OREGON COAST

The Entire State of Oregon - Day 1, July 8 - We left Eagle around 11am and started our drive to Seaside, Oregon.  It was a 7 hr 40 min drive according to the gps.  We had passed into Oregon and I saw a sign for a scenic lookout point so we pulled off to stretch our legs.

It was up on top of a hill and we could see way far out.  It was pretty and I think the sign talked about the Oregon Trail.  Ava was wearing one of our new shirts for the store so I tried to take some photos of her in it and as you can see we had somewhat of a meltdown on the model's end.  Then all of a sudden this random balloon came floating right in front of us.  It was so weird it was funny and broke the tension.

While Ava didn't enjoy modeling, Kasen and Kinsley had no problem striking a pose or two or five.  Dallin slept through the whole thing and after watching the cars and trucks on the freeway we loaded back up and went on our way.

We stopped again at Multnomah Falls.  These were in the heart of the Columbia River Gorge and I had looked up ahead of time where to stop.  These were highly mentioned in a lot of travel blogs.  It was a very touristy stop.  There were tons of people.  You could see the falls from where we pulled off the interstate.We had to walk under a railroad track to get to the falls viewing area.  The tracks were very low and there were probably five trains that zoomed by on them in the 30 minutes we were there.  They were so loud and if you stood under the tracks it was a little bit scary.  There were multiple levels you could walk up to to view the falls, but with Dallin we stayed on the lower level.  They were very impressive.

We grabbed some ice cream and hit the bathrooms and made a pit-stop under another train before leaving.

When I was researching if there were some cool stops along our route I found tons of waterfalls.  One that was off the road about 10 minutes and seemed pretty cool, but less of a tourist stop was called Latourell Falls.  You had to hike down a path for maybe two minutes, but you came to this beautiful waterfall out of these basalt columns.  In fact there were a lot of articles that claimed that you could skip Iceland and just come see Oregon instead because they had so many of the same geographical features.

We saw these people walk right down to the base of the falls so I sent the older kids very carefully.  They loved it.  The mist from the falls was so strong they were pretty wet.

Dallin loved stopping along the way and looking at everything.  I think the 2 minute walk took us about 20 minutes to get back to the car.  We drove through Portland and thought all the bridges through the city were pretty cool and then it was only an 1.5 hrs until we got to Seaside.  I will say that driving across Oregon was interesting.  There were so many different types of landscape as we went across.  Especially as we got closer to the ocean the trees were so thick.  One thing that I really liked about it though is all the tall pine trees mixed in the vegetation.

Seaside & Tillamook - Day 2, July 9 - We woke up to a drizzly, wet and dreary looking day.  I thought oh boy if this is what the whole week is going to be like this might not be so fun.  It wasn't too chilly, but the water was frigid.  The kids couldn't wait to get down to the beach so we got dressed and walked out.  Our condo was right on the beach which was nice.  Even with the clouds I thought it was pretty cool to look and see how similar the ocean looked like the sky. After awhile the sun started peaking out a little bit more. 

The kids were really interested in looking for sea shells.  Dallin was really interested in chasing sea birds.

Pretty soon we started seeing other people we knew come out to the beach.

With the help of Uncle Eric, the kids were able to really start finding some shells and sand dollars. Kasen found some little crabs too.  It was cool to see what a living sand dollar looked like with all the furry looking stuff on them.  The dead sand dollars are the ones that are smooth.

Even with the cold water there was no way the kids weren't getting at least their feet wet.

Kasen made some more discoveries.

Dallin was really excited to see Tresa and Jason because they helped him jump over the waves.

 

Kinsley was loving the chance to splash through the water.

There were some other crazies that weren't afraid to get fully into the ocean.  I won't name names.  We were out for quite awhile.  Here are some other pictures I took.

 

 

Since the weather forecast called for a full day of rain we decided to load up and go to the Tillamook cheese factory.  It was pretty cool to see the machinery, but it was packed and hard to navigate with Dallin.  We spent most of the time there waiting in line for ice cream.  We did buy some cheese curds though to save for Jed.  Afterward we just lounged around the condo.  Seth ended up calling for his weekly video chats so we all said hi.

Fort Clatsop & Astoria - Day 3, July 10 - It was supposed to be another rainy day today so we decided to head up to Fort Clatsop which was the winter encampment for the 33 member Lewis and Clark Expedition in 1805-1806.  It was right in the middle of this forest, but all around were little rivers and estuaries from the Columbia River.  On a map it looks like a big bay in between Washington and Oregon.  The trees were so thick, but just a few feet away could be this wetland area.  I'm not sure how in the world Lewis and Clark mapped anything.  That would be so hard if you didn't have an aerial perspective!  The fort was pretty cool and there was a visitor's center where we watched a movie about the Clatsop Indians and their interactions with Lewis and Clark.  There were also tons of people with Newfoundland dogs just waiting around.  Apparently there are gatherings for groups that have these types of dogs here because Meriwether Lewis had the same dog.  They were huge and cute looking.  Some were cuter than others.

The fort was a 50'x50' replica based off of journals.

There were also trails all around.  We started walking on one down along the river.  These were areas where canoe landings were common for the Indians. You can see how dense the foliage is.  There were also some really cool looking plants. 

We weren't far from Astoria so we drove up there to the docks.  We had to drive across Youngs Bay on this bridge that was super high and scary to be the driver on!  Astoria seemed like a pretty dumpy place.  One of the kids Jed went to school with came back here to practice podiatry.  Maybe it was just the overcast day, but everything seemed really old and grungy.  On the dock there were these posters of what it would look like inside a fish factory.  I can't even imagine how bad that would stink!

The dock area was cool, but there was about a 30 foot drop off the side straight down into the ocean.  It was basically the scariest place ever with Dallin because he is so quick and crazy.  Finally Gini just put him on her shoulders.

After Astoria everyone went back to the condo to take naps.  My kids really really wanted to go to this aquarium just a couple places down from our condo.  Everyone thought it looked dumpy and didn't want to pay to go, but the sign said they had a pacific octopus so Ava had her heart set on it.  Sure enough they not only had one pacific octopus, they had about 3.  It was Ava's dream come true.  They were incredibly interesting to watch move around, but I will never understand her when she says they are so cute.  I'm pretty sure I will never agree with her on that!  The aquarium was small, but they had a pretty good selection.  I actually liked the fact that it was just one big room so I could keep track of all my kids easier.

 

When we got back to the condo we just swam and sat in the hot tub for the rest of the night.  We watched people fly kites down on the sand.  I was surprised at how many people were flying kites throughout the whole week.

Seaside & Portland - Day 4, July 11 - Finally it was Thursday, the day Jed was coming.  The kids were pretty good, but it seemed like so much work to be handling them all myself.  Especially because my kids are the youngest of all the kids in the Erickson family.  Sometimes Dallin feels like 10 kids to have to keep track of too.  So I was very excited to have a tag-team partner again.  Thursday was also a good day because it was the first day we woke up to SUNSHINE!  We hit the beach again that morning for some fun.  With the sun out it made getting in the water a lot more fun.

There was lots of sand building today.

 I think this was the first day everyone was out on the beach at the same time too.  It was a bit of a walk out to the beach so it was hard getting John all the way out, but he had fun watching the grandkids play in the ocean.

Speaking of sand, during the sand castle building it didn't take long before someone realized it would be fun to have a sand throwing fight. Kasen saw the action from the water and came as fast as he could.

When I had Dallin occupied with sand castles, I liked taking pictures of everyone.  Before too long Dallin spotted some seagulls and had to start chasing them though.

This was one of the cooler kites I saw during our week in Seaside.

After the beach we went straight to the pool to clean off all the sand. 

After the pool we got cleaned up and headed to Portland for the afternoon to explore the city before Jed flew in.  Everyone else decided to go for a hike. It was supposed to be a 5 mile hike and ended up being like 12 miles.  They took some pretty pictures though.

Meanwhile we went to the Japanese gardens when we first got to Portland.  Apparently, the climate in Portland is very similar to Japan so a lot of the native flora and fauna is perfectly suited here.  The Japanese garden was very cool.  I realized quickly that Portland is one of those very hipster places where it isn't cool to be hauling around a lot of kids in public.

There was a scavenger hunt throughout the gardens and the kids had fun finding all the things. The kids liked the koi ponds.

There was one place in the gardens that was interesting.  It was a memorial for fallen Japanese if I remember correctly.  All the sand was raked in perfect lines.

The Japanese gardens were really cool and I would recommend seeing them, just maybe not with a 3 yr old.  We headed over to the zoo next.  This was much more up our alley and suited to Dallin.  My kids love zoos.

Dallin was so excited to see the lions and tigers.  Kinsley really wanted to see the giraffes.  Kasen gets excited for bald eagles.  Ava likes everything.

The zoo (and all of Portland for that matter) was incredibly hilly so I rented a stroller halfway through because Dallin kept wanting me to carry him.  But not surprisingly, Kinsley somehow ended up in it with Dallin pushing.  We were just leaving the bird house and walking down the sidewalk when a mouse ran across the path.  Kasen nearly died and it took us a good 10 minutes to get him to walk forward.  Poor kid got my fear of mice.

We stopped at the playground and the gift shop and were just getting ready to load up to go to the airport when Jed let me know that he was still laid over in SLC and wouldn't be getting to Portland until about 10 pm.  So we had a few hours to kill.  We thought about going to a movie but we had heard about a famous doughnut and ice cream place downtown.  So we drove down to it and it was not that good and also really not kid friendly at all.  I hadn't noticed when we drove through, but now being downtown driving around I realized that Portland is a weird place.  It was obvious it was a very liberal city and there were tons of homeless people everywhere.  It reminded me of San Francisco in the homeless department. It wasn't long before Jed's plan was delayed again and then again.  When it finally took off it showed a landing time of 2:30am.  So we decided to get some food and then just get a hotel room for the night near the airport.

Cannon Beach & Seaside Bonfires - Day 5, July 12 - The kids were so excited to see their dad the next morning.  We got to Seaside and the condos mid morning and then met everyone in time to drive down to a famous beach called Cannon Beach.  The little city was super cute and much more touristy than Seaside.  It reminded me of a Jackson Hole but on the beach.  It was packed with tourists and we had a hard time finding where to park so we ended up walking the whole length of the beach to get down to Haystack Rock.  This is a famous landmark of the area and a seasonal haven for tufted puffins.  It is really massive just sticking out of the middle of the water.  My pictures don't really do it justice.

One of the cool reasons people like Cannon Beach are all the tide pools.  It was pretty cool so to see so many weird sea creatures.

We started playing in the water but every once in awhile someone would say "ouch" like they had gotten stung by a mosquito but on their legs.  After awhile it became more and more frequent and we realized there were tiny little jelly fish in the water right there.  So we played on the beach.  Kasen got turned into a merman. Dallin cuddled up with his favorite Aunt Tresa and had her hand feed him snacks before he fell asleep.

Back at Seaside, the adults went out to dinner at a nice steak/seafood place across the street from the condo and then we decided to have a bonfire on the beach.  There were tons of bonfires going and it was pretty cool.  I had wondered why I saw so many little piles of logs for sale in the souvenir shops.  During the bonfire, Jace found a water snake and threw it on Jed.  That started an epic chase around the beach of Jed trying to murder Jace.  It was pretty funny, especially when Jed tripped a few times in the sand and fell flat on his belly.

Seaside - Day 6, July 13 - Saturday was so sunny and warm.  It was one of the best days of the week.  Unfortunately there were quite a few families who had to leave today.  We spetd the morning walking around the little shops and getting ice cream.  Dallin was alsways up first every morning just looking out the window at the ocean.  He would sit behind the blinds.  It was also Will's birthday today!

Then we spent the rest of the day at the beach.  There was a group that played sand volleyball.  They even let Dallin have a turn.  We buried some boys.  Kinsley learned how to body surf and fly a kite.  Ava made the most amazing sand sculpture of an octopus.  It was really good.  We also had so much fun chasing seagulls and wave jumping.

Back Across Oregon - Day 7, July 14 - We were one of the last families to leave on Sunday.  We went to church that morning.  We didn't bring any church clothes so we went in regular clothes.  It was kinda fun. We spent the rest of the morning playing in the game room with those who were left.  We had some good competitions going.  Then we loaded up and headed back to Portland.  We decided to stop at the temple since it was Sunday.  It was a really pretty temple and it was totally hidden down this road and in all these tall tall trees.  It was definitely not your typical temple location.  We stopped back by the two waterfalls we saw on the way out to show Jed.  It was nice to drive back with him.  It was such a fun week and we definitely enjoyed this unique location.  It wasn't your typical beach vacation, but it was so fun and we were thankful for some really great weather days.  It is always fun to spend time together as an extended family.  I'm always impressed at how well Jed's family gets along with each other.  There is never any drama or hurt feelings.  If people want to go do their own thing no one makes a big deal out of it.  They are very inclusive and have fun together.  I'm pretty lucky to have married into such a great family. I'm also really glad we decided to go to Oregon even though it wasn't the most convenient timing.  I want to live like that all the time.  You usually only regret the things you don't end up doing vs doing something that might seem like bad timing or too much work.