This is the North side of the Coquille River Valley. Usually every couple of years this floods and the whole valley is a lake! It's now rich pasture land. If you click on it, you can probably see come cows.

The end of TWO eras. There have been millions of board feet of lumber on this river, log booms from the inlands of Southern Oregon have come down through here on the way to the big Mills. Loggers with caulk boots and pike poles herded them down. Later a man invented a small tug with a very deep draft, that had the screw right in the center of the hull, and had a cage around it. His name was Nelson, so the Nelson Log Broncs were used for years. They still have some in the Bay. Just last year, the railroad went out of business. It hauled logs and chips in and out of Coos Bay. The owner of the line didn't want to maintain it any more, so it's gone the way of the log booms. Too bad.

For any of the Texans that are coming, you may want to bring your rope. These goats are ready to be roped!

Llama's out enjoying the morning sun. The white one's name is Dolly.

You don't see this very often. In fact, I never have! 100 degrees..it's around noon on the 16th of May 2008. Probably a record, they have been setting them all over this week.

One of the few lumber mills left on the coast. I've really enjoyed riding the "Half a Busa" the last couple of days. It's averaging 55 mpg, and I've been doing a lot of starts and stops and some fairly quick accelerating. It's a keeper!

Fishing boats tied up at a small ship yard over in East Side, just across the Bay from Coos Bay.

This is another bridge , it's over the river that goes up to the little community of Allegheny, and on up to Golden and Silver Falls. Beautiful scenery up there, but the last couple of miles to the falls is a dirt road.

From the East side of the bay, looking up Virginia Street in North Bend. Pony Village (our Mall) is just a few blocks up that street. Also the easiest way to find my house .

The North Bend Bridge from the North East corner of the bay.

Kentuck Public Golf Course. There are 3 course in Coos Bay..not counting the world class ones in Bandon. This is the smallest and the least expensive to play on. I'm not a golfer, so don't know much about them.

People come from all over to visit the 50 mile stretch of "The Oregon Dunes". There are several annual events that take place here for the sand people.

If you click on the picture to enlarge it, you can see the ATV's playing on the top of this dune. There are 5 or 6 rental places within a few miles of there if anyone wants to go out into the sand. Standard price is around $30 an hour. Or, ride you Vulcan out there for nothing.

There are MANY small State Parks along the Oregon Coast. Some have camping, some are just picnic areas. This is a full blown camp site.

One of the many small lakes along the coast. You don't see many suntans this time of year! Before you click on this one, put your sun glasses on. In Oregon, people don't tan, they rust! These folks haven't done much of either

A small Whale bone!

Umpqua River Lighthouse. Still in operation.

The mouth of the Umpqua River and it's Bar.

Triangle Oyster Farm

Sand trails. On the weekends these are full of atv's and sand buggies of all kinds

An old Coast Guard house, now a museum and gift shop.

A nice Rhoddy bush. We have several of these in our back yard (smaller ones) This weekend is the big annual festival up in Florence. If you get this far into the blog, you will have seen the pictures I'll post tomorrow. A little side note. Back in 1952 my brother owned a small commercial trawler and fished out of Winchester Bay. A couple hundred yards from where this picture was taken. I rode a Greyhound bus over here from Grants Pass to go fishing with him. Lasted about 2 days, was so sick I knew I'd die. One of the trolling poles broke, and he had to hold on to it or lose it, so I had to steer the boat with him shouting directions. I said I'd NEVER go out on the ocean again. Well I sort of forgot about that trip, and 8 years later joined the Coast Guard. 31 years after that I decided to retire from it..never did get over getting seasick

Want to eat "afloat"? You can do it here in Winchester Bay..Known to the locals as "Windy Bay" or Salmon Harbor.

This is where the Odyssey Jet Boat trip takes off to go up the Umpqua. Maybe not quite as good as the Rogue River trip, but it's closer, cheaper, and they stop and visit a winery!

You don't even have to go deep sea diving to find treasures here!

There are a lot of new interesting places in Winchester Bay, and some good oldies too.

Good food and a nice view of the boat harbor here.

Reedsport Machine and Fabrication in Winchester Bay. I spent so much time doing Coast Guard contract inspections here that they gave me my own office! (another life)

Sportsman's Cannery. The BBQ here every weekend, meat and fish of different kinds that happen to be available. Very good food, a little on the expensive side, but worth it. Also good Ciapiano with fresh bread

Fish Patrick's, or, The Crabby Cafe. Fish is caught fresh daily. Their "all you can eat" fish and chips is excellent and fairly reasonably priced. They also have fresh oysters and other seafood of the day.

If you don't like any of the others, here's another choice for food.

They have EXCELLENT pie here, and generous pieces too! Lots of other interesting things also.

You can rent a crab here. I'm not sure why you would want to. Except to eat. Then return the shells I guess.

Need a little spicy food? Here's a good place for it.

An old Stand-By. The Oasis has been a local "Watering Hole" for many years. One of the few good ones left in Winchester Bay.

This shop is FULL of neat stuff. If you need a knife, this would be a good place to look.

Just another tourist store.

www.shermscycleproducts.com

SCP is 25 miles north of the Rally Site. Guy will be open all weekend, but will only do emergency work unless you have an appointment. Also, If you'd like to buy something, please be sure and order it ASAP so they will have it in stock for you. He's a one man mechanic shop, and with only so much time, he won't be able to do a whole lot of projects. Now is the time to make an appointment if you expect to have something done.

One of the several bikes in SCP for work. A radically customized VN800. Where's that radiator?

Where's the radiator on that 800? There is is,right in front of the rear fender. Someone did a pretty nice job on this total custom, but they brought it to Guy for some engine and electrical work...hmmmm, lets see...where does that green wire go??? What a job!

This old Indian was a complete basket case. Guy has gone through every inch of it. Total engine overhaul, fram powder coated, Many new parts. He's building it as a special order, and the owner has kept him busy changing his mind about different things. He's hoping to have it finish by next week so he can get his back log caught up.

Left side of the Indian

Guy has a new computer, and is getting pretty good at looking up stuff on the internet! This is his little office space in the corner.

There are almost always Elk here in the Dean Creek preserve. They are all wild and free to come and go back into the woods at any time. The bulls are just getting their new horns now. By July, you'll see some big racks (on the Elk). This is a 5 minute side trip from SCP that we'll do if anyone wants to.

The McCullough Bridge over the Coos River and Bay. If you're coming in from the North on Hwy 101, when you see this bridge you know you made it!

I stopped and talked to the lady here at the Bay Bridge. Beautiful view of the bay and sunsets. It's about 4 miles as the crow flies to Captain John's, about 8 miles by road. $60 to $80 for two beds, they still have some vacancies. It's right at the North end of the Bridge over the Bay in North Bend.

http://www.luckydragonbuffet.net
Here's a link to this place. The prices came down a buck, but will probably go up again. It's a VERY good Chinese buffet, good Sushi bar too, with lots of desserts and drinks all included for one price. It will sit about a hundred people. Possible Thursday, Friday or Saturday night we could have an informal dinner there. I don't think it's large enough for a total banquet sort of thing, but it would be an option for dinner.