Oregon Dunes: August 2002
By Jim Suty  

Oregon Vacation 2002

My family decided it was time for a vacation to the Oregon Dunes. Last time I went duning with the family in Oregon was about 15 years ago, so another trip was well in order.

My wifes family (Jack & Kathy Shaw), my parents (Joel & Carolyn Suty), the Prebles (Don, Tina, Victoria (Tori), Katrina (Trina) and Tanner ) and my family (Karen, Jake, Josh and me) decided to meet at the Discovery Point RV resort in Winchester Bay the week after Dune Fest.

Since I attended Dune Fest the last 2 years (2000 & 2001) I decided not to this year. We were hoping the crowds would be gone before we arrived.

Sand Fest 2000 (click on picture for full story)
Dune Fest 2001 (click on picture for full story)

My parents and in-laws traveled a week early to take advantage of the beautiful scenery between San Jose and the Oregon Coast.

Karen, Jake, Josh and I (plus our dog Sandy) left on Friday August 9th. We drove half way and stopped in Dunsmuir at a neat RV campground with lots of old RailRoad cars. This RV park has a nice little river to play in

and the boys loved climbing all over the trains.

The goal was for the Prebles to leave San Jose at 2am on Saturday morning and meet us on the road around 8am. Unfortunately, the Prebles got a late start and then had a flat tire on the trailer. It was decided that we would all meet at the Discover Point RV Park.

We arrived Saturday around 1:00pm and quickly squeezed into our campsite. My parents and In-laws were happy to watch the kids (in other words…spoil) while Karen and I set up camp.

The Prebles arrived around 5pm and quickly set up camp. Needless to say, the kids loved camping where they could ride their bikes and play in a safe controlled environment.

We went on family rides every day. Our family rides lasted several hours and allowed everyone a chance to see the dunes. What beautiful dunes!

On several occasions, Don and I would sneak out for some fast paced rides (look close to see the buggy in the pictures below).

One of the campers next to us went crabbing and told us he caught 15 crabs in a few hours. So…we decided to give it a try. We rented crab pots from the campground, along with bait (chicken). We loaded up everyone and went down to the dock and started to crab. Since none of us have ever gone crabbing before, it was a fun new experience.

After several hours and only catching small crabs we decided to take a break. Please note, crabs must be of proper size (nearly 6 inches across) and the right sex (throw the females back…only males can be taken).

We went back at 8pm to try crabbing again. Luck was on our side, in less than 3 hours we caught 10 legal male crabs.

We brought them back for the "hot tub" action…in other words…we boiled them!

Prior to boiling, Don and I had some crab fights.

The next day we had a feast of great food and fresh crab.

Next to the Discovery Point resort, up on a hill, is the Umpqua River Lighthouse. We decided to take a break and tour the lighthouse. The cost is $2 per adult and kids are free. It was a nice change of pace and educational for the kids.

We planned on leaving Winchester Bay and camping at the Southern Dunes, but prior to leaving we drove down and inspected the other campsites:
- Spinreel - Nice campground with full hookups…make reservations. Easy dune access.
- KOA in Hauser - Dust bowl, no shade, no grass and no easy dune access
- Horsfall - Really disappointing, this is where we stayed 15 years ago but they have changed it since then. Now the equestrians get the nice campground and the OHV's are forced to camp in a parking lot…first come first served.

We decided to stay and finish the week at the Discovery Point RV resort. In fact, we enjoyed it so much, we have reserved a week for next year already. The new owners of Discovery Point (Simi and Greg) have been doing some great things and are planning even more. We loved our stay and the accomodations!

For our journey home, we decided to head down the coast and stop to ride the mailboats on the Rogue River in Gold Beach.

The river boat rides give you a nice adventure up the Rogue where you see some absolutely gorgeous scenery and great wild life. During the boat ride we stopped for dinner in Agnes.

The Lucas Lodge in Agnes makes some great home-style dinners. Unfortunately, there was a lot of smoke in the area from all the forest fires…in fact, we were so close you could see the orange glow in the smoke from the flames and we watched the helicopters refill into the Rogue river.

The river boat trip provided some breath taking scenery.

The rest of the trip home was error free…although full of excitement. We debated on continuing down 101 or cutting over to highway 5. We decided to take the 299 from 101 to highway 5. We assumed this would allow a faster trip…boy were we wrong!

The 299 is a 2 lane windy road for 135 miles. We did get to see some spectacular scenery…however the tow was one of the worst I have ever had. Tight turns and steep hills with long steep windy downhill's. We had 4 big rigs chugging along this road and we were all VERY LUCKY we had no overheating, no brake problems and no accidents. This shortcut cost us roughly 4 hours, and it was very intense!

All in all, a fantastic trip with great family and friends…can't wait for next year.

Click here for all the pictures.

Visit the ONLOCATION section for other trip reports.