We woke to a very rainy, cloudy, "socked-in" day...not the best travel weather! But it got worse. As we were pulling in the slides, the bolt on the cross shaft of the big slide broke! Luckily Steve carries spare bolts as this tends to happen occasionally. It seems that when we last had this slide room serviced in 2020 the tech didn't use the #8 carriage bolt Steve gave her which is much harder to break.
So the repair was done in the rain. It took awhile driving the slide room in and out to get both ends at equal distance before the bolt could be installed. Earl under the slide pounding in the bolt while Steve tries to line up the holes in the cross shaft with the gear pack holes with vise grips...
Needless to say, our departure was delayed...good thing we didn't have a long travel day planned! We finally got on the road just after 10:30 and continued north on Highway 101.
Very windy road as we navigate the twists and turns...
Good thing there was no traffic as we drove down the centre line to avoid the 11.6' clearance on the side with our 12.8' height...
Such beautiful scenery even if it is mostly cloudy...
Yachats, OR...
Bridge over the Alsea River from Waldport to Bayshore, OR...
Waldport, OR...
Excuse my finger...
Newport, OR...
We made a stop at the Kite Company in Newport where Steve bought his kite a few years ago. (Steve here) I needed to replace a broken fiberglass spar and control string and was very impressed with the service I got. The guy was very methodical and basically did a tune up making sure everything fit properly and even added a few parts that the newer version of my kite had. Who would have thunk there was that much involved in a kite!
Yaquina Bay Bridge...
Depot Bay, OR...
Lincoln City, OR...
A little further north of Lincoln City, the highway goes inland. We saw some fishermen on the Nestucca River, I believe...
Turnoff to the Air Museum in Tillamook...
We pulled into Blue Heron French Cheese Company in Tillamook around 3:00....
We parked and then walked up to the store to ensure it was okay to park overnight. We checked out the farm animals and scenery on the way there and back...
We ended up ordering take-out dinner from the cafe inside...on the way back, I encountered this beauty...
Earl and Allison joined us in our rig to eat our take-out dinners. They are the ones that recommended we stop overnight at Blue Heron French Cheese Company...it was a great spot!
We spent the next 2 days exploring the area...starting off Tuesday morning by turning right out of the RV park and continuing along Salmon Harbor Drive and checking out roads that branched off. At the very end is Umpqua Beach #3 Day Use/OHV Staging Area...
Located south of Winchester Bay, OR, this area is home to the tallest sand dunes in the Oregon Dunes National Recreation Area. Umpqua Beach #3 Day Use and OHV Staging Area provides parking and access for pedestrian beach access as well as off-highway vehicle (OHV) staging for open sand riding opportunities in the Umpqua dunes. A ride to the top of a tall dune offers spectacular views of the Pacific Ocean. The beach provides miles of walking and is closed to OHV travel year-round.
On the way back, we took the road that goes to the Umpqua River Lighthouse...19th-century white brick lighthouse with adjacent Coast Guard museum, tours & gift shop...
The gift shop is housed in this building. We wandered through it...it's huge and has tons of interesting items...
Views from the parking lot...
From the lighthouse, we took Lighthouse Road east, through Umpqua Lighthouse State Park to Highway 101, where we headed north to check out Reedsport, OR. We researched the best place for Clam Chowder and decided on Harbor Light Restaurant...they even had an outdoor patio with heaters! Bonus!
Steve, Earl and I each ordered "Clam Chowder Supreme- topped with bay shrimp, crab and your choice of cheese", while Allison ordered "Clam Chowder Deluxe- topped with bay shrimp and cheddar cheese"...all served with garlic toast. OMG it was absolutely delicious! If you are ever in the area, we highly recommend you stop in!
Thursday (March 24th) we thought we'd incorporate a little geocaching into our exploring. We started by parking at Oak Rock County Park and walked along the pier...
Found a geocache!
Lots of birds perched on the old pilings...
Winchester Bay RV Resort over there...
Looking towards where Umpqua River meets the Pacific Ocean...
We continued along Salmon Harbor Drive logging another 4 geocaches...
Earl, Allison, and Steve went looking for another geocache at Half Moon Bay while I guarded their drones in the truck..
We took the Lookout Tower Access Road (Coast Guard Tower) to a spot where another geocache was but we couldn't find it. A great spot though...
Steve and Earl decided to bring out their drones...
Umpqua River Drone Video...
After a little drone flying capturing some video of the area, we checked out another OHV staging area...
We back tracked and pulled into another OHV Staging area...
After lunch, Earl and Steve took up their drones here at the resort...
And then took them back to the Oregon Dunes OHV area to watch some 4 wheelers having a blast...
While they were gone, Allison and I went for a nice long walk around the community of Winchester Bay.
We finished the afternoon off sitting in the sunshine at Earl and Allison's and enjoying a bevie. It's been a perfect couple of days exploring Winchester Bay...tomorrow, it's time move on.
Our blog has been delayed due to Steve checking out and learning in frustration a couple of video editing programs instead of using the one that comes with the drone. 😊
