Oregon Coast Finale: Heading Home

August 2018

Oregon Coast was a dream!  So different than what I imagined it to be but oh so wonderful! 

I loved driving through the forest all along the coast!  That was something I wasn't expecting...for teh coast to be so forested.  But it was a pleasant surprise. 

I also loved seeing the towns all along the way and seeing how fun all the shops looked.  I wanted to visit all of them.

I asked Blaine when we got home what he would do differently next time...we both had the same things in mind.  Hindsight is 20/20 and this was our first big roadtrip, so it was definitely a learning experience for us.  We just planned to fit way too much in and went too many places.  Next time we would do what we did in one trip and split it into 3 trips.  Here is how we would break it up:

• The Redwoods: Klamath tour thru tree, Fern Canyon, Stout Grove, Trees of Mystery
• Southern Oregon: Spend three nights in Crescent City (hike to lighthouse, see harbor and sea lions, beach time) and 3 nights in yurt at Harris Beach State Park
• Northern Oregon: Spend 2-3 nights in Newport (whale watching beach time, lighthouse, beach time, seafood and sweets, go to Tilamook), 3 nights in Manzanita or Cannon Beach (beach time, souvenir shopping, Short Sand Beach, Ecola State Park, Sea Level Bakery for amazing bisquits)

All that being said, I wouldn't change how we did this trip because now we have a good idea of what we loved and what we would do differently next time.  It is super fun to explore new places and travel and this has ignited the travel bug in me.  Bring on the long family road trips each summer, but bring along Dramamine and extra barf bags :)

As we traveled home, we stopped at Multnomah Falls.  It was a beautiful location and fun to break up the drive.  Also the drive along the Columbia River was amazing.  We drove all night to get home!

Oregon Coast Part 7: Family Pics at Haystack Rock

August 2018

So a huge important thing to me on this trip was getting sunset pictures on the beach.  Of course, there is no ideal or convenient time for family pictures (all of us coordinating outfits, just the right lighting, etc.).  So they took place the last night of our vacation.  But it couldn't have turned out to be a more perfect night for pictures.  The sunset was amazing. And the famous Haystack Rock could not have been a more stellar backdrop for our pictures.  Our tri-pod and picture timer took pictures for us, which made me a little nervous, but we didn't have any other options.  I am thrilled with how they turned out.

I especially love how the pictures captured some very real expressions and smiles on each of our faces.  Of course they aren't perfect, but the pictures were the perfect way to spend our last evening on the beach.

Just to keep things real though, we had to park up this super steep hill, walking ten minutes  through little winding street to get to the beach.  As we got to the beach Benson loudly said, "I am poopy!" Do you think we remembered a diaper and wipes...nope!  Luckily he was still really cheerful and cooperated to take pictures because there was no time to grab a diaper or we would have missed the perfect lighting :)  Good memories!

One more fun thing about tonight was meeting a pastor's wife.  Her and her husband were on vacation.  She is at the opposite stage or raising kids, hers have all left the house.  Talking to her put a lot of mothering things in perspective for me.  Isn't it interesting how God puts people in our path who help us have a broad new perspective? 

Oregon Coast Part 6: Cannon Beach

August 2018

After Tilamook, we found a cute little place to stay in Cannon Beach called Ecola Creek Lodge.  The little cottage like hotel was so magical with hanging lights from the trees and beautiful flowers and grounds all around the hotel grounds.  I would have liked to go to Ecola State Park, but we didn't get time.  Next time, next time :)

But the following things we did get to enjoy while in Cannon Beach:

• Beach time (couldn't get enough of this)
• Going to a Creperie for breakfast and enjoying savory and sweet crepes
• An afternoon nap :)
• Family pictures at sunset (see next post)
• Souvenir shopping
• More beach time telling the Ocean "goodbye" :(   We were all so sad to leave.
• We walked by the oldest kite shop on the Oregon Coast
• We met some super fun ladies who were on a girls trip.  We had such a fun conversation with them.

Oh Ocean, we will come back and visit you again soon!  You have all of our hearts!

Oregon Coast Part 5: Tillamook

August 2018

We got to stop in Tilamook on our way up the coast for the afternoon.  The Tilamook Cheese Factory was super cool experience.  Blaine said it was one of his favorite parts of the trip.  Just seeing how everything works in that big of a scale is fascinating!  We learned our new favorite kind of cheese is Black Pepper White Cheddar.  It was delish!

It was fun to see how many different flavors of ice cream there were.  Something super fun about Tilamook was that we met the funnest people who invited our kids to sit in their convertible. This was such a fun surprise about the trip....meeting amazing people from all over the world!