Oregon Adventures

I know I've been MIA for a few weeks, but that's because we've been on vacation, then I had to work. So hopefully I'll be getting some time to document our fun times. Be prepared for some picture overload because Oregon was amazing.

We rented a vacation home on the coast of central Oregon for a week and all of my family met up there for a magical week. The only thing missing was Cam, Nathan, and Brenna. Having never seen that part of the country before, we were all in awe at it's beauty. I'm so glad that we had a whole week up there to experience it since it took 3 days of driving to get there (with a few sight seeing pit stops along the way). We stopped to enjoy waterfalls, a discovery center/ museum, and a replica of Stonehenge.

We were staying in Netarts so the first day we enjoyed all the sights close to the house. We stopped at Oceanside beach where even though the water was cold, the little kids got soaking wet. We explored some neat tide pools and watched Uncle Tim pick up starfish. I loved everything about being on the beach including the cool breeze, toes in the sand, kids laughing, looking for sea shells, etc. That day we also drove around Cape Meres to see a lighthouse and the Octopus tree. That day we also traveled into Tillamook to go to the cheese factory with the yummy ice cream.

Day 2 started early in the morning as we drove 2 hours up to Astoria. We experienced the Maritime Museum, rode the river front trolley to see a lot of the town, climbed the 164 steps up the Astoria Column, explored Fort Clatsop to learn more about Lewis and Clark, drove across the Astoria bridge (which freaked me out a little), looked for Cape Disappointment (which lived up to it's name when we discovered it was a long hike to get to the light house), and ended the day on the bar where the ocean and river meet.

For the 3rd day we headed south to Newport. After stopping to watch a glass blowing demonstration, we headed to the Yaquina head lighthouse. This was one that we could actually climb up in and see the light. I loved seeing all the lighthouses on the coast and appreciate all that they represent. For me they mean a source of guidance and hope, something we can all use. We then went to the Oregon Coast Aquarium. They kids had such a good time here. They really enjoyed the pool where you can touch all kinds of sea creatures. I loved walking through the shark tanks.

Day 4 we went to Seaside. What a fun town. We loved walking through all the shops and enjoying the atmosphere there. The kids (and various adults) laughed on the bumper cars, merry-go-round, and tilt a whirl. We enjoyed hanging out on the beach there as well. We also rented some paddle boats and raced each other up and down the river. On our way back to Netarts we had to stop at Cannon Beach to find haystack rock. There we left grandma & grandpa along with Chelsea and Brianna to enjoy a local play.

We didn't have anything planned for the 5th day and all decided to do our own thing. Strange that we all migrated back to Seaside on the beach. I guess that means that even when we have to the chance to be apart, we still choose to be together. The girls shopped, boys flew kites on the beach and built sand castles. We also checked out the aquarium there to feed the seals and watched a cool octopus. We had planned to have smores on the beach when we got back but it was to windy. So we improvised using the BBQ. We can't complain about the weather at all, it rained at night but everyday was sunny and beautiful for us.

The last day there were sad to say good-bye to the Gentry's who had to leave early. The house didn't feel the same without them. The Andersons rented a boat and went out fishing for crabs. I guess the best part of that whole trip was watching Tim try to get the crabs out of the net without major injuries. My family along with grandma and grandpa headed to Portland for the day. We stopped at the rose garden there and were pleasantly surprised at how beautiful it was. Just rows and rose of the most amazing roses. Then we headed to catch our jet boat ride along the river. We warned that we would get wet, but we got soaked!! It was fun to see Portland that way and we loved when the boat did their 360 degree turns. We also discovered the science museum there. Wished we would have had more time there, it was all amazing.

We had a lot of good memories with the people we love the most. I figured I traveled at least 3500 miles round trip and we spent $570 in gas (ouch). My parents said that that was their most memorable and favorite vacation. My dad got a new camera for the trip and enjoyed taking tons of pictures of whatever he wanted to. I know things are good when my dad has smile on his face. We always have fun together whether its playing card games at home or out experiencing new things.