Winchester, OR

                            Saturday  6/31/2012

On our last day in Florence, OR. we drove south on Hwy. 101 to see a couple of towns that we saw as we drove the Nest from Bandon to Florence.

We drove south as far as Winchester, OR. Winchester sits on a large bay where the Umpqua River empties into the Pacific Ocean.

We noticed a lot of RVs parked in the parking lots in the bay area. Not sure if they were day docking or boon docking for the night. We did see that there was a sign saying that the sewer dump was closed.

RVs parked in the parking lot at Winchester next to the bay.

Lots of boats in the bay.

There was also two RV resorts located in the bay area. We checked out the Winchester Bay RV Resort.

Winchester Bay RV Resort  in the distance. It seemed to be a very nice RV park. The site price range from $22 to $84 a night.

The Winchester Bay RV Resort is located right on the ocean as well as the bay.

Just up the road from the Winchester Bay is the Umpqua River Lighthouse. The Umpqua River Lighthouse is a 65 foot structure that sits at an elevation of 165 feet. The first Oregon lighthouse was located here near the mouth of the river in 1857. It was destroyed in 1864 by flooding. It was rebuilt high above where it is located now in 1894.

Looking out from the Umpqua River Lighthouse. Below the lighthouse is a sand dune recreational area. A RV park that is located next to the lighthouse had a lot dune buggies sitting next to RV's.

Signs tell us that this is a great whale watching spot. Unfortunately migration is pretty much over. In early January 30 whales are spotting every hour.

We visited the lighthouse museum before  heading home. We noticed that there were two RVs camp host sites next to the lighthouse. This would we a great place to camp host for a season.

In order to get home we had to climb back up about a thousand feet and than back down. At the top, I had Joe pull off a road that I had seen on our way down to Winchester,OR. Unfortunately it was very foggy that day.

I think this is Tahkenitch Lake from my research.