Sunday, October 20th., 2024…… Today was wet! We were told it would be a solid week
of off and on rain. The good thing was when we were walking the dogs, it was
nice and dry! We spent some time getting the last minute items either packed in
the motorhome or staged before the weather changed! I had the Dodger game taped
later, but in the morning, I worked on the blog and watched Nascar and the Barrett
Jackson auction. Sammy Hagar was the main character. He flew up from his
concert in Cabo to sell his one-off LaFerrari as the highlight of the auction.
It brought $4,500.00! Wow! The guy (and
his wife) who bought it got to go with him and his wife on their private jet
back to Cabo to see him in concert. Later, we went off to our beginner’s class.
We skipped the afterparty and came home to relax in the hot tub before bed.
Monday, October 21st., 2024…… The plan today was to be on the
road around 8:00am. We loaded the last of our items in and I pulled the coach
out and hooked up the car. We parked the trucks in the garages and we were off.
A few minutes after 8:00am, I think. We drove south and stopped at Pioneer
Village Truck Stop to fuel up. After that, I parked the rig and we went in to
have breakfast. Frank and Marianne came in to eat just as we were leaving. Mike
and Cheryl were about 8 minutes out. Once we all got together, we headed out in
caravan and went southwest to Osprey Point RV Resort. We stopped once for a
potty break and got into camp around 1:00pm.
Turns out the calls from the park about the water leak issues only hit us. We are in the inside ring in a pull through, while the rest are in back-ins around us. We parked there anyway without water. The water will be shut off for those of us inside until they can find and fix the problem. Certainly didn’t happen today. No problem. I have enough fresh water in our tanks and will hook up later in the week when they dig around and hopefully fix the problem. The group so far today is our three rigs, and three others. There is one person who is staying in a yurt at the county campground about 2 miles from us. She drove over. The six of us decided to go out for seafood tonight, so we drove about 10 minutes to Winchester Bay and found Double D on the Rocks. Their website showed they were open but they were not! So, we walked just around the bay to Griff’s. Their food was ok. Cat had the cioppino and I had prawns and scallops plus clam chowder. I usually rate the clam chowder I try and this one was in the upper-upper ratings. Not the best but I would eat there again. When we got back, we walked over to the Pub for karaoke. But they didn’t start until 8:00pm and we were a little early. We had beer and rum and coke at the bar. The girls were there and I sat with them for a bit while Cathye tried her hand at one of the lottery machines. They are pretty much the same as in the casinos and are in almost every restaurant and lodge in Oregon. She came back in about 20 minutes $20.00 ahead! We stayed there until the music got really loud and we left to go meet up with Mike and Cheryl and Frank and Marianne for cards. We played for a few hours then called it a night. I walked the girls and we watched a little tv before calling it a night.
Tuesday, October 22nd., 2024…… Pat made up a schedule for the 5 days we are here. Nothing yesterday. We have coffee in the lounge and then we are on our own until the potluck at 6:00pm. There are two or three more folks coming in today. One person is going kayaking and will fish as well. We are on the fence with the weather so iffy. They have 4 little motorboats and we certainly don’t want to pay for a day of rain! The three couples met in our rig for breakfast. Cathye made hashbrown casserole for us. Yummy! After we ate, we went down to meet the rest at the coffee bar. They told us they serve many kinds of gourmet coffees. It was a coffee bar but they didn’t have much more than a Keurig machine with different varieties. We met with our six were there but none of the others came by. Cathye went with the others to The Mill Casino for a few hours of gambling. I stayed back with the dogs and worked on the blog. Later, I took the car up to Reedsport and ran it through a car wash. Boy, the rain and sludge and salty air sure made for a big mess! Even with the car wash, the windows looked filmy. Maybe we can find a full service car wash when we get up to Seaside on Friday. When I got back, I decided to try a little fishing. I gathered up my gear and a chair and walked down to the water. I think I was out there maybe two hours or so and only had one bite. It it was on the first cast! I was fishing with power bait floating off the bottom so I always reel in after a minute to check the weeds /rocks/etc. in the area. When I was bringing the line in, I had a hit! That’s unusual. I fish with really small treble hooks so I wasn’t surprised when the fish spit it out. I only saw a glimpse of it flipping so I could only guess trout or bass. Yeah, I know – fish story! Later, they came by and said they had the water leak fixed so I went out and changed the hookups.
Tonight was the group potluck. We
met at Pat’s rig and met some more of our club members. They are ALL single
ladies! (at least on this trip).
They had made plans for a group dune buggy trip up toward Florence, but one or two of the ladies wanted to go crabbing so they all decided to do that. After the dinner and fire, we headed to Mike and Cheryl’s trailer to play cards. After that, we came back home to watch some tv and then go to bed.
Wednesday, October 23rd., 2024…… Today is the day I have been waiting for! It’s time to drive the dunes! We walked and fed the dogs then ate breakfast. Cathye and I walked over to the clubhouse to meet up with the others for coffee. It was just Pat. She told us she was heading off later to go crabbing off the pier in Winchester Bay with the others. We said goodbye and headed over to get ready for the dune buggies! We had been to before so I knew the drive to Spinreel Dune Buggy Rentals would only take 5 minutes. I drove Mike and Cheryl and we checked in and signed all of the required paperwork. After watching the video and getting a personal review of what to expect and what dunes we should avoid, we got outfitted and got the buggy checked out. I reserved the turbo 4 seater, which we had last time. It has more power and a way better suspension than the standard model. I drove the first leg, with Mike in the front seat. I told Cathye and Cheryl to tap me on the shoulder if I was going too fast and scared them. Cheryl said she was terrified but didn’t tap or say anything, so I went up and down some of the bigger dunes. Mike was next and Cheryl got up front with him. As he was driving around, Cheryl kept motioning him to not go up or down the hills! But those he did take went well. He did a great job, but when he failed at one of the hills and was forced to slowly back down, Cheryl lost it and was just really scared. Mike ended up driving us back to the parking lot after the first hour, where we dropped her off. Frank and Marianne were out getting fuel for their pickup and stopped by so she was ok with them while we went back out. Cathye drove and had a lot of fun. She also knew the hills so she went up and down some of the larger ones and did great. I drove some more and was able to do a lot more without Cheryl. Mike drove again and took us back when our time got close. We were told to avoid the one large dune closest to the start. Both Mike and I passed it by a few times and later, we learned that each of us was tempted to try it! I think we would have been ok, but we followed their advice and didn’t try them! Once we got back, they checked out the vehicle to make sure we hadn’t damaged it and we got out and turned in our helmets and goggles and cleaned up the sand in our clothes and hair. Riding the dunes isn’t for everyone, but I can say that, for me, that, under my helmet I had a smile on my face the whole time! It would turn out to be the highlight of my week!
Since Frank and Marianne were already there, we decided to go out have lunch in North Bend. For the record, North Bend is NOT anywhere close to Bend! They are clear across the state from one another! North Bend is only a mile or so north of Coos Bay. Not sure why the names are close… Anyway, we found Captain’s Choice and had lunch. More chowder! After that, we stopped at a thrift shop where we all found a few things. I snapped a pic there. This was Cheryl after Mike had scared her today!
After that, we came back home to rest. We ate leftovers in and then went
over to Mike and Cheryl’s to play cards until bedtime.
Thursday, October 24th., 2024…… The agenda items for today were the Myrtlewood Factory in 101, and then dinner in Lakeside at The Stable later. We had called and found out it wasn’t a tour per say, but they had a video. Three of the girls joined the six of us there. We walked through the shop and then went in to see the video. We learned that Myrtlewood is only found in the southwestern part of Oregon. The video showed several craftsmen who made different items form the wood. Cathye bought some spatulas which we will use on her aluminum skillets. When we got back, we took the pups out for a nice walk, then got the bikes out for a nice ride. I had forgotten our helmets so we didn’t venture too far from camp. We did ride into town on the back road to find the restaurant for later.
Mike and Cheryl went for a walk and then we sat with them at the big campfire area (which no one used all week!). Later, we drove over to The Stable. We had 13 for dinner. They were able to seat us in one area.
I wish I could say
the meal was good. I guess for some it was, but for the 4-5 of us who ordered
the brisket special, we were disappointed! The meat was literally un-eatable! After
I mentioned it to them, they gave each of us $5.00 off the meal. They did have ‘smashed
potatoes’ which were outstanding so we did get to eat some. The others said
their food was good. One of the ladies was in a cabin this trip, and it was her
birthday. They were supposed to have a little party with cake and all, but we
never did get the details. So later, we played cards and had dessert at the
Berkeys, then, when we were walking the dogs, we found everyone was out at Pat’s
fire ring so we went to visit for a minute and to say goodbye since we were
planning an early departure tomorrow.
Friday, October 25th., 2024…… The plan was to get out of the campground early. Since we said goodbye last night, we didn’t see anyone out. The three of us were ready and on the round by 8:15am. The drive up the coast was uneventful. Just long and the roads were tiny and windy. We had to stop a few times to let Cat ‘get on solid ground’ for a few minutes. I think we drove for 5 hours! We got to into Seaside and checked into the Thousand Trails Seaside RV Resort. It was only about 5 minutes from town, so that was nice. Even though we were told this was the ‘go-to’ campground and was very popular, the park wasn’t anything to write home about to us. All sites are first-come-first-served, so we made our through the park and I found a site where I could get a clear satellite signal and we set up. After a bit, we drove into town and checked out the convention center, where the weekend festival is being held. We went to lunch at one of Mike and Cheryl’s favorite places for seafood there. It is called Normans. Of course we had to have chowder. It was good. We got back to the campground and rested before getting dressed and heading back down. We chose to drive by ourselves because of the dogs. The night was a lot of fun! I have been around many, many callers in my years of dancing and I know what I like. Craig Abercrombie is semi-local to our area so we see him from time to time. An older caller but he is very good and so entertaining and creative. But, his partner for the weekend was new to us. Adam Christman. Not sure of his background, but he is as good a caller as I’ve ever danced to! Very creative! They called together for the first tip and they had great harmony. But, they called super-fast and one tip wore Cathye out! She got a reprieve from Lila who was nearby and filled in for her so she could catch her breath. After that, we took it easy and only danced every other tip or so. When they called Plus, I was able to dance (w/Naomi) and we had a blast! As I mentioned, we had the dogs, so we left early to go home and take them out and then relax for the rest of the night.
Saturday, October 26th., 2024…… Today was full-schedule-Saturday They have a turnaround area that is really a roundabout for the main street. This one is right on the beach and is very popular. They close it off for the turnaround square dance. Problem was, it was raining so they went back to the convention center. We danced a bit then walked a ways to town and went back to Normans for lunch. We had 11 for that!
Then we headed back home to walk the dogs before heading over to the second special dance of the day. They always did a dance at the factory outlet in town. The organizers got goodie bags from the shopping center and handed those out. We got t-shirts, water bottles, etc. handed out to us after we danced there. All of the mornings festivities were casual. But next up after resting at the motorhome, was dinner and the evening dance. We tried a few places but no one in town takes reservations. We had 13 from our Club and we all wanted to meet for dinner together somewhere. We checked a few places and ended up at Sam’s Place. I had the steamed oyster special and Cat had coconut shrimp. We walked around town and found a fun center. This place was huge! I think they have every game ever invented! Cathye likes SkeeBall so we found that...
Then it was time to head back over to the center for the dance. Again,
they were really quick for the first tip together. Cathye had another fill-in.
We sat out a bit and then went to the balcony to watch an exhibition. Apparently,
the local club here has a special team that does a horse show. As you can see
from the pics, below, they dress up for it! We were told that they lost a member so they
did the dance with three couples. Some special choreography helped and it went
well! They were fun to watch!
After the dance, we came back to
the rig and crashed from the day. Tomorrow we will head home.
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