Winchester Bay, OR

Summer 2002

Fresh from our return at the end of Marc’s employment in Jackson, CA we decided to take the summer off and enjoy Marc’s favorite activity: crabbing along the Oregon coast. We always stay in the same location at Winchester Bay in the marina parking lot RV camp. Dry camping at its best—right on the bay and only $165 a month. (See other journal entries for more information on the area and read Claudia’s View for some summer impressions). 

                    Moonlight over marina                                                    Salmon Harbor camp

                            Crab pull                                                             They caught all this in one trip

                    Harbor seals basking

Winchester Bay is very small; so is its nearest neighbor Reedsport, so they seem to celebrate summer festivals together. There was a beautiful fireworks display over the bay on Fourth of July; a weekend Sea Fest with a town full of vendors and a lively Coast Guard demonstration of their lifesaving skills (see photo); and towards the end of July, the famous Dune Fest which features sand rail and dune buggy racing for five days with many RV rigs parked right out in the sand dunes.

            Coast Guard lifesaving demo                                               National Dunes Recreation area

                    Oregon dunes camping

We enjoyed a visit from Marc’s folks (out from Illinois) and treated them to all the crab they could eat.

                Crab lunch with the family

My parents joined us for some salmon fishing and we frequented the clamming beaches as well.

                        Marc's Salmon                                                    Diggin clams at Clam Beach

                            Fun in the mud                                               Grandma and Grandpa give it a try

                    One day's catch for us

We bought new toys—motorcycles for our riding enjoyment, and spent many hours exploring the dirt logging roads (see Motorcycle Mania). And finally, we also suffered through what Marc called one of his stupid RV tricks: driving away in the Freightliner when the awning & screen room were anchored to it!  

                                  Oops!

At summer’s end we decided we liked the area enough to want to stay so we moved south about 20 miles to the town of Coos Bay to a regular RV park. Plans call for us to try and remain here for the two years it’ll take Rachael to graduate.  

                        Campground entrance                                            Our site at Midway RV Park       

Ah, full hookups—after living off the grid for nearly a year, what a treat!