What We Did On Our Winchester Bay Vacation

Roger here....  Remember that first day of school assignment, the one at least one teacher gave you every fall?  You know, the let's get to know each other essay about what you did over your summer vacation.  

Now that the sun has found its way from behind the clouds, we have found so many things to do, that putting together a post similar to those old school essays seemed the thing to do.  So, here is.... What We Did On Our Winchester Bay Vacation.

WE WENT TO THE BEACH.  

I'm gonna bite your leg!!!!

The huge county beach that was just a couple miles from our RV park was virtually deserted.  

Plenty of room for the dogs to romp, and...

gaze at the Pacific Ocean for the first time.

(Dianne here:  if you want to see a short video of the dogs in action, check it out!)



WE ATE SEAFOOD

Unger's Bay Fish 'n Chips was actually a restaurant on floating house boats.

The fish 'n chips were amazing.  Certainly not on our healthy diets, but amazing.

The Crabby Cafe, on the fishing dock, also specialized in fresh fish.

The small restaurant/bar had a lot of atmosphere --- knotty pine and photos of fish, including one of our waitress showing off a huge fish that she had just caught.

We had bloody marys and fish sandwiches --- crab cake and halibut melt.  Thinking about them makes my mouth water.  

DIANNE SAW A RAINBOW

Dianne took these photos early in the morning when I was still sleeping.  










WE WATCHED SOME WILDLIFE

Too bad we could not get closer to these Roosevelt Elk.

A couple of cliff swallows.  

A close-up  (below):

A gigantic banana slug.

(Dianne here:  Did you know that the school mascot for the University of California/Santa Cruz is the banana slug??!!)  

WE HIKED WITH THE DOGS

The trail (below) around Lake Marie was littered with pink rhododendron blossoms.

 At times, the path was surrounded by these lush plants with the huge, shiney, green leaves.

Here is a nice shot of tranquil Lake Marie.

We returned to the John Dellenback Trail so that Dianne and Tequila could enjoy the Garden-of-Eden-like natural scenery.  

The sand dune shots from this trail were also amazing.

One last hiking photo --- our favorite trail through the dunes to the county beach.

WE FOUND SOME BEAUTIFUL AND SOME UNUSUAL PLANTS

Get a load of the roots of this smaller tree that is growing atop a larger dead tree stump.  

red-bark manzanita tree

WE WENT TO THE SAND DUNES SO THE DOGS COULD PLAY

Pure joy (for all four of us)....

WE WATCHED WATERCRAFT GLIDE BY OUR CAMPSITE

WE WATCHED THE SUN SET OVER THE BAY

We're moving on today, up the coast to Newport to South Beach State Park.  If we don't post for a while, it will be because we're parked under a tree so that our satellite won't work.  We won't know until we get there!  

The pet picture of the day takes us back to the sand dunes --- one of my favorite pictures of Bandido and Tequila having fun.