Oregon

This is what we did last weekend....

We traveled in our car for about 13 hours to the Oregon Coast. We left our home at 4 in the morning on Thursday.  Thankfully the kids slept until about 9 and then we had gross doughnuts to cheer them up with when they woke up.  By the way I've decided I'm not buying Smith's donuts anymore.

Out of 215 pictures taken within 4 days we didn't serve the Oregon Coast justice.  It's so green and beautiful! I loved the way moss covered everything and how it hung from the trees.  It was awesome to see!  We drove next to the Columbia River for a couple of hours on our way down and back.

Right before we entered Portland we took a wrong exit on the Freeway and had to take a little detour from our original plan. Oops! This might sound crazy but we couldn't have been happier that it took us an extra hour to get to our little condo. Our little detour took us into a canyon between Salem and our final destination Depoe Bay that was green and mossy and really woody.  Trees surrounded us on both sides at all times.  It was so thick that light didn't filter thru the trees.  

When we finally reached our new home for the next couple of days we were ready to stretch!

Our home away from home was very nice. It had a fully stocked kitchen so we never had to eat out. The local grocery store was a little over priced but still cheaper than eating out. Anyway, I was surprised to see how much space we had in our condo. We could have easily stuck more people in.

We had a breathtaking view. There was literally a cliff a few feet away from our sliding glass door.   And how a rope is suppose to intimidate 2 kids under the age of 7 from not crossing it is crazy.  The first thing we did was jump on the beds second  thing we did was have a long long lecture about the rope! Look at the pics below for verification.  The best part was being able to see the whales up close. The whales would be so close it scared me to think of exactly how deep the water actually was. This will be a memory our family will think about forever.

It rained and it rained and it rained a lot during our trip but it didn't stop us from going outside and sight seeing.  I would say it rained about 87% of the time, Jason would say 75%, Korbin would say 10% and Madison would say 100% of the time. You can average it out! We went to two lighthouses and an aquarium and the beach and we also did a little window shopping .

  We also visited some tide pools.

The kids and Jason are ten times braver than I am.  I only stuck my hand in once and I didn't like the experience. I touched one of the green things that is on the bottom right hand corner of the last picture.

The Yaquina Bay Lighthouse.

9 people lived in this house.

 Largest bedroom out of 4 bedrooms.  Look at the size of the closet.

Our new binoculars Jason purchased for this trip should be called Korbin's from now on.

The Yaquina Head Lighthouse. 

93 feet tall.

We have a perfect excuse for us to return to the coast soon. Maddie was unable to go up to the top of the lighthouse.  All she needs to do is grow 2 more inches and we're going back to the coast.

Sweatshirts and pants...Perfect for our beach day.

Maddie got a little wet.

  The tide came in a little too strong and surprised Madison.

Daddy to the rescue.

We all have a great laugh at the event, Madison's sense of humor took a little longer than usual for it to come back.

 We also went to the tide pools. Hint: Always check the tide pool schedule before just showing up. 

Here's part of a seal.

A few pics of our last afternoon on the coast.

And here's our ending...

Jason caught a glimpse of a sign about a fall called Multnomah Falls on the freeway and asked if I was up for it.  I really wanted  to get home so I was surprised as much as Jason was when I said yes. As we parked in the parking lot I decided I was going to stay in the car, I've seen waterfalls and I've never been impressed to extremes by any of them. So Jason and the kids left me in the car.  I honestly didn't think they would get close to it.  After a few minutes Jason called me and told me he was positive I wouldn't want to miss this.  They came back for me and then we headed to the falls together.  He was right, It was just right!! It's one of my favorite places I've ever been too and hopefully will stay that way.   That's all I can say. 

I Googled it to get better pictures. Next time we'll finish the trail all the way up to the top of the fall.