Oregon Dunes National Recreation Area

We left California on Thursday morning and continued north on US-101, through Crescent City where we saw the Battery Point Lighthouse,

and then continued on into the next state on our route, Oregon.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It was a beautiful day, and the views along the coast were amazing!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After 175 miles, we turned into the little fishing village of Winchester Bay,

and settled into the Windy Cove Campground, a Douglas County park with full hookup sites, including wifi and cable TV  (Bryce was thrilled!).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After dinner, we took a drive down the road to check out the dunes.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The dunes here don’t appear to be as tall as some of the dunes we’re used to in Michigan, but they seem to go on forever! 

The boys thought they looked fantastic, and they were dying to rent some ATVs and get out on the sand . . . we promised to check into it the next day!         

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We stopped on the beach to watch the sun setting over the Pacific Ocean.

On Friday, as promised, after everyone was done with school and we had some lunch, we drove over to the local ATV rental and booked a 2-hour rental of (3) ATVs for later that afternoon.

We met the rental guy just down the road from the campground, and he went over the basics of each ATV.

With everybody up to speed,    

 

they were all set and ready for some fun on the dunes!

They took off down the trail, and I drove down to the parking area at the end of the road to wait for them.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

They made better time than me, though, and were already out playing on the dunes by the time I got there!

 

After awhile, they came by the parking lot and I was able to get a few pictures. 

When they got there, the boys informed me that Tom had already had a mishap!  He apparently wasn’t listening when the guy told them not to go fast over any hills until they had checked out the other side!

Tom took a hill pretty fast and found out that there was a 4 foot drop on the other side!  He flew into the handlebars and hit his chest pretty hard – luckily he didn’t fly over them!

 

He was sore, and would be sore for quite a while, but he kept going!

 

While they were off having a blast, I walked down to the beach.

It was getting pretty windy, and a little chilly, but it was still a nice day for a walk on the beach.

The beach here in Oregon is so different than what we saw in Florida last year . . . there are almost no shells to be found . . . just sand!  It’s really beautiful!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The surf is a lot rougher than we had in Florida, though!

Walking back over the bluff to the parking lot, I could see some ATV riders off in the distance – it looked like it could have been them, but I wasn’t sure.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It was them, and they made their way over to the parking lot.  I was glad to hear that there had not been any more mishaps!

They only had about a half hour left of their rental, so they didn’t stop for long.  They took off, and I told them I’d meet them back at the staging area where the rental guy was going to pick up the ATVs.

 

I watched them drive off, as they disappeared over the hills.

 

 

They’re getting smaller!!

 

I waited in the staging area for the rental guy to arrive, and told Bryce I would send him a text when he got there, so they would know to come back. 

This deer was wandering around while I waited!

 

A few minutes later, it was time for them to come back, and their ride was over . . .

 

The boys could have kept riding, but I think two hours was more than enough for Tom!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It was a great day, and they sure had fun!