Oct 8 - Rainy morning and Central Oregon Coast

  It rained all morning, so we used the time to catch up on some "life stuff".  I hadn't washed the comforter on our bed since we left in July, so I took it over to the nice campground laundry and washed it with the sheets.  Then I washed the bathroom--shower, toilet, sink and floor.  Not that it needed it. 
  After lunch, the sun came out, sort of, so we decided to go south from here on US-101 (Oregon Coastal Scenic Highway). 
Oregon Dunes Overlook --this view overlooks the Oregon Dunes National Recreation Area.  The view overlooks the dunes, with the beach and the ocean in the distance.  We decided not to hike out to the ocean, since it was almost a mile, over sand, up and down big hills.  But the view was neat.
Umpqua Lighthouse State Park -- this was a bit of a disappointment.  Nice looking lighthouse.  But the ocean was pretty far away.  Although, they do whale watching from the deck.  I guess the whales migrate from Alaska down the Pacific Coast all the way to Mexico, each year, up and back.  So, at the right times, they see lots of whales.
Umpqua River Crab Dock --this dock/jetty went out into the Umpqua River.  Long, long dock.  Big Dungeness Crabs were being caught.
Off Road exploring -- we decided to take a jaunt down a few roads that looked interesting on the map.  So we went down Sparrow Park Road.  This turned out to be a windy, logging road, through the woods and dunes, that went almost down to the ocean.  But, no Sparrow Park at the end. 
Next, we picked Fivemile Road.  This one went off to the east, up a mountain.  After 20 feet, it went from paved to gravel.  The views from the road, into the mountain valleys were long vistas, and nice.  There were several old RV's just parked along the road, boondocking.  The road wound through the mountain pass, and down to Mallard Arm lake.  At this point, it started raining again, and the lake didn't look that appealing, so we turned around and went back to Hwy 101.
Tahkenitch Lake and Siltcoos  Beach Day Use Area --Tahkenitch was a nice little lake along the road, that is a hot fishing locale.  Siltcoos Beach Day Use Area took us back into the Oregon Dunes National Recreation Area, and we ended up at a parking lot with another trail of sand, up over the dunes, to get to the beach.  As it was still sprinkling, as since it was a high dune, we continued on.  The sand dunes extend 40 miles down the coast.  A lot of sand!
  Not the most exciting, inspiring of sightseeing days, but it gave us a sense of this portion of the Oregon Coast.

Orgeon Dunes Overlook photos:

Umpqua Lighthouse photo:

Umpqua River Crab Dock photos:

Fivemile Road Photo:

Tahkenitch Lake photos: