Sandboarding Adventure

These photos are from our little ocean trip last weekend.  I took so many pictures at the fair and the beach that I had to break them up. Who knew a two day trip would require so many photos? 

 Sand boarding in Florence, Oregon. Super  fun and super affordable! The sand boards are about 10$  each  to rent for the entire day. You can take your board anywhere you want but we like the dunes close behind the rental place...you know them if you have been to Florence, they are huge and about to swallow the Fred Meyer. There is also a parking area so whatever parent is on baby duty can hang out in the car and watch. No bathrooms though, so chugging a 16oz coffee before hand is not recommended.
 A few years ago I won a travel package that included sand boarding but I was 5 months pregnant so I sat out last time. It was fun to have Nalah on the outside so I could give it a try this time...I suck really, really bad. But the fun thing is everyone out there sucks so you don't have to feel bad. It was fun, and running up and down the dunes was a workout.
Sophie was really good at it, she is our little athlete. Solomon liked waxing his board and riding it down like a sled.
Even Nalah gave it a whirl this time too.

 

 

Down the Hobbit Trails.....

Since we were in Eugene for the Country Fair this past weekend we decided to make a trip to Florence on the coast to visit one of our favorite places, the Hobbit Trails. Ben and I visited the Hobbit Trails on a road trip from Wisconsin when we were still teenagers, after hearing about it from a friend. It is a very special place for us because it was also here that we discovered we were going to be parents for the first time. This was all 13 years ago!!(seems like yesterday)

The Hobbit trails lead you down through a twisted and slightly spooky forest into thick low shrubs that form a roof over tunnels worn into the sand, after you follow one of the dark tunnels you arrive at a beautiful beach, Hobbit Beach. 

The first time we visited there were not many cars parked in the small turn off of the Highway but things have changed over the past decade and the lot was full and there was a line of cars parked along the Highway. It was a Saturday so that might have a lot to do with it,but I saw that the Hobbit Trails were written about in a travel magazine a few years ago. But Lucky for us there were other folks around when we needed a jump since I left the headlights on(from driving through tunnels) and when we got back to the van we found our car battery quite dead. We found people to help immediately, yay,crisis averted!

Anyways it is a special place, if you find yourself in this area of the country it is well worth the stop!