A Summer Beach Trip

Okay, I am back. Here to bore you with more photos of our summer "trapped"in Oregon. 

I just entered one of my Little Crater Lake photos from the previous post into a photo contest last night so, wish me luck!

Here are some fun pictures from a weekend down in Newport,Oregon.

We spotted the Weinermobile!

Drove a pirate ship.

 Went down this slide a million times.

Ben finally built me the house of my dreams....and right on the beach. ;)

We played on the beach in the sand where a little creek came out to meet the ocean. The creek water was so warm the kids had a blast playing in it and I didn't have to worry about waves carrying them out to sea. 

Also, when you have a creek meeting the ocean you also have a good rock hunting spot. I found a ton of fossils that day. I finally had to throw out my old Minnetonkas after wearing them in the ocean and then shrinking them in the hot sun. It is okay, they were worn through and beyond rotten carcasses at that point.

We  also did a lot of sunset kite flying.

 It was a nice little trip. I prefer the off season so I don't have to share the beach combing with as many people. I dream of some day getting an Airstream and retiring along the coast, beach camping and rock hunting all day long. Fingers crossed.

Shipwrecked

Here are some more pictures from my birthday trip. Solomon now thinks the shipwreck at Fort Stevens is the Goonies pirate ship.

My Goonies themed Birthday Adventure...

My family and I rented a cabin at Fort Stevens State Park last weekend for my Birthday. Since we were so near Astoria, Oregon I though it would be fun to have a Goonies themed  birthday vacation. This was not my first time visiting  the Goonies house, many years ago Ben and I and some friends from out of state drove all over Astoria for hours trying to find the house on our own. We rolled down windows and asked little kids who were out riding bikes where the Goonies house was and they had no idea hat we were talking about. How sad! Little kids who LIVED in Astoria did not know what the Goonies was! We ended up finally stopping at the Chamber of Commerce and asking the lady who gave us a map of the town that has the Goonies house clearly labeled with a red star on the map. The woman who worked there was so sweet,and still works there actually. She will give you all the information you will ever need on local Goonies facts.
This around time around we knew where we were going, but my kids were clueless as to what we were doing because they hadn't seen the movie since they were babies.
My plan was to get the movie for to watch at the cabin with the kids that night(we got a delux cabin with the DVD player) but if you think you can find the Goonies movie in Astoria last minute you are mistaken. It was sold out everywhere.
So we watched The Neverending Story instead and had a Goonies marathon when we got back to Portland. It was a fun 80's nostalgic weekend.
We rode a carousel, visited candy shops and toy stores, visited some noisy seal lions and played on the beach....and the kids had fun too ;)
Still young at heart I guess.
I have many more ocean pictures to share but I will save that for a little later.
 
 

My family and I outside the Goonies House. (Photo taken by another movie fan).

Dealing with people outside your house posing and taking photos must get pretty annoying.

This is the jail from the opening scene of the movie, it is now a film museum. I was told if you pay 6$ you can go have your picture taken with Sloth(no not the real guy). I am regretting not going in, next time for sure!

The beach scene from the movie when the kids were outside the old restaurant . This is from Ecola State Park which I had not been to in years, it is so gorgeous there.

Winter whale watch 2013

 

 Ever since we have lived in Oregon I have wanted to visit the coast during the whale migrations. I was lucky enough to see a whale near the Devils Punchbowl in late summer during one of our first visits to the coast many years ago and I was totally thrilled, it was amazing!
This year a few days after Christmas we took a spur of the moment trip to the coast for a few days to see if we could spot any whales spouting as they make there way south to California.  Ben and I don't exchange gifts for the holidays so this was our gift to each other
The whales are more than a mile from the coast so you need a good pair of binoculars or a high viewpoint to see the spouting. We stopped at the Depoe Bay Whale Watching Center and saw a few whales from there. From the upstairs viewing area you could make them out with the bare eye but binoculars are definitely needed to get a good look. They also had a camera set up and hooked up to a t.v. monitor so you could see them up close. There were also binoculars for visitors to use.
I am hoping to make it back to the coast for the spring migration. I learned that the whales come closer to shore to rest and eat when they make their way back North up the coast. I am hoping to get some binoculars for my birthday so I am better prepared, but it seem like the spring migration would be a better chance to see them in action.
The weather was beautiful and sunny and I could hardly believe it was December. Someone found a beautiful blue glass art float on the beach down in Lincoln City while we were there.The local artists who blow glass hide floats on the beach between October and May to boost tourism. I bet it works as I have tried for many years to find one. You could always buy one at the store, but its not the same thing as finding one. Finding the real Japanese floats from fishing nets are pretty much a thing of the past although a friend of mine from art school has a basket full of the real glass floats he has found in Oregon and Alaska. I guess anything is possible, you never know what you can find. I can't wait to retire to the Oregon Coast and beach comb every day, I don't think it would ever get old.

 Looking for glass floats in Lincoln City,Oregon.

Our hotel was right on the ocean so I was able to go out rockhunting alone in the evening while the kids watched cartoons with their Papa in the warm hotel, they were pretty happy about that.

 Tiny surfers near the Devils Punchbowl.

 One last rockhunting stop at Oceanside,Oregon.

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!