Oregon Living 2022 – Blog #38 – More Adventures, Heading Home, & More Family Time!

 

Sunday, September 18^th., 2022…… Today we head out again. I say ‘head’ because, well, you’ll see….

The drive today was only 75 miles so we weren’t in a hurry. I think we left somewhere around 10:30am or so. BUT, the drive was going to be the roughest one yet! We would be on hwy1 for 23 miles or so and then hit 101. We had little idea how windy hwy 1 would be. The roads were terrible and rough! At about the halfway point, I heard a noise and then heard Cathye scream out in pain. What had happened?  I looked over and she was holding the DirecTV box over her head!  It had fallen out of the cabinet and was hanging on 2 of the 3 cords attached to it normally. It had hit her right on the noggin!  I could not find anywhere to pull over for a few miles and then I checked her pupils. She said she had a headache but I saw no other signs of any problems. No blood from the contusion (but there was a small bump which she said hurt like hell! Later, when we finally got to Hwy 101, we stopped for a while and I had more time to see if anything changed. She took a few Tylenol and later said she felt better. The bump went down later in the day. We made it into Oregon and pulled in to Indian Creek RV Park in Gold Beach around 12:30 or so. We got set up and she was able to rest for a few hours and said she was feeling better, just a little dizziness. I will be keeping an eye on her! We did decide later to take this picture to show what hit her!

We went out a little later and found a nice pizza parlor and had dinner and a mango cider and a beer. We stopped at Jerry’s and went into their shop, looking for a rain poncho. No dice but they had a fantastic deal on some very nice rain jackets for $35.00. They were too good to pass up so we each bought one! We were ready for tomorrow!  We went home and talked with Teri and Ron, who are camping north of us, and will meet us tomorrow morning at Jerry’s Rogue River Jet Boats. We called it an early night after one of the most stressful days so far!   

Monday, September 19^th., 2022……  We were up and going pretty early. Showers, then walked and fed the dogs, then walked to the restaurant, which is part of the campground, and had breakfast. We headed off to meet up with Ron and Teri and get our boarding pass. We were on the 10:00am trip. I had booked and prepaid for the 64-mile round trip today. The tickets included lunch at Cougar Lane Lodge in Agnes at the turnaround point. Our driver (pilot?, captain?) was John and he was very entertaining. Forecast was for early morning showers and clearing and warmer skies in the afternoon. The weather was kind of gloomy but no rain so far. But the jackets still felt good, especially in the overcast and at speed in the boat. We had a wonderful time and saw a lot of birds and sea lions and otters and racoons. We saw bald eagles and osprey but didn’t get good pics of those.

After a few high speed donuts in the boat, we made the halfway point and headed up to the lodge for lunch. We all four chose the pit bbq, with ribs and pulled pork. Delicious! The run back home was uneventful – except for the best part of the trip – John came up on a charter boat and one of the guys had one. Fish on! He idled at a distance and we all got to watch the guy play and then land a 35-40 lb Chinook salmon!  It was awesome. Next time we come this way….!!!

After we got back to the docks, John said that one of us on his boat will win the requisite picture taken as we left. Well, for some reason, I felt I needed to go check it out. Guess what – yeah, I won! Here’s the pic (or rather a pic of the pic!)…

We got back home and Ron and Teri went home as well and later came back to visit and have charcuterie with us. They brought stuff and we put out our stuff and we nibbled and drank. Later, they left and we cleaned up and relaxed and watched tv after our day. We crashed early. Cathye said she felt fine on the boat and now but she also says she gets dizzy when she stands up too quickly. Still has me worried. Tomorrow, we leave for the last campground before home.

Tuesday, September 20^th., 2022……  HAPPY BIRTHDAY CATHYE!  She is now back to just two years younger than me!  Plans later today but first we are on the road again!

Hwy 101 is nice but still has some repair going on and we hit several of those areas which are governed by red lights to be able to share the one lane road. But no worries and we made the 95-mile drive with no problems and got in to the Osprey Point RV Resort in Lakeside OR and got set up in our space. We have a nice pull through and a clear shot for the satellite dish so we got everything up and going in record time. we will be here for 3 nights.  We are right across from Ten Mile Lake, which is really nice. Her sister, Mary and her new husband Jim are visiting with family and made their way here down the coast from Seattle. They are booked in to a cabin here at our park and will be here tomorrow sometime. The plan is to go out on Thursday on the dunes.  We went to The Mill Casino for dinner and gambling. She loves to gamble so I was happy that we were close to one on her birthday! Didn't win but we each had clam chowder in a bowl which was very good so we considered it a good fun evening out!  

Wednesday, September 21^st., 2022…… We were up and out this morning with the dogs. This park is right on the lake and I enjoyed it the last time I was here. 

We found a couple camping across the road from us who has a 7-month English cream. Her and Rylee got along like sisters and they romped and played for a bit. The guy told me a few things I didn’t know about the lake. He said several years ago, the game wardens checked in on a couple of guys and their catch. When they saw what they had, they said, “No way, there are no bass in this lake!” Turns out someone had released bass and they just took off! He says that now this lake is a tournament bass location. Now I want to come back with my boat and fish here!  We also saw a US Coast Guard training exercise on the lake this morning!  They dropped a 'victim' in the water and then did a rescue of him moments later. It was interesting the first time - but they kept coming back  all morning to repeat!  Guess they had plenty of folks who needed the training! 

We walked the girls around the canal that separates the two lakes in this area and then headed back home to rest. Later, we drove north looking for the ATV rental place she remembered was near 101. Turns out it was closer to Florence (which was 34 miles from us). So, we turned back and found Spinreel Dune Buggy and ATV Rentals and Dune Tours just a few miles south of our campground. They are now in their offseason so they don’t offer ‘follow’ tours right now. We checked our options and chose the 4-seater Rzr Turbo. They had two models and, after a call to Mary and Jim, we opted for the newer, cushier ride model.  I took pics of both. We were in the grey and green one shown in the pics below. We paid a partial payment and had a time for tomorrow! We got back home and had a snack and waited for them to get into their bungalow. We saw their place and they came down to ours and we had a few drinks then went to the campground’s Pub N Pizza for their Hawaiian night. They served chicken kabobs and rice and it was pretty good. They had karaoke which Jim is well versed in. He plays in a band in Arizona so he was up there singing right at the get go. We danced a bit and enjoyed the evening before calling it a night.

Thursday, September 22^nd., 2022…… We made us all breakfast in our place before getting our things together and heading down to the Spinreel. We watched a safety/operation video and then got an on-screen map tour (wish we would have paid more attention – more later!) and got fitted with helmets and signed waivers and did a walk through on the Rzr. We were ready! They said to go to the approach road and enter the dunes. Go straight past dune 1 and hit the tree line and then follow that to the beach.  That’s what we all heard. I was the first driver and they said to take a few dunes and hills and get used to the vehicle first, which I did. Then we looked at the gps on the dash screen and followed it, heading south and west to hit the beach. Nope! Didn’t see it!  Jim’s turn. He ran us around the trails and some dunes and then Cathye got behind the wheel. Still following the screen, we tried – hopelessly – to reach the beach. Still not happening!  Mary opted not to drive so I got back in behind the wheel and managed to get us back to the entry sign where we came in. We still had 30 minutes left on our two hours, so I used it to play around the dunes some more. I headed back and followed the sign back to the rental place. NOPE! Wrong sign!  We were lost!  We called back to the office and they said we were 3 miles south of them!  No way! Yes way! They had us sit for a while and they came out and we did a follow tour back to the right sign back to the rental place. We had visions of getting charged for the extra time but they did an inspection of the vehicle and I did their transmission check and they gave me a thumbs up so we were good to go, with no extra fees.  Yaay!  I got an email later asking to rate their service and operation. They got rave reviews!  Excellent equipment and customer service was outstanding.  The only suggestion I had for them was to print out detailed maps to aid us folks who have a goal to reach a destination when out there! Otherwise it was a perfect outing!  We all had a blast.

When we got back from the ride, we rested just a few minutes, then loaded up the dogs and headed south. We were heading to Shore Acres, a place where both Cathye and Mary have been to many times with their families. We went through North Bend and then Coos Bay and worked our way to the coastal road from there. Shore Acres is a State Park that has a history. Louis Simpson, a timber baron, sold his estate and his land holdings to the state of Oregon back in 1942. The mansion is still there (we didn't tour because we had the dogs) and the views from the cliffs looking out to the ocean are magnificent. I see why she wanted me to see this place!  No dogs were allowed outside of the cars but as you can see from the pics, we figured we'd beg for forgiveness, rather than ask for permission! So, they got their little walk today!

When we got back, we were beat and we each went home to rest for the day. Tomorrow, we head home.        

Friday, September 23^rd., 2022…… We slept in a bit and then got to work. Cathye made breakfast and I went out and loaded the car and put away a few things in the rig. We cleaned up after we ate and then we got everything stowed away and the car hooked up and we headed out. Jim and Mary were on their own schedule. They will be seeing her son Justin and his wife Amy and son Skylar and we would meet up with them later for dinner. We got back home a few minutes after 1:00pm. The contractors hadn’t used the rv garage so I backed the rig in and left it out in front of the garage so we could unload it and wash it, before putting it back in the garage. Washing would be tomorrow. All we wanted to do was get everything out and that would be it for the day. Cathye left for Jamie’s and I worked on unloading the bikes and getting the rack off and put away. Later, I took the car to the car wash so that was done. I also did all of the laundry while she was at Jamie’s. The family was meeting later at Barsidious for dinner. We got there and met up with everyone and we all had a great meal. Turns out Justin now works there! I think he is a cook. The cook working there today made his house stroganoff which was the best I have had in a long time!  Good food, good drinks and good fun! 

Mary and Jim were staying with us so they followed us back home and got settled in their room. Not much more happening tonight as we were all done from the long day!  It was nice to be home and in our own bed again!  The pups were happy too!        

Saturday, September 24^th., 2022…… The plan today was mixed. Mary met up with Justin for breakfast. Cathye went over to meet Mike at Jamie’s. He and a friend were picking up Jamie’s piano which Jamie gave to him since he will have no room for it when he moves out next week. Jim and I went to Kevin’s for breakfast. Justin and Amy and the rest of us all met up later at the house for dinner. Corey and Brandon joined us. Cathye made chicken wings and salad and I went out and got us a watermelon from the truck down here from Hermiston OR (up towards Idaho border where they are famous for watermelon). We had a nice meal and then went out and picked some of our grapes which have finally ripened, for everyone to take home. Jim and Mary are leaving early tomorrow to go up to Seattle to see her daughter Heather and granddaughter Charley, and will stay with them until they leave on Sunday to fly back home to Tucson. We watched tv until bedtime and found we were tired again from another busy day!