Oregon

Yes, it's true. We took a long trip to Oregon and Washington at the beginning of this month and I still haven't reported on it. Remember in my last post, about being pregnant, how I said I didn't feel like doing anything. Well, that is true. And we had computer problems with storing our pictures. Finally though (after much complaint from some), here are the pictures and details of our days on the north west coast.

We DROVE to Eugene, OR with three kids smashed into the back of the Corolla. It is about a 15 hour drive. We stopped half way there to stay the night with Kamber and Brian in Boise. It was our last chance to see them before they made their way back to NY. I am sooooo glad we did. I miss Kamber.

We drove through the desert nothingness of eastern Oregon until we came upon the dense, green forests that you would expect of the state. In the middle of that forest were hills and hills reaching forever of black lava. It was crazy to come upon that. Scott and the girls went up to the observatory to look out at the black rock as far as you could see.In Eugene we were visiting Glenn (Scott's brother), Renee, Ariana, Mina and Siena. They were exceptional hosts to us. We had a great time with them roaming Eugene and going out to their lake house.

- We hiked in some of the greenest forests I've seen. Beautiful!- We went to Voo Doo Donuts to check out their maple bacon bar featured on the Food Network. The donuts were tasty in the moment, but I still can hardly think of them without a very sick stomach and a little dry heave.
- We visited the aquarium out on the coast. Zachary was VERY excited by the fish. One of his five words is now "WHOA!" - repeated 500 times in a row.- We picked blueberries. These blueberry plants were absolutely overflowing with the biggest, juiciest, sweetest blueberries. Sooooo good. We ate those delicious little things right off the bush. They were warm from the sun and burst in your mouth. Mmmmmm.- We walked along the river path that I like so much in Eugene and went to visit the ducks.

From Eugene we all headed out to the coast to stay at Glenn and Renee's lake house. It was perfect. We could visit the ocean, but then when that got too cold or windy, we had the calm waters of the lake to go back to. The house was so nice and in a beautiful setting.

- We relaxed on the deck one morning for breakfast and roasted hot dogs and then s'mores for dinner one evening. (Check out Ava in her chair in the background. She was sure to keep a very safe distance from the fire. Safety always comes first with that girl.)
- We all loved kayaking and canoeing on the lake. Ariana was our own private kayak chauffeur for the kids. She even made the girls day by taking them out through the water lilies to pick a flower. I wasn't able to capture (no pics) just how totally cool the sand dunes on the lake are too.Oh, and paddle boating.
- We went out to the beach to find tide pools. We found lots of little creatures in the pools including some brightly colored star fish. Those of us accustomed to a CA beach didn't venture too far into the water though. FRIGID! The Oregon girls were much more brave.

- On Sunday, after church, there was an outing for the kids while this mom took a long afternoon nap. I think we all enjoyed ourselves, except maybe poor Zachary who seems to have been abandoned in a sand storm in a deserted desert. Apparently, Ava saved him.- It looks like they ventured to more friendly territory from there.- Scott and I slipped away one evening after tucking the kiddos in bed to hike up to the Heceta Head Lighthouse. It was really quite cool to hike up in the dark and see the light from the lighthouse circling around us and out over the ocean.- We thought the lighthouse was so cool in fact, that we took everyone back there the next day to play in the sand, throw rocks in the water and walk up to the lighthouse for a last toast of ginger beer before the "Sandy Buchanans" made our WINDY way up the coast to Seattle. CHEERS! to a great week with the "Oregon Buchanans".
- We loaded up again and drove up the Oregon coast into Washington. Along the way we stopped in Tillamook, which I think is one of the prettiest places ever. It's rolling, green farm land right along the ocean. It does smell like cows though. And we HAD to stop and get some of that cheese and ice cream from all of those cows.
Beep. Beep. Next stop: Seattle to visit our Randi Jo!! Thanks for a good time, Oregon!