Oregon Dunes National Recreation Area

Between Reedsport and Florence, OR is the largest, most extensive oceanfront dunes in the world:  The Oregon Dunes National Recreation Area.  On the advice of Jim's brother, Rick, we stopped to see about renting a dune buggy.  We thought twice about it once we saw them (most like OHV bikes) and wondered about our survival - especially Boo's, since, of course, he would come with us!  We also didn't want to rent for two hours at a couple hundred dollars.  Luckily, we met Robert, who said he'd take us out on a "quad" for an hour for $50.  We lucked out!  He was one of the more experienced guides there, knew the area extremely well, was one hell of driver and we had confidence in him.  We discovered that the most extreme and terrifying roller coaster we'd ever been on was nothing to compare to the roller coaster ride he gave us.

Our "Quad",  Jim in the back with Boo, Robert and I up front

Constantly changing, the shifting sands have
engulfed ancient forests.

Over the past 12,000 years the sand and sediment transported
by the ocean and 3 nearby rivers are deposited on the beaches.
Some of the dunes are as high as 500 feet - and we hit most of them!

-

Jim was holding onto Boo for dear life, as I screamed (didn't
cry, I'm happy to say) when hurtling down a hill.  Actually, the smile
was a ruse, he was scared to death, too!

Can you see the sense of humor in this man?
He loved Boo and is a gentle giant who teaches
at-risk kids in the winter.  But on the dunes, he is
a Mario Andretti with a lead foot who got a real
kick out of scaring the pants off of us.

A little worried about poor Boo.......I don't think this numbered
among his top 100 things to do before he dies.

From some of the high dunes, you could see the
ocean.  I wish my eyes had been open and my
hands able to take a shot of Robert going up
a 45 degree dune at top speed, stopping at the
top, giving us a minute to gaze downward at
an even steeper descent, and then gunning it
while laughing hysterically!

Over thousands of years, the sand moved in
and buried the forests.  We could see the tops
of trees that were over 300 feet tall.

Here you can see the stumps of ancient trees
which have been cut down.  In the early years
when the tree tops were revealing themselves,
they used to cut them off.  They later decided
that was not conducive to a naturally healthy
dune environment.

Alive and well!!!!