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.