Update from the Oregon coast

Our two-month home in Winchester Bay, Oregon


We have reached the six-week mark of a two-month visit to the central Oregon coast at Winchester Bay. I’m not entirely sure what we have done to make it so, but the time has passed very quickly and we never seem to be without activities. We have explored the coastline from Port Orford on the south to Heceta Head on the north, indulged ourselves in many fine seafood meals, hunted up a good number of geocaches, hiked along many of the beautiful trails, read some books, worked on projects, met up with travel friends, and just plain relaxed. A short side trip over to Eugene surprised one of Juanita’s nephews. Juanita selected a fantastic restaurant (The Waterfront Depot) in Florence to celebrate one of her birthdays (39th again I think!). We have finally encountered weather that can only be described as “normal” with occasional Pacific rainstorms punctuated by beautiful mild and sunny days. The frequent rain showers have created a spectacular carpet of green and the periods of sun are making for a colorful array of flowering plants and trees.

Ho hum....just another sunset on the Oregon coast.

"Reflections" at Eel Lake in William Tugman State Park.

More of Eel Lake.

Unusual "searchlight" sunset at Winchester Bay.

Tahkenitch Lake north of Reedsport.

Rhododendron blooming in a Florence park.

The trees are bloomin' along the waterfront.

Florence, Oregon tidelands.

Cape Blanco near Port Orford, OR.

Spectacular bridge approach to North Bend/Coos Bay, OR.


The sport of geocaching (see the geocaching link) has provided us many hours of enjoyment. The various caches located throughout the area have taken us along beautiful forest and coastal trails, to historic sites, into unique small towns, and to interesting locations that would otherwise escape our view. We have two handheld GPS units made by Garmin that lead us close to the individual cache locations and use information from the Geocaching website for clues which will take us to the cache container. The following was taken from the Geocaching.com website with details of the cache “Alien Encounter”:

“This cache will take you to the site of a baffling mystery.

On September 22, 1962, Edward Hansen was driving home from Reedsport in his old green pickup truck. He had just finished his workday installing electrical lines near Winchester Bay. While close to Clear Lake, he spotted a large metallic object hovering low over the lake. There was wide red beam of light below it. As he drove closer, the beam shifted toward his pickup. The moment the beam shone upon the truck it shook violently and the engine died. Seconds later, the metallic object vanished into the afternoon sky.

At the Clear Lake Motel just down the road (demolished in 1966) the owners also spotted the object and managed to photograph it.

Edward Hansen was so upset about the event; he refused to even try to tow his pickup in for repair, and would never venture near the area again.

In 1966 a very similar object was once again seen and photographed directly above the lake. Clear Lake itself has been fenced and off-limits since that time.

Near a key object to the story, you may discover that your GPS will behave very erratically. Cache in a regular ammo can.”

Hansen's truck is melting into the forest after his "Alien Encounter" many years ago. The force is strong with this one!!


We have found cache containers in many shapes and sizes. “Micro” caches have been mostly 35mm film containers but also are made from small tins and boxes with magnetic lids or clips. “Regular” cache containers have been found in various sizes of ammunition boxes, plastic containers, and even in some small iceboxes. We have also located many unique containers camouflaged to blend in with the specific location. Some we have located look like rocks, logs, scrap wood, electrical connectors, sprinkler heads, boat propellers, and wood stumps.

This ammo can cache is not very well hidden.

A "micro" cache (35mm film container) is hidden at the base of the bush.

Can you see this "micro" camouflaged with tree moss?

Can you see this cache?

Gordon found it in an old boat prop shaft!


Full time RV friends Dave and Barb O’Keeffe joined us in Winchester Bay for a one-week visit. As our geocaching mentors, they have joined us on the hunt for many of the local caches but remain far ahead on the total count found. Dave just can’t allow any of his “students” to get ahead so he will really have to keep moving!
We have had a great time with them eating way too much, swapping travel stories, geocaching, and just enjoying full time RV living. We look forward to seeing them again along the way.

Dave and Barb O'Keeffe show up in Winchester Bay with goodies from San Francisco....we'll let them be our next door neighbors any time!

Barb and Dave join Juanita on a cache hunt. As our geocaching mentors, they will do anything....and I mean ANYTHING....to stay ahead of us on the cache count!!

Dave and Barb say "so long" from Winchester Bay. They left at a very civilized time of the morning known officially as "Dave Time".


Our travel plans have come together for the summer months and we are in the process of setting up travel goals for the fall. After our May 15th departure from Winchester Bay we plan a slow drive along the north coast to Washington, over to Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, and to Polson, Montana, on the south end of Flathead Lake for a month long visit. We also look forward to seeing old friends during our two-month visit to Red Rock RV and Camping Park in Island Park, Idaho. While there we hope to build on last year’s exploration of that beautiful part of the country. We’ll see you then!!

Juanita thinks retirement is just fine as she checks out the fabric for her next quilting project.


We have found the (double) rainbow's end at Salmon Harbor. Who could ask for anything more?