Winchester Bay, Oregon

We're back from our little getaway. We left Tuesday morning with our truck camper and ATV's and a sincere wish for an uneventful trip.

We were badly in need of some relaxation, and we definitely got that. When we arrive at a new place, the kitties always run to the windows to see where we are. Sadie spied some people and some woofies.

Smitty, do you think they can see us in here?

Maybe I should keep a low profile. What do you think?

Come look over here, Sadie. Birds!!!

Yes, indeed. This seagull was very interested in what we were having for dinner...which happened to be chicken. I wouldn't think that would meet menu requirements for a seagull, but there you go.

I've become sort of enamored of seagulls lately. You'll see why eventually. For now, please just indulge my fascination.

We tried and tried to get a call back from our usual place when we come here. Apparently they have so much business they don't even bother returning calls any more, even though they tell you to leave a message. Whatever. We actually found a place we liked better. We could ride the ATV's out to the dunes from our campsite, and it cost about half what the other place cost, with full hook-ups.

Our site was nice. It backed up onto a grassy and wooded area, and it was very quiet at night.

Across the way was a marina. There was some smoke in the air this first night.

There were sea lions swimming around.

To the left was this memorial.

If you're having difficulty reading that sign, it says: "This memorial is dedicated to the men and women from this port who have been lost while seeking their livelihood from the sea." I tried to find more information about Jack Unger, but could find nothing. The display below the sign has placards to memorialize those who have been lost.

Some of these were quite old.

There's another seagull.

The next morning we got out for a ride. The weather was overcast, but still fairly warm. We rode up and down hill for many miles. In the image below, you can see the Pacific Ocean off in the distance. There is no beach access in this area, but there are other places in Oregon where it is permissible to ride on the beach.

The dunes go on and on. Here is a pano shot that I'm hopeful will give you some idea how vast they are. Remember you can make the image larger by clicking on it.

Here's another shot showing how the trees come very near the ocean.

We rode for a few hours, then went back to the camper. There was a skillet cookie on the menu for that night. We were well-behaved diet-wise the rest of the time we were there.

We took a little walk around the campground. There isn't much blooming this time of the year, but I did find one blooming thing along the way. This was a large cluster of very tiny flowers.

Below was a little display of painted rocks. We often see this in our travels.

We rode again the next day, but Mike's ATV wouldn't go into 4-wheel drive, and so we turned around and came back. Along the way, we passed the Umpqua River Lighthouse.

We didn't actually visit the lighthouse, and in any case, it isn't open to the public. On a previous visit, I took a picture of the information about the light:

As we rode back, we noticed more sea lions in the water. There is a jetty, and just beyond that a dock for crabbing.

Although there were lots of people and woofies out and about, Smitty was very brave and got out for a walk.

The grass had his mouth watering.

Miss Sadie took a nap in her cubby. She was back inside with the door closed, and I disturbed her privacy taking this picture. So rude.

Since our ATV riding was curtailed, there was plenty of time for relaxation, napping, reading, and slow-stitching. I made quite a bit of progress on my newest embroidery, In the Good Old Summertime.

On our drive home, we passed by an elk reserve, and there was a herd grazing there. I wasn't able to capture the largest part of the herd, but they were spread out over many acres. I'm going to guess there were a hundred or more.

This young bull was kind of off by himself.

Also, we saw a few old barns on our way home. This is Oregon State Hwy 38 between I-5 and Reedsport, Oregon, and it's a very scenic area.

I regret I didn't get this whole barn, but that's kind of the way it goes when you’re snapping pictures from a moving vehicle.

So, we're home again, and that will probably be the last traveling we'll do in 2020. We'll do a little more after the first of the year...at least that's the plan.

Today we'll be unpacking, but that shouldn't take long. After that I have one short housekeeping chore, and then I'll get busy with my quilting.