We took Charlotte out for a test drive today. During the drive, we did not witness any clouds of smoke belching from the tailpipe but there may be a rattle from the tailpipe assembly that needs to be addressed. I’ll climb under Charlotte’s ample bed and give the exhaust pipe a sniff.
We stopped by the Umpqua Lighthouse again, mostly because I like it there so much. We checked out the camping at nearby Tugman State Park and it is quite nice. We cruised through the town of Winchester Bay, passing a cannery on the docks that emanated an acrid smell of rotten fish that was almost biblical.
Finished in town, we headed out onto 101 and then east on OR-38 for another glimpse of the elk herds in the Dean Creek Elk Viewing Area about 3 miles from Reedsport. It was a little early for elk (they seem to dine around late afternoon or early evening) so we passed the elk viewpoints and continued up to the road for Dean Creek which extends south from OR-38.
We had barely gotten started up Dean Creek when we came across a very impressive bull elk chaperoning his harem of cows and they were magnificent-looking. Dean Creek was also very scenic although we chickened out and turned around about 5 miles later when the road turned from asphalt paving to gravel.
We even got in a trip to the grocery store to stock up on vittles. We will be leaving Lakeside and the Osprey Point RV Park tomorrow and heading south again, this time to Coos Bay.
We got a few pix. Click here