The ride is OK, there is a lot of traffic but the shoulder is pretty wide. Although a few times the wind channels created by truck driving by at the speed of light (at least to me on a bike it seemed that way), almost knocked me down. I pass the town of Reedsport, quickly stopping into the Visitor Center to pick up a brochure and decide to press on just a little bit longer. I stop at exactly 30 miles in Winchester Bay and wait for Petr to come by. Right next door to me there is a dune buggy rental store (www.dunebuggyadventure.com) and I get an idea. So, once Petr arrives I run it by him and we decide to give it a try. We rent a couple of these machines (they call them quads) and hit the dunes. The owners of the small outfitter and really friendly and talkative, we rent for 1 hour and we end up spending up to 3 hours with them. Originally from San Antonio, Texas, they moved here to be closer to their families, but they say it's hard to make a living out here and the school system is pretty bad. The retired folks around here are sick of paying taxes and don't care about improving the education system, so they always vote against new progressive propositions, impacting young families. If I think about it, I haven't actually seen so many mobile home parks from Ohio up until now. Which brings me to other observations I will make later.
Riding the dunes is a lot of fun, once you get used to it and know a few tricks. It's not that easy and I get "sanded" a few times. Petr had to come to rescue me out of the sand by lifting my back wheels while I was giving it full throttle. This area is one big playground for adults on quads, but it shouldn't be underestimated: every year there is at least one fatality because people are reckless and they either drive with no helmets or think that driving a quad while drunk is OK.
We are sleeping in Roseburg tonight, on our way to Crater Lake National Park.
Laura riding a quad.
Ready to go.
If you don't get out of my way, I'm gonna run you over!
Petr on his quad.
The steepest hill in the background, our quads wouldn't even make it half-way up!
Petr trying a few tricks.
Back to the base, when it's all over.
The dunes area seen from the Umpqua lighthouse.
Panorama of the dunes.
More dunes.