The Mill Casino Hotel and RV Park welcomes the Southcoast Clambake Jazz Festival March 12-14, 2010. 

This annual musical event is one of our favorite Oregon Coast festivals of the year.  We love that it celebrates the unique and distinct culture of American Music: Dixieland, Big Band, Jump & Jive, Rock & Roll, Zydeco, Blues and Doo-wop.  The event features Live Music, Dance Lessons & Demonstrations, Vendors and ‘20s to ‘60s Dance Attire is encouraged. Click here for a complete list of bands and their schedule.

The festival headquaters will be here at The Mill Casino but events will take place throughout Coos Bay and North Bend all weekend.  Participants are also encouraged to come early and stay late to tour and experience the beauty of the South Oregon Coast; we recommend you visit The Coos Bay - North Bend Visitor & Convention Bureau Website.

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Geocachers from all over will be coming to North Bend this weekend to participate in the The Oregon's Adventure Coast Challenge!  

What is Geocaching?  This is an exciting outdoor activity or "treasure hunt" in which participants use a GPS device to hunt down containers or “geocaches”.  The challenge is to locate a number of interesting and historical locations by coordinates throughout Oregon's Adventure Coast and answer specific questions about each location. You’ll be taken throughout Coos County to answer these questions and will be treated to outstanding beauty along the way.

Local geocachers along with help from the Oregon Connection will be hosting a tournament February 13 featuring trackable commemorative myrtlewood geocoins, lodging geospecials, secret caches and so much more!!  Visit Oregon's Adventure Coast Event Page for more details.

We are also offering visitors a Geocaching Lodging Special: $89.00, plus tax in The Mill Casino Lodge through April 30, 2010. Includes coordinates to Oregon's Adventure coast secret cache!  Visit our hotel reservation page to check availability! 

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Are you traveling to the Winter Olympics in Vancouver?

RVing along the Oregon Coast is a very popular spring and summer activity. But with the Winter Olympics in Vancouver starting in a few days, we expect our RV Park to really heat up.

If you are looking for a good place to relax and maybe have a little fun on your way to or back from the Winter Olympics, we welcome you!

Located on Highway 101, pull-in and unwind at The Mill Casino RV Park. Whether you want to rise early for a sunrise stroll along the waterfront, are looking to enjoy an outdoor adventure with family and friends, or if you just want to experience the tranquil beauty of sunset on scenic Coos Bay, at The Mill you’ll find everything you need to have a winning experience on Oregon’s South Coast. Hop the free shuttle to gaming, dining, swimming and more. 

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According to the BBC San Francisco’s missing sea lions have traveled up North to the Oregon Coast.
 
Jan Hodder of the Oregon Institute of Marine Biology located in the quaint fishing village of Charleston, Oregon says there’s really no way of knowing for sure at this time. California Sea Lions typically go where there are good fishery sources and tend to go where there are large supply of anchovies and sardines. There have been reports of sightings in various places in California, and also Sea Lion Caves in Florence, Oregon.
 
Shell Island/Simpson Reef has long been the stopping point for California Sea Lions; in fact Shell Island is the largest haul-out of marine mammals on the Oregon Coast. It stands to reason that some of the 1700 sea lions that abruptly departed San Francisco might land there. Shell Island is part of the Oregon Islands National Wildlife Refuge and hosts Northern Elephant Seals, Harbor Seals, Stellar Sea Lions and California Sea Lions.
 
The Coos Bay – North Bend Visitor & Convention Bureau have opted to take another spin on the mystery, they’ve posted comments on twitter and facebook, blogs and a video with the theme “We’re not missing, we’re just on vacation.”
 
Director of Promotions & Conventions, Katherine Hoppe said “Its fun to think that these Californians have opted to take a little vacation to Shell Island and the Coos Bay Area.  The great thing about social media and a story like this is we can add a little playfulness and encourage visitors to view what we have year round.”  And playful they are with a video that they are touting as the first ever interview with a San Francisco Sea Lion on their You Tube Page and a missing poster on their Facebook Page 

Hoppe asks that visitors use caution.  Sea lions are predators; they can be damaging to the fishing industry and a nuisance. While fun to take photos of, its best done from afar and visitors should never feed them. Sea Lions tend to appear lazy and slow because of their size, but they are unpredictable and can become aggressive quickly, especially if they feel cornered or harassed. If a sea lion is showing territorial behavior, back away slowly and stay out of the water and never approach them during mating season.
 
For more information, contact Katherine Hoppe at 541.269.0215 or 541.297.2432

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Yesterday, we had a rare and spectacular treat on the dock!  Some guests informed us in the early morning hours that they spotted spouts in the bay and we quickly realized that 1 (possibly 2) whales were swimming right by our dock!  The whale(s) would dive for 4 - 5 minutes at a time, and then 2 or three spouts would be seen within a few seconds.  It's hard to tell from the photos,  but we think the whale(s) were about 45 feet long or more.

Initially, there was speculation that these were Humpback whales.  However, one of our employee put us in contact with Dr. Jan Hodder, a marine biologist at the University of Oregon, who looked at our photos to try and help us identify the whale.  She originally thought that this could be a Minke whale; but the back of this whale is much more "lumpy" than the Minke photos that she sent to us.  Humpbacks have long pectoral fins and Minke whales are much shorter.

After she examined the photos again, Dr. Hodder identified the whale as a Gray Whale. The identification was made by three factors -- the knuckles on the whales back, the variation in color of the whale’s skin, and the distinctive heart shape of the spout when seen from the front or back.  The knuckle look is where the whale’s spine gives it a distinct row of bumps where other whales have a dorsal fin. Grey whales get their color patterns from marine organisms that attach themselves to the skin.   From web sites provided by Dr. Hodder, we gathered that adult gray whales grow to 40 – 45 feet.They typically swim only about 5 mph and have a top speed of about 10 mph. 

This was a magical sight to see- anyone who was here yesterday can describe what a thrill it was to witness this amazing creature so close to us!  Here are some images we captured:

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