Oregon Coast trip - part 5 (the final chapter)

I don't care how many pictures I post this time, I'm going to finish our Oregon trip so that I can post about other things! So, the last 2 days of our trip consisted of a trip to Tillamook to visit the cheese factory and the nearby lighthouse on Friday. We saw some beautiful scenery on the drive over!  We spent that evening in the pool and then playing more games.

Then on Saturday we crossed the 4 mile bridge from Astoria into Washington state to go visit 2 more lighthouses on Cape Disappointment. Saturday was the only day that it actually rained on us. After visiting the lighthouses we ate dinner in Astoria at the Pig N Pancake restaurant. We also went to a beach that had an old shipwreck. I wasn't able to get any pictures there since kids had to go potty as soon as we walked down the beach to see it and since the bathrooms were closed it forced us to leave. This is where I was also hoping to get some beach sand but that didn't happen. When we returned I had to do some last minute souvenir shopping because I hadn't really bought anything other than a jacket for Nikki and myself and the souvenir pennies for the kids. So I picked up a jacket for Charlotte and matching shark pullover sweatshirts for Curtis and the boys. I also bought some decorative shells, rocks, dolphins, etc.  

That evening we relaxed a bit and then got busy cleaning and packing because it was our last night and we were leaving in the morning. After finishing what we wanted to and getting the kids cleaned up and in bed Curtis and I excused ourselves to go out to collect some beach sand to go along with my new souvenir decor since I wasn't able to get it earlier that day. It was probably around 11:00 at night. There were still groups of people out on the beach and security guards roaming around to keep the peace. But it was a gorgeous clear night and we stood watching the waves roll in and the sparkling stars. After taking that in for a little while we got down to business digging up sand into an empty milk jug. We had to dig down a little bit to get to some clean sand because so many people do campfires on this beach. When we got back to where we could clean our feet off we read a sign about not taking the sand off the beach but it had showed a picture of a truck and man with a shovel. The security guards were standing nearby and we decided that we would feel better if we asked if it was okay rather than try to sneak it into the condo. The guard told us that it wasn't really his call because he didn't work for the city but that he thought the rule was to take no more than 5 gallons of sand. Whew! We only had one gallon so we were safe! Back upstairs we went to wash up and get in bed. Our vacation was officially over!

On our way to Tillamook we saw some breath taking views and had to stop for some pictures!

At the Tillamook Cheese Factory.

Watching the cheese get cut and packaged.

Charlotte wanted down but I wanted a picture with her. 

Enjoying some Tillamook ice cream outside on their picnic tables. We were also able to have some cheese samples inside. So yummy!

She's finishing either mommy's or daddy's cone. I can't remember.

This is the park where the lighthouse near Tillamook is, Cape Meares.

This view is deceiving. Looks like it would be real tall poking out of the trees like that.

And this is how tall is really was, pretty short for a lighthouse.

Looking through the lenses at the top. 

This is on Saturday and this fort was near the first light house on Cape Disappointment in Washington.

Running around inside the fort. I think we found the cell for prisoners.

Exploring the fort.

We had to hike up a ways to the first lighthouse. They had this cool tree on the trail that the kids climbed inside.

This lighthouse is still in operation and was not open to go inside.

Inside the next light house that was not too far from the other. For some reason I did not get an outside picture of this one.

We had to pay to go up inside this one and you had to be at least 7 or 8 yrs old.

Looking at the view.

Can you tell she's tired?

Going down. All finished.

Well, that's all of the pictures I'm going to share from this trip. It was the best trip ever and we're so glad we went. Thank you Dad and Mom for the fun and memories! 

Oregon Coast trip - part 4

Thursday morning we went North to visit Fort Clatsop in the Lewis and Clark National Historical Park near Astoria. We were even privileged to witness a ceremony for a group of people who became citizens of the United States of America. I have never seen an induction ceremony so it was neat to be there to witness people from all parts of the world becoming official citizens of our country, even Iraq.

This is the same type of dog that Lewis and Clark had traveled with when they made their expedition. This particular dog was very calm and friendly.

Here is Fort Clatsop where Lewis and Clark had stayed for part of their journey.

And finally the day had come to go visit Astoria and some of the "Goonies" sites and to get some fish and chips from the Bowpicker which we had heard so much about.  Unfortunately though, the line was very long and we all decided to eat at other places instead. A group of us ate at a good restaurant called "Baked Alaska". The food there was very good and we had a nice view of the river/ocean.

The kids were playing across the street from the Bowpicker at the museum while waiting to see if we'd get food.

Ah, Nikki's stuck in the anchor! 

This is where we ate lunch instead, at Baked Alaska. It was good!

After lunch we hopped aboard the Trolley in front of the museum and enjoyed a nice ride where we saw different parts of Astoria.

Finally, the Goonies' driveway! They even had signs.

Here it is, the "Goonies" house. Someone lives there so we could only get a picture from outside. We also had to park and walk a few blocks away over by the school because there were signs that said that's where we had to go.

We walked down to a dock where we saw and heard sea lions hanging out on their own private dock. They were making lots of noise.

And here's the school from the movie "Kindergarten Cop".

And back to "Goonies" again. The jeep that the criminals drove and got shot at in a police chase at the beginning of the movie. They're pointing to the bullet holes.

This is the jailhouse that the brother broke out of in the beginning of the movie. I borrowed this picture from Laverne.

Oregon Coast trip - Part 3

Wednesday morning all of us headed south to Cannon Beach to see the famous Haystack Rock from the movie "Goonies" where we saw some more sea life on the rocks and in the tide pools. Then the kids played in the sand and some, including my brothers Derek and Stillman did some boogie boarding. We didn't get to see them though because our little family was tired and ready to eat some lunch.  So we headed back toward the condo and stopped to get some food at Subway.  We brought Katie with us and the kids went swimming in the pools after we returned, except for Charlotte who took a nap.

Haystack Rock

Some rocks were just covered in muscles just like the ones we saw at Indian Beach on Monday.

See the pretty starfish? Three purples and two orange. So cool!

Garrett wading in the water.

The kids always love playing in the sand!

My brother Derek in the background getting ready to hit the waves with his boogie board. Dad, Mom, Grandma and Grandpa were camped out in their beach chairs watching all the fun.

Little Charlotte all tuckered out.  Gotta squeeze nap time in between all the fun activities!

Our next adventure for the day was walking down the sidewalk right on the beach to visit the Seaside Aquarium. Only half of the group went but we saw some other cool sea life we didn't get to see on the beaches.

Here's one of the sand creations we saw on the way to the aquarium. If you look close the back part says "SEASIDE" in smaller letters and the one in front says "OREGON". This one is just behind our condo.

Seals at the aquarium.

We had the opportunity to feed the seals also.  A couple of the seals finally learned that if they stood up and splashed one of their fins down several times that someone would keep throwing them fish.  And they were not trained to do that either. It was so fun to watch!

They had some sea creatures that you could touch and pick up. The girls loved it!

Charlotte pointing to all of the things she thought were neat. Not sure what she's pointing to in this shot.

It's getting to the point where I can't remember what we did unless I took a picture of it.  Some nights we played games, some nights we swam, and some nights we watched movies or whatever was on TV. This particular night I think was the night that we went over to Stillman and Colby's condo to watch "Goonies" in preparation for visiting Astoria the next day. Astoria is where that movie was filmed as well as "Kindergarten Cop". But that's another story :)

To Be Continued......

Oregon Coast Trip - part 2

We started out early Monday morning heading North to Sunset Beach for what was probably the funnest activity of the entire vacation (in my opinion).....beach combing! We spent 2-3 hrs on the beach just looking for sand dollars, shells, and anything else that was cool....like say live crabs! We stayed until the tide started coming in.

I couldn't resist sharing this adorable shot. Jack, Charlotte, and Garrett heading down the hall toward the parking garage in our condo. On our way to do some beach combing!

Before we found much of anything we were so excited when we stumbled across several live crabs trying to hide in the tide pools under the sand. It was not something we were expecting to find! Everyone was so excited and we started collecting them in the buckets, thinking we might eat some for dinner that night. But later we discovered that not only do you need a license but that there was the chance the crabs might be sick from the clams or muscles they eat. So we set them all free.

But we found lots of sand dollars!!

Buckets full of sand dollars!

Even Charlotte found one that she repeatedly tried chewing on because it looked yummy to her.

Here's the crab that I found in a pool. I had to pull him out of the sand a bit but also wasn't sure if I was pulling the right end (after all, I've never held a crab before!) so I left him in the water and called for help from Curtis and Stillman.

This was my favorite find on the beach! I was told that finding a shell like this on the beach in Oregon was rare because they usually get broken up. So naturally I was super excited!

On our way out from the beach Curtis thought it would be fun to spin a few cookies on the beach because there was lots of space to do it. But that didn't last because there was a cop on the beach that spotted us and pulled us over on the beach.  We didn't know this but apparently the beach is considered a highway and he was reckless driving. Fortunately the cop let us off with a warning!

We then did some driving around trying to find some good places for taking family pictures. We even got lost and accidentally stumbled upon Fort Stevens. We just drove by it but it was neat to see the old bunkers and cannons. All the driving around wore us out so we headed back to the condos so we could take naps, showers, and get ready for getting family pictures.  It was decided to head South to Indian Beach at Ecola State Park for the pictures.

Beautiful scenery going in to Ecola State park where Indian Beach is located.

This was right off the beach.

Nikki on Indian Beach waiting to get pictures done.

I was the only one asked to sit on the wet sand for the big family group picture. Can't say I was entirely thrilled about it but that's how it goes sometimes.  I haven't seen the big group picture yet so hopefully it was worth it ;)

My boys having fun in the water after our family was finished with pictures.

Some of us found some natural wildlife. Sea stars (aka Starfish)! We had also seen baby crabs and tons of muscles (similar to clams) covering some rocks. The baby crabs were actually living underneath them. It was awesome to make our own discoveries outside of an aquarium!

Tuesday we stayed in Seaside most of the day swimming and walking down Broadway Street to check out the shops and some activities to do.

Uncle Colby throwing Garrett in the pool. He has such cool uncles!  :)

One activity we found on Broadway was bumper cars! I was glad that Jack was too short to ride alone because I got to ride with him and it was fun! (We're in the red one)

Cousin Alex and Nikki with their new silly hats they bought at a hat shop in the Carousel Mall. It's called Carousel Mall because right in the middle of the mall is a carousel. Charlotte rode with me on the carousel and she LOVED it! She was so upset when it was time to get off. She wanted to ride again!

The boys found stuffed animals to buy with their own money they earned over the summer.  Nikki had also earned her own as well. They earned the money by reading every day and doing weekly book reports for their dad to read while he was in North Dakota.

We stopped at an arcade where the kids played lots of games.  Garrett was lucky enough to win 125 tickets while playing a game and did it in one turn.
Tamara and I were photo bombing Katie's picture :)

More fun at the pool. Cousins!

There was a beach volleyball tournament coming up on the weekend and so there were people building sand sculptures that were pretty amazing. Some were for a contest I think and some were just hoping to make some money, just like other people who were playing instruments and singing for money. This is at the beach right behind our condo.

The next fun adventure was preparing some tin foil dinners and heading back to Sunset Beach, where we did the beach combing, and having a campfire on the beach. Most of the kids had fun digging and building with the sand while the food was cooking. And some of us enjoyed watching some whales that weren't too far off shore. All we could see of them was their top fin.

Campfire on the beach. We made a half circle to block the wind so we could get our coals started.

So many beautiful sunsets on the beach that were absolutely breathtaking!

Tough guy Stillman who had just gone boogie boarding in the freezing water while others are looking at the whales.

Cooking dinner!

Playing in the sand!

After eating dinner we sat around and talked for awhile and then packed up and left when it got dark. It was so dark that we had a hard time finding the road back that connected to the beach. Thankfully there was a bus parked close to the road that had reflectors that helped us figure out where we were going.
We were so busy the whole week it's hard to fit it all in one post.  This one got pretty long since I shared more pictures.  Once again, this will be continued in another post!