OREGON

Fair warning to everyone reading: this post contains tons of photos, lots of good memories, and some beautiful scenery.

Day 1 -- Saturday, Aug 8

Jeff's parents were kind enough to let us borrow their Suburban and we had it packed as full as one could imagine. We woke the kids up at 3:30 a.m. and headed down the freeway heading to the Portland area.

Sarah was packed in between some blankets, pillows, and bags which were at times falling down on her.

Ali was really happy to be awake at that insane hour.

We arrived at our campground around 2:00 p.m. and pitched our tent and were off to see the waterfalls.

Horsetail Falls

The next waterfall we had to climb over this log jam that is in actuality about 3 times what it looks like it might be from this angle.

Wade through water that was up to at least my waist.

Then, there it was, Oneonta Falls.

This little hike was only about 1/4 of a mile long, but was sooooo much fun.

We all made it!!!

Here is a picture of Multnomah Falls. This is one of the most photographed waterfall and probably the most popular one we went to. It was very beautiful, but we were very cold at this point since we were all wet :)

We hiked up the mountain to the Wahkeena Falls.

After we had seen these, we decided we were too cold to go to the other 3 waterfalls that were all on this same road. We went back to our campground and made a quick dinner, had showers and hit the hay.

Day 2 -- Sunday

We woke up with the sun and while I showered, the boys took down camp and got the Burban packed so we could head down the road. We drove around Mt. Hood, which is a volcano, and has snow year round. This mountain was one of the most impressive sights we saw. I don't really know why it was so awesome looking, but I have never seen anything quite like it ever before. Just one peak, and the base of it was just covered in tall trees and shrubs. It was such a majestic sight.

We went to this lake, Lake Trillium, to see the peak from this view, but there was fog and we couldn't really see much of the mountain, but it still was very beautiful.

After leaving the Mt. Hood area, we finally made it into Portland. There are so many trees that you would never know how big the city really is. I just could not get over how many trees there were.

So, in Portland the only place we stopped was the gas station for a potty break and the Portland Temple. Now that is an amazing building. Our church does not cut corners doing anything, and Temples are absolutely no exception. The color and the streaks that are in the walls were just gorgeous. Since it was Sunday, the gates were all locked up and we couldn't get any closer that the pictures show.

From Portland, we kept going west until we reached our campground in Fort Stevens, which is up at the top of the Oregon Coast. We were really close to the ocean, so we went there to check it out after we set up our camp.

Ali loved making the biggest and best sand castles ever!!! (That is what she kept saying as she was building them)

Here is a the shipwreck of Peter Iredale in 1906.

Day 3 -- Monday

Waking up, once again early (you can't really sleep in when you are in a tent), the boys once again packed up while I showered and primped (what can I say, that was my "alone" time). We went to Ecola State Park and drove through one of the most amazing rain forest-like area I have ever seen. The trees were all covered with moss and it was just hanging on every branch. Way cool!!!

Here is Ryan overlooking a very secluded little beach.

After leaving the State Park, we stopped at Gearhart where they let you drive your cars out onto the beach. We were heading out there, and turned around because we really didn't want to chance getting stuck in someone else's car.

Then we went down the road just a little bit farther and visited the very famous and popular Cannon Beach. It is very famous for the Haystack rock.

How could we go down the coast and not stop at the Tillamook Cheese Plant and have some very delicious Ice Cream!!! So, that is what we did. While there, we could look through their observation windows and watch how they package the cheese. Boy are things different there than in my dad's cheese plant growing up. I was raised packaging cheese, and this was not how we did it. EVERYTHING was automated and they had people everywhere just standing around making sure it ran smoothly. It was very interesting though.

This was our only picture inside the plant, so, here it is.

Jeff had seen pictures of this waterfall and a suspension bridge and he really wanted to go see it. We were running out of daylight, so we decided this was our only chance, now or never. So, we went for it. We were running just as fast as Ali would let us, carrying her for part of the way down.

But we were able to get there before dark. It was so cool. We passed some other hikers who were kind enough to take our family picture on the bridge. Getting back to the car was a bit more difficult since Ali was done. She would not go any farther. Jeff and I took turns carrying her and by the time we arrived back to the car, we were a sweaty, stinky group of people. The temperature was only around 65, but the humidity was close to 100%. We were very hot. After that hike, we still had about an hour to get to our next camping spot, which was at Beverly Beach.

Day 4 -- Tuesday

This morning was a very slow, relaxing part of the trip. We did not hurry to do anything. We were finally all ready around 10:00 and went to some tide pools. They were called the Devils Punchbowl. This was the view from the top. When it is high tide, the waves crash into this and splash all over, but we went at low tide so we could check out the marine life we could find.

Sarah found this Starfish

Jeff and the kids inside the Devils Punchbowl

There was some little fish and seaweed, we saw some crabs, and other things that we didn't know what they were. But this was way cool.

Back at camp we fixed lunch, then finally packed up our tent and headed down the coast a little further.

Before we could pull out, we had to check out the beach that was just under a bridge from our tent. While we were there, somebody had a dead Jellyfish they let Sarah hold for a picture.

We went through this lighthouse, Yaquina lighthouse, where we were able to climb up to the top, 111 stairs in total.

You can't really see the lighthouse in this picture, but it was one of the most picturesque spots on the coast with the bright white lighthouse and the other beautiful home down the way a bit from it. We stopped here to let the kids play in the water some more. They loved the ocean. Sarah enjoyed looking for seashells and Ryan was getting wet and sandy, Bella liked going in the water, and Ali liked playing in the sand, somewhere where she could stay dry.

Day five -- Wednesday

We camped at Sunset Bay, right close to Coos Bay and Charleston. That was my favorite camp spot. It was so beatiful. I am mad we didn't get pictures of where we camped each night. Anyway, that morning, we went to a huge overlook that had some reefs just off the coast. These reefs were covered with Seals. As soon as we got out of the car, we heard the seals yelping. There had to have been thousands of them out there. Very fun for everyone to see that.

We were driving by some of the best parts of the coast, and we had fog almost the whole day. We missed seeing some of the ruggedness of it, but we did stop just north of Golds Beach and looked for Agates. I don't think we got any Agates, but we did collect a whole bag full of colorful rocks.

Later that afternoon, we stopped at Harris Beach in Brookings and let the kids put on their swimsuits and play in the ocean one last time. They had so much fun. The waves were huge and they knocked the kids over a few times.

Once again, Ali was warming up on the beach.

Someone before us had made this turtle, so we just enjoyed it and took a few pictures of the kids riding it.

That night, we drove into California and camped in the Redwoods State Park. That was very cool. Those trees are so massive, it is hard to even get a picture to do them justice.

Day 6 -- Thursday

Here Jeff is packing up the Burban after the last night of camping. Hallelujiah!!! Once that was finished, we were back on the road again, ready to drive through the Jedediah Smith Redwood Forest.

Looking up at some of the huge trees.

Wrapping our families arms around the tree.

We called this our "Family Tree," it was a tree that had tipped over and we were sitting on different parts of the roots.

We felt like little ants in this huge forest.

This was the biggest tree we saw, but it is so hard to see how big they really are.

There were several trees that our whole family could fit inside the trunk of the tree, where it had hollowed out, yet it was still alive with green branches at the top. That was awesome.

After leaving the Redwoods, we went back into Oregon to stay with my brother, Bruce and Shannon, and of course Colton (who we really wanted to see). We were finally able to sleep in a bed and have carpet under our toes, have a yummy meal, and most of all, have showers in a shower that you could trust the person who was there before you.

Day 7 -- Friday

After having a very yummy breakfast, we drove up to Crater Lake National Park. Now this place is breathtaking when you first see in it. The water was as blue as anything I have ever seen. This crater was made by a volcano kind of imploding I guess to create this crater that fills up with water and has no river to let the water out. Very impressive.

On the drive, we let the kids entertain themselves by singing alot, coloring, watching movies, and listening to Fablehaven when Ali would allow us to.

After getting back to Medford, we went to Bruce's work, Ericksons Air Craft, (or something like that) and he gave us a tour of it. The basically refurbish helicopters that carry the water to help in fighting fires. We didn't take our camera into the plant, but we were able to see a helicopter that actually belongs to Los Angelos fire, and is used to scoop water out of the ocean or lakes to pour on the wildfires. That was awesome to be right by one.

Day 8 -- Saturday

Bruce was able to borrow someones river raft to go down the Rogue River. We had a ball. We went through several rapids, layed very lazily on the raft while Bruce did all the work of paddling.

This was one of the parts of the river we were able to jump in. I was a chicken, but everyone else got in for a dip.

After getting back from river rafting, we drove past the Medford Temple really quick. It is a tiny temple, but as usual, very beautiful. It is only 7 minutes from Bruce and Shannon's, now that's pretty cool.

Day 9 -- Sunday

Well, it was finally time to say our goodbyes to our family. It was sure fun seeing them, and getting to hold Colton a little bit more. The kids just couldn't get enough of him. They were constantly begging to hold him. He gave us some very cute smiles before we hit the road.

We finally pulled out of Medford around 9:00 a.m. their time and arrived home at 10:00 p.m. Which would make it 12 hours of driving. We did stop in Elko for dinner and just to get out of the car for a period. That is one long drive and after we got about 3 hours past Medford, we hit the lovely desert of Oregon and Nevada. Wow, now that is desolate. But, we made it. We had very few disagreement and we all tried very hard to be patient with one another.

I am in love with Oregon weather (not much over 70) and I am in love with the trees and all the green everywhere. I am also in love with the ocean, and beaches, and lighthouses, and the coastline. This world is so amazing and so beautiful. I am very grateful for the opportunities I have had to experience just a small part of what there is to offer. Life has treated our family very well.