.  I think the guide said there were only two like it.  

We were told that the bricks had been stripped back to their natural state on the inside as it was found that by painting the inside the bricks were unable to breathe and were therefore crumbling.

Looking up to the top

We were able to look up into the lens.  It was spectacular.

Looking Down

The tour was very interesting and after it we went back to looking around the rest of the museum.

Lighthouse Keepers Log

Sue outside the old Coastguard Station which is now the museum.

Pink Daisies

We really enjoyed this lighthouse which is well maintained, probably due to the entrance fee that is charged.  It was a very busy place, with just the two volunteers to cover the tours and museum which covered quite an area.  There was an additional person who stayed in the gift shop in the basement.

We continued our drive on the road that went behind the lighthouse and past Lake Marie.   We will come back another day to walk around here.

We decided to drive through Reedsport and on to the Dean Creek Elk Viewing Center.  I had read that the best time to see Elk was early mornings but we thought we would take a chance and see if we could find any.  We spotted these antlers peeking up above the grass, they were laying down.  We had a good look from both viewpoints but these were the only ones we saw.

Pretty Flower

No Elk

They must be hiding in the trees

We set up the tripod and kept the camera pointed at the elk that were laying down, hoping they would get up.  After some time we gave up and decided to go and have lunch.  Just as we were getting in the car, one of them stood up.  Bryan quickly got his camera out and was lucky enough to get this picture.

On the way home we stopped at a Mexican restaurant, Sol De Mexico for dinner.  It was excellent and very reasonably priced.

Back home, Bryan went out at sunset to the harbor across the road to get some sunset pictures.  I think these are pretty amazing.

Duck taking Off

Harbor at night

Another great day and awesome sunset.

I close today with a picture of our youngest, who seems to have changed overnight.  How handsome is he, or are we biased.   Stay Safe Ryan.