Winchester Bay to Eugene - Coast to High Desert!

Vroom! Vroom!

We are now in the land of OHVs (Off Road Vehicles).  We drove south along the coast to Winchester Bay. The campground was another “marina campground”, only this one really was chi-chi.  You know, that is just what I deserve – just call me Princess Phaedra.  We had the river on one side leading to the ocean with the marina on the backside.  It was beautiful.  We couldn’t walk near the boats, though, so I still really like the one in Newport with the docks right there.

This area is really the beginning of the Oregon Sand Dunes Natural Area. It runs for 40 miles south and there was a huge OHV “Dunefest” going on that ended the day we arrived. We all drove down to the nearest area and saw every type of ATV you could think of. From a distance, the OHV’s looked like little ants climbing a mountain!  There are dunes trails for all levels of expertise, and we even saw seven year-olds driving on the dunes. There was one dune that went 500 feet up. WOW!!!!!  One OHV even had a special seat so that this big yellow dog could ride on it.  I don’t think he really liked it, though, since he jumped off after a short run. 

We had our own lighthouse overlooking the dunes.  Plus, we heard the foghorn all night long.  The symphony of sea lions changed for the echo of the foghorn at night!

We drove south all the way to Bandon Beach, which is a really beautiful and interesting area with large rock formations in the water. There is a HUGE rock in the water called Face Rock.  It is kind of famous!  It looks just like a face looking at the sun (which is mostly non-existent with all the fog…).  Along the way, we drove through Coos Bay and along the scenic drive out to two seaside parks for wonderful views. We especially enjoyed Simpson Reef where we looked down and saw hundreds of seals and sea lions.  We even saw our first Elephant Seal!  It was ginormous!!!

Mom and Dad did leave us alone on our last day in Winchester Bay and drove to an area to see their first Roosevelt Elk. They weren’t gone too long, and when they returned we got to go back to the dunes and actually played on the beach.  You know, every beach in Oregon is a public beach.  And, dogs are welcome everywhere!  It’s not like the Atlantic Ocean at all.  But, the water was too cold even for us.  BRRRRR!!!!

After 3 days in Winchester Bay, we drove east to Eugene, which is a pretty college town.  It’s almost like Chapel Hill. The reason we went there was to visit, Uncle Ralph, the person who introduced Mom to Dad many, many, many years ago.  And we wanted to meet his wife, Saralee, too. We liked the campground and area, but this was one lonely place.  Mom and Dad spent three days with Ralph and Saralee, and all Zoe and I did was stay in the camper and wait, wait, wait.

They all went on a tour of the town, went to wineries, and visited with them at their home. They visited the Cascades Raptor Center where injured raptors from all over the West Coast are rehabilitated and, if possible, released back into the wild.  That sounded so amazing from what the folks and Ralph said.  He likes birds, too!  We did meet Ralph and he was really nice. He did not throw the ball too much for Zoe.  I really would have liked to see Ralph’s train.  Dad told us

about this huge building with nothing but trains. It really sounded neat.  Mom told us about their garden that we should have been able to run around in, but no... it was the camper for us and margaritas for them.  Poor us.  I wonder if Ralph’s cats get to ride the trains.  I heard that most of the trains have something to do with Michigan.  There are villages and cars and four great long trains going around the barn.  What fun!  You know, Dad and Mom always wanted to have train sets when they were young.  I thought I might buy them a train, but do you know how spendy they are???  Millions and millions of dollars.  I don’t think I can afford it!

There were two wineries that the four of them visited.  First, they went to a winery called Sweet Cheeks.  (Can you imagine how it got its name?)  At the wineries people can bring along hors d’oeuvres to sample while drinking wine.  Nice, huh?

Then since Ralph and Saralee are wine club members of King Estate Winery, they got to sample the best wines there.  They also ate a late lunch overlooking the vineyard.  We stayed at home with kibbles!

Oregon wine is tasty.  I got to lick out a wine glass one night and really liked it.  This was King Estate’s 2008 Domain Pinot Gris.  It wasn’t oaky and seemed to have an aroma of a tad of lime zest, leesy toast, and spice to it.  Plus its “mouthfeel” was soft and inviting, round, and with a nice balance.  You know, I think I have a knack for this.

Anyway, Eugene was a great place for the folks.  They loved seeing Ralph who was one of mom’s best friends in high school and a really great friend of Papa’s during college and later.  They really loved getting to know Saralee, too, so I am sure she would have liked us as well.

Time marches on and we’re off to Rocky Mountain National Park again.  I wonder what the difference will be. 

Have a glass of wine and think of us.

Toodles ‘til then!

Phaedra.

Oregon Coast and Fog

Bye bye snacks and hello fog!  

We spent 11 days along the beautiful Oregon coast and15 were in fog.  Mom and Dad had to wear sweaters, and we had the heat on every morning and many evenings.  I love to sleep under the covers most of the time but really needed to be under them this time!

Disappointment Bay Lighthouse

We started in the northwestern part of Oregon at Fort Stevens State Park near Astoria. The park was wonderful with beaches and fields to run in, but a billion kids were running around. They scared me sometimes.  Astoria is a small town at the southern end of a four and a half mile bridge to Washington.  We went back to Washington to visit part of the Lewis and Clark Trail and to see two cool lighthouses.  One of the lighthouses was a three quarter walk straight up!  The folks needed showers when they got back home.

John Jacob Astor School

If you know Mom, then you know she likes kids movies.  Well, Astoria seems to have been a setting for a bunch of movies.  Once she figured that out, we had to visit each place and take pictures!  One of her favorites is Kindergarten Cop.  The elementary school where the little boy went to school and the mom was a teacher was right there on a hill overlooking the harbor and bridge to Washington.  Mom felt the need to take pictures at the John Jacob Astor Elementary School where the movie was filmed.  Phaedra and I volunteered to pose in front of the school, but she declined.   Do you remember the Goonies?  Well, the house of Mikey Walsh (Sean Astin) of the Goonies was just down the block from the school. Mom had to climb this great huge hill in order to take pictures of the house.    Then she learned that the bridge to Washington was filmed when robots from Short Circuit threw themselves off the bridge.  So, once again, photos were taken.  And, she never put us in one of the thousands of pictures she took!  Humph!

Each year that I have been around, Papa and Mom celebrate their anniversary while we are on trips.  This year was a big one and they found a nice restaurant in Astoria.  Do you know that they have been married 41 years?  We get the leftovers from their dinners out.  It’s usually meat from Papa.  But, I will eat veggies from Mom, too.  Phaedra won’t have any of it so that mean’s more for me.  Do you know what they started calling me?  Chunky Monkey!  I have only gained a pound or two.

We spent a day driving south to Tillamook, which was wonderful. Dad went into the famous cheese factory and brought back, yes, cheese. Phaedra and I even got some. We visited 2 more lighthouses. We also spent time at Seaside, which is a resort town, and Canon Beach, which is really neat. We got to run on the beach as they looked at the Haystack Rock.  I think Mom would like to live in Canon Beach if it didn’t take 8 days to get here.

Camping at the Marina

After our stay in the northwestern corner of Oregon, we drove south and spent time in Newport at a marina and RV spot. This was so cool.  We could hear the barking of sea lions all day and night.  The boats that are moored right near the camper look like lots of fun.  And there are lots of dogs on the boats, too.  I tried to run aboard one of them but Papa called me back.  Bah humbug! 

Baby Western Seagull being fed by parent

Mom and Dad went to the Bayfront District and watched thousands of sea lions.  (Well, maybe not thousands, but a ton of them!) There was a great area as we drove north to see Depot Bay (the smallest harbor in the world) with seals swimming around, too.  We even went on to Boiler Bay and watched a grey whale near shore.  Mom tried to photograph him, but by the time she realized that he was surfacing, he was gone and it was too late.

Lazy Sea Lions

Whale Back

Bad Hair Day" for the Puffin

We went to 2 lighthouses near Newport. One was at a park that had a place overlooking rocks filled with - - yes you guessed it, seals. We went back there 3 times while in Newport.  Mom and Dad went to the aquarium there and they even had an aviary with a lot of tufted puffins. We could not go.  But, we did get to see the video which mom took of a crazy, loco Tufted Ear Puffin.  He went back and forth, round and round.  It was so funny.  Maybe you will like it too, so I’m going to send you the link.  (Don’t you think I’m so clever?  You know, I never lived when there wasn’t google.  Doesn’t that make you feel young?  HA!)

The best time we had was a day trip south to Hecata Head lighthouse and Cape Perpetua. This lighthouse was really pretty; it’s the first one they have seen that is as nice as many along Lake Michigan that they saw last year. There were beautiful views and we stopped at a few beaches and we were able to run all over. Boy, were we tired! They stopped at Seal Rock and saw, yes, seals again. We were too tired and stayed asleep in the car.

We're off to Winchester Bay tomorrow to stay in another marina.  I wonder if we’ll hear the sea lions all night long there, too.

Wind Surfing to Voodoo Donuts!

Oh Boy !!!!! We’re in the land of S & S & S!

We arrived in the Columbia Gorge River (the river divides Washington and Oregon) to stay at Memaloose State Park.  Zoe and I LOVE it!!!  There was a huge field right behind the camper and it was right on the river. We could run and run and chase Frisbees and balls.  We could wrestle and play!  It was so much fun for us.

Phaedra and Zoe's Beach

A walkway down the hill, through the brush, and across the railroad tracks led to a swimming area and beach where we got to swim with Papa.  Zoe chased sticks and I ran and dug in the mud. So, while `the big mama wasn't fully mackin' some gnarly grinders' we had a great beaching time.  Oh there is joy in Mudville!  It was really nice because it was in the mid 90’s and I was hot with my winter coat.

Kite Boarding the Columbia River

Mom and Papa really enjoyed the town of Hood River. It is perched on a hill overlooking the Columbia Gorge.  They spent lots of time there watching kite boarding and wind surfing. We stayed home – boo hiss!  Mom wants to wind surf and Dad said he’d take pictures.

Oh, ya… Surprise!!! They did find a great coffee shop. We stayed home, again.

Mt. Hood across Trillium Lake

Picnicking at the TRUCK!

We spent one day traveling to Mt. Hood, a beautiful mountain about 40 miles south of Hood River. We drove through fruit farms in a great valley and were able to see the mountain the entire trip.  Each time we stopped for a picture, we got to go out!!!  We went as high up as we could to Timberline Lodge at 6000 feet. People were still skiing that day, and the parking lot was full of snowboarders and skiers. The runs are open all 12 months, but August is only open for the national ski team.  They forgot to invite Zoe and me to be their mascots!  Too bad for them!

Vista House

Old Time Highway. 

We drove back through the wheat area a little further west of Hood River. The golden fields were so inviting, but we didn’t get to run in them.  Mom said they have chiggers!  No thanks – not for me!

Multnomah Falls

Western Pacific Rattlesnakes

Our last day in the area was spent in the camper. Mom and Dad went on the Historic Columbia River Gorge Road and hiked to 5 different waterfalls. Multnomah Falls is 620 feet high and the most famous. They visited the Vista House built in 1915, which celebrates the road and overlooks the river way down below. They also saw some deer and 2 male RATTLESNAKES doing fighting for either territory or a girl friend on the road.  I didn’t miss that at all, but Mom was thrilled.

Nancy and the Kids

Then it was on to Portland to see a long time friend, Nancy. They taught in Germany with her and Anne & Dov visited with her overseas when Anne graduated from UNC. What a great person. We call her our snack friend. She brought the best snacks- lamb and duck jerky, and I even ate them before Zoe.

Portland Skyline from Washington Park

Friends from a different life!

Nancy took Mom and Dad all over Portland while we got to stay home, again. They went to Washington Park and saw the International Rose Test Garden and, also, the Japanese Garden. They went over many bridges going from one section to another. They visited downtown, old town, Powell’s Bookstore (a huge place that they needed a map to get though), and Voodoo Donuts (human snacks), plus ate at Elephant’s Delicatessen. We were only there two days so no more snacks.  At least I hope we get to swim again because we are heading for the Oregon coast and we get to see the Pacific Ocean again.

Windsurfing the Columbia

Hang Ten y’all,

"Latronic!"

Phaedra