Our first stop was Multnomah Falls just outside of Portland.
There was lots of mist coming off the falls and since the falls are in the shade it was rather chilly! This is everyone but Jared. He doesn't particularly like having his picture taken.
While hiking around the falls a bit, the boys discovered this little cave away from the wind and mist.
This is just another little stream gently cascading down the mountainside near the waterfall.
This was our first look at the Oregon coast near Canon Beach at Ecola State Park. It was so amazing! Matthew told us that it was a giant swimming pool!
We were literally spoiled on Monday with a perfectly sunny 70-75 degree day without much wind and no clouds! One of the few times in my life I've been at the beach and not been freezing!
Just another shot of the beach.
Since the day was so fabulous we took a 1 1/2 mile hike through the forest to get down to a nearby beach. The hike had lots of ups and downs and muddy spots. Sometimes Matthew liked to walk...
and sometimes he liked to ride.
Mark loves to hike and I'm certainly glad he doesn't mind carrying Matthew along. Sometimes I just can't believe we never invested in a baby backpack when Jared was little -- it would have been very well used. Along the trail we discovered this humongous tree with a hole through it. The boys literally walked through the tree several times -- it was great!
We finally got our first taste of the Pacific Ocean. It was very cold, but oh so fun!
My feet on the wonderful sand.
On Tuesday, Ryan was sick to his stomach, so we decided we better not go out on the boat to do whale watching. It was a chilly and very windy day anyway. After convincing Ryan to get in the van with a barf bucket nearby we headed south along the coast to Yachats lighthouse and beach. Jared, Jacob, and I went up into the lighthouse.
After climbing 104 stairs, you get to see this lightbulb and if you're really tall you get to see out over the ocean. We were a little disappointed we couldn't look out over the ocean and countryside. I guess I expected an observation deck up there, but there's not.
We also spent a few minutes at the beach here. That's Jared in the blue sweatshirt and black pants.
This beach was perfect for rock throwing and Jacob & Matthew had a great time doing just that!
After this adventure we stopped for lunch at Arctic Circle, where another adventure happened -- Matthew got sick! Lovely. After slurping some Sprite, Ryan decided he was feeling a bit better, so we decided to head for the aquarium, thinking Matthew could just sit in the stroller, sleep, or be carried and be fine. As soon as we handed over the money for the aquarium, Matthew barfed again. We cleaned things up and headed in anyway. We were disappointed in the aquarium because it's really not very big. It is much like a zoo though with outside exhibits, but just with sea lions and seals. We watched them feed the sea lions and that was kind of fun. There is also a tunnel that you can walk through and see the fish swimming all around you -- overhead, underfeet, at your side and that was pretty cool. They had a huge octopus too. We probably only spent an hour or so there. We spent the rest of the day and evening at the motel.
After climbing 104 stairs, you get to see this lightbulb and if you're really tall you get to see out over the ocean. We were a little disappointed we couldn't look out over the ocean and countryside. I guess I expected an observation deck up there, but there's not.
We also spent a few minutes at the beach here. That's Jared in the blue sweatshirt and black pants.
This beach was perfect for rock throwing and Jacob & Matthew had a great time doing just that!
After this adventure we stopped for lunch at Arctic Circle, where another adventure happened -- Matthew got sick! Lovely. After slurping some Sprite, Ryan decided he was feeling a bit better, so we decided to head for the aquarium, thinking Matthew could just sit in the stroller, sleep, or be carried and be fine. As soon as we handed over the money for the aquarium, Matthew barfed again. We cleaned things up and headed in anyway. We were disappointed in the aquarium because it's really not very big. It is much like a zoo though with outside exhibits, but just with sea lions and seals. We watched them feed the sea lions and that was kind of fun. There is also a tunnel that you can walk through and see the fish swimming all around you -- overhead, underfeet, at your side and that was pretty cool. They had a huge octopus too. We probably only spent an hour or so there. We spent the rest of the day and evening at the motel.Wednesday morning Ryan & Matthew weren't feeling queasy anymore, but were running low fevers. So we pulled out the tylenol and ibuprofen and decided that if the motel would refund us one night's stay, we would start heading home before the next kid got sick. The motel granted us a refund and we loaded up the van. We drove through some absolutely beautiful farm country and by the time the meds had kicked in we had arrived in Tillamook at the cheese factory. The kids absolutely LOVED this place!!
The factory has self-guided free tours and free cheese samples.
Ryan is all about cheese -- here he is with the cheese packaging process going on behind him. We could watch all this through huge walls of windows. We were also able to see the huge tanks of milk churning away to make the cheese. There were several video presentations as well showing how the cheese is made. After looking around we all tried out the free cheese samples. Cheddar is always a winner, but Ryan decided the extra sharp wasn't quite as yummy. Mark & I liked the mozarella best. All that tasting of course led us to the gift shop where we could buy some yummy cheese to take home. We ended up with packages of colby, cheddar, and mozarella. Tillamook also makes ice cream, so we all got an ice cream cone -- the ice cream was every bit as good as Aggie ice cream. Here's Ryan with cookies and cream and Jacob is enjoying his chocolate.
Despite Jared's facial expression, he loved his chocolate ice cream too!
With full and happy tummys we got in the van and drove another few hours before taking a break just outside of Portland to see a fish hatchery. The kids enjoyed feeding the king size trout, watching the tiny trout swimming and jumping and checking out the sturgeon ponds. We found a motel in La Grande that evening that had an indoor pool, so the boys went for a quick swim before going to bed. Thursday morning we jumped back in the van and started the remainder of the long drive home. It was 9:00 a.m. when we got to Baker City, where my cousin owns a fast food place called Burger Bob's. I've never seen the place, so we pulled of the road and got directions from the local gas station attendant. When we pulled up, there wasn't anyone there, but it was 9:00 a.m. and who wants a burger and fries that time of day anyway? So we jumped back on the freeway and headed home. But now I know what Burger Bobs looks like, even though I forgot to snap a photo.
The factory has self-guided free tours and free cheese samples.
Ryan is all about cheese -- here he is with the cheese packaging process going on behind him. We could watch all this through huge walls of windows. We were also able to see the huge tanks of milk churning away to make the cheese. There were several video presentations as well showing how the cheese is made. After looking around we all tried out the free cheese samples. Cheddar is always a winner, but Ryan decided the extra sharp wasn't quite as yummy. Mark & I liked the mozarella best. All that tasting of course led us to the gift shop where we could buy some yummy cheese to take home. We ended up with packages of colby, cheddar, and mozarella. Tillamook also makes ice cream, so we all got an ice cream cone -- the ice cream was every bit as good as Aggie ice cream. Here's Ryan with cookies and cream and Jacob is enjoying his chocolate.
Despite Jared's facial expression, he loved his chocolate ice cream too!
With full and happy tummys we got in the van and drove another few hours before taking a break just outside of Portland to see a fish hatchery. The kids enjoyed feeding the king size trout, watching the tiny trout swimming and jumping and checking out the sturgeon ponds. We found a motel in La Grande that evening that had an indoor pool, so the boys went for a quick swim before going to bed. Thursday morning we jumped back in the van and started the remainder of the long drive home. It was 9:00 a.m. when we got to Baker City, where my cousin owns a fast food place called Burger Bob's. I've never seen the place, so we pulled of the road and got directions from the local gas station attendant. When we pulled up, there wasn't anyone there, but it was 9:00 a.m. and who wants a burger and fries that time of day anyway? So we jumped back on the freeway and headed home. But now I know what Burger Bobs looks like, even though I forgot to snap a photo. The kids were super travelers -- no meltdowns or fits and just a couple of arguments! Wow! That was a blessing. We ended our spring break adventures by taking the kids to see Monsters vs. Aliens in 3D at the IMAX on Friday. It was fun to have Alan, Ethan, and Rachel join us for that. We also went to Ethan's baptism on Saturday and hung out with Mark's family. Heidi put together an egg hunt for the kids and Jared & Ryan really raked in the coins. We all had a good time!
3 comments:
Free cheese?!? I'm there!
Beautiful country! Makes me miss the Pacific NW. Sounds like you all had a great time!
Looks like a really fun trip! Too bad the kids got sick, but it looks like you made the most of it.
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