Report from the southern Oregon Dunes

[madmitch]

Thursday night was light rain and some patchy drizzle in the morning on the way up the coast to Garibaldi days. Traffic on 101 crawled but only only for a few blocks. Sun came back out in the afternoon and we said our good-byes and headed south to Newport where we cut over to I 5. Oregon coast is nothing like the so-cal packed with people beaches we are used to seeing. Nice is too ordinary a word for it. More like spectacular. Can't wait to go back when we have more time to relax for a few days. Maybe even take the Baja to play in the sand a little.

[Ol'fogasaurus]

Happy to hear you had a good time. Maybe some day we can meet down there.

Lee

[madmitch]

Looking forward to it lee

[Piledriver]

... Oregon coast is nothing like the so-cal packed with people beaches we are used to seeing. Nice is too ordinary a word for it. More like spectacular. .

I totally miss Oregon... But don't plan on going swimming in the ocean there unless you have a wet suit or better, or are a member of the polar bear club. That water is ice cold year `round...

[DeMinimis]

Im in cascade locks today and have reservations for jessie honeyman state park from the 4th to the 6th. Cant wait.

Sent from my SM-N920T using Tapatalk

I should have kept up with this thread. I was over in Hood River (like most weekends doing the kiteboarding thing...and failing at it). We could have met up for a couple ice-cold Coca-Colas.

[Ol'fogasaurus]

We are scheduled to be there in a few weeks but I am not sure of the exact date. The wife and her kids come up with a date and range then tell me. I know there has been talk but not sure exactly when as things are changing a bit but I am not sure why.

Lee

[madmitch]

You need to be in the loop Lee.

[Ol'fogasaurus]

You need to be in the loop Lee.

I am in the loop... just at the bottom where it is hard to see. Also being at the bottom of the loop... that is where all the crap falls.

Lee

[Ol'fogasaurus]

I got the wife to talk to me this morning so I asked when we are going to be in the area: We are scheduled to be there at the end of the month, the 26th or there about. It sounds like that is a close to be good date... for the moment anyway.

It is a 400 mile (each way) trip for us or I would come down when you are there. You will be ~ 30 miles +/- north of us when we are there.

The Cascade locks are a beautiful area so enjoy yourselves. The road on the Oregon side is, in my opinion, a much better road than on the WA side but it has been a while since I have been there.

(a tease) On the WA side, in the town of Maryhill, there is a place called Stonehenge (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maryhill_Stonehenge), been there once several years ago and while the monument was so – so (concrete vs. rock) but the view of the river, as I remember it was pretty good and they had a very good museum as I remember. You are also getting close to WA wine country and Oregon wine country. There is also wind surfing to the west of you but I think it is on the WA side that you have the best view/access.

From the bottom of the loop with no umbrella and my hat has shrunk from being P**'d on so much .

Lee

[Ol'fogasaurus]

At the dunes. Left early in the AM (about O'dark-thirty) and go through down town Seattle by 6:00-ish. When the sun came up at close to Olympia it was blinding coming in through the trees on the driver's side and it was that way until it rose higher than the door window frame. Sun all the way down, fog/low hanging overcast in patches and in the valleys but mostly good driving weather. Heavy traffic through Portland OR.

We are coming back up on Saturday as there isn't as much to clean up this time but then we haven't been everywhere either.

The camping areas are pretty empty, at least the ones we could see from HWY 101. We did see two rails on trailers but lost track of them on the way to the coast. A lot of construction areas and the bridge rebuild by Scottsdale you can now drive on the new part as they are now starting on the other side. They stop traffic one way while they let the traffic go the other way then reverse that. The waits weren't that long.

The temp was up so when we went by the elk viewing area at Reedsport no elk were seen by us as they were probably up in the trees keeping cool.

Lee

[Ol'fogasaurus]

Weird! As we came back from town in the late afternoon we noticed that the fog was blowing in (a very fast moving fog) from the North... but it wasn't it was low clouds. The wind was up and about 10:00 PM we started hearing the high wind noises; we were expecting my youngest stepson so I went outside so I went outside and there was a strip of a soaking wet area about 5' wide then about 20' farther (a roofed area) there was indications of only sprinkles. Away from that area was dry.

A wet fog this am with a light breeze from the North.

Still supposed to be dry and warm at least until this weekend.

Lee

Addition: Got talking to my youngest stepson this morning about "Burning Man" and the subject of the ground there came up. One of the comments made was that when the old lake bed got wet it is advised that you don't move your vehicle as you will sink into the mud. My wife then asked if there were tow trucks available and he said yes but they charge as much as $1000 or more for the tow. This is because the insurance companies won't pay as you are now "off-road" there so there is no off-road insurance unless you pay for the extra off-road coverage.

Sooo.... for what it is worth.

[Ol'fogasaurus]

While waiting for the ground and building roof to dry enough that we could work on them we went back into town to do some have-to-do things. We stopped by the Coos Bay itself and it had some pretty high white caps on it so the wind was well over 25 mph. I think the salmon are running as to the bay side of the bridge there was a plethora of small fishing boats gathered at the bend.

The dunes themselves have been getting blown most of the day, enough to smooth things out... some what. Soft sand covering ruts just waiting for rain to pack the sand down... eventually. The tops of the dunes are probably forming caps on them which can be fun and sometime thrills when they collapse and you are around them.

The next couple of days should be better than today as it is just too dangerous to do what we have to do. Saturday is still being projected for rain. If you are coming down check the weather report for the area. Remember, what weather you get at Coos Bay may not be the same as you get at Spinreel about 10 miles (give or take) north.

Lee

[Ol'fogasaurus]

Heavy wet fog in the AM burning off around noon about the time when the wind started to rise.. By 2:00 in the afternoon the wind had come up to previous days speeds again. The seasons are definitely changing. Very windy in the evening.

We did get some work done though. I did get some roof time while the wind rising but got off as quick as I could .

[Ol'fogasaurus]

Right now, little to wind out (a slow walk/stroll is about the speed). A hazy blue sky (a lot of moisture in the air) with occasional high fluffy clouds.

Lee

[Ol'fogasaurus]

Cloudy/rainy today and will be that way through Monday. Heading home as I'm too tired to do more.