Back Home

We got home about 6ish, and cleaned up the rental van, took it back....and we were all glad to be back in our own beds. Tyler didn't want to go home, he wanted to stay at more hotels, so we'll call home 'Hotel Tyler' for now.

A little bit of family history

On the way home we decided to stop in Tremonton, Utah. This is the location of the grave site for my grandparents on my father's side, as well as a son they had who lived only a few short years.

Back in Twin Falls

On the drive back we decided to stop in Twin Falls again. This time for lunch, and to look at the Shoshone Falls.

South on 84 mile post 88

Amazing, a photo can be taken, and published on the internet in just a few moments. This was taken at mile post 88, and published by mile post 92.

Start of Day 7 - the last day out

We got a late start today. The day started around 9 with the family going to get breakfast at the hotel. We hit the road at about 11 am. We're not really looking forward to the long drive home, but we are looking forward to getting home.

Arrived in Boise

We got to Boise quite a bit later than we had planned. Two things impacted our arrival time.....more stops along the way, and the time zone change. We got here around 9:00 pm. We had enough time to check in and still run over to the Cheesecake Factory here. We had planned on getting take out cheesecake and food, but decided on only the cheesecake and off to somewhere cheep for the food. Everyone was in bed by 10:30. Tomorrow we go home. By the way, we stayed at the Oxford Suites in Boise, a great hotel. I would recommend to anyone. (The photo was taken the following morning).

Just a lot of driving

We drove and drove and drove.....and when you travel with little ones, we stopped and stopped and stopped along the way. The good news was, we were all safe, and no mechanical problems. It's sure nice to find a good, clean, bathroom along the way. Today we didn't find many.

Quick breakfast and on the road

We ate a quick breakfast at the hotel. The Holiday Inn Express, they put on a fairly good breakfast. The kids really like the several options that are available, but usually still go back to the cereal. We then loaded up, and headed out....toward Portland, and into Boise.

Start of Day 6 - No Rain

A beautiful morning on the river. We're getting up, and getting ready to get going south. I'm trying to find a bakery on the way out.

A quick swim at the hotel

I swear, swimming at the hotel is the funnest thing the kids like to do. I learn this every time we go out of town. Here's a new business idea...create an experience where kids and play with luggage carts, and go swimming at the same time. And there was one more stunning sunset. Tomorrow we start heading home. We'll drive west, back up the Columbia River, through Portland, and on to Boise. It's too far to drive all the way back in one day. It'll be a long and hard drive. I'd bet we may see another stop at the Cheesecake Factory, we found out on the way up there is a new one in Boise.

A quick drive into Washtington

We got back to the hotel, quick potty break, and then we wanted to take a quick drive across the Astoria-Megler Bridge. It stretches 4.1 miles from Astoria, Oregon, across the mouth of the Columbia River, to Point Ellice, Washington. We wanted to do this, just so the kids could say they have also been into Washington. However, I found out later that our drive back tomorrow will put us into Washington again. Yet it was a cool bridge to go over.

Dinner at the Pig'n Pancake

We headed back into Seaside, Oregon; a town we passed coming into Astoria, about 15 miles back down the road. Most of the shops were closing down as we got there. The kids kept bugging us to have dinner at the Pig'n Pancake. We saw several of these restaurants up and down the coast. There was one in Lincoln City that we had planned on eating at, but it seemed like something always came up. We did find that this place ended up to be very good, and well worth going there. It seems like we were all pleased.

The Astoria Column

We're not quite sure what the story is with this column overlooking Astoria. We decided to look at it anyway. There are stairs inside, 160 or so. Tyler even went up, but we had to carry him a few stairs up. The hike up this thing took more out of us than the climb up the lighthouse earlier in the week.

Shopping

We did a little shopping along the waterfront. We didn't buy anything this time, but just looked around. There is a trolley that goes up and down this town.

Arrived in Astoria

It's a cute little town on the most northwestern coast of Oregon. We splurged a little here and got a nice room looking out on the Columbia River. The bridge photo is out of our hotel room.

The Drive North - Lighthouse 3

We took the long and winding 101 up the coast. Many places the 101 was quite a distance from the ocean. At least on one spot we were able to see out to yet another light house. This one however, was decommissioned in 1957. It has been turned into a columbarium (a place where you too can have your ashes put after your death....for the right price). In the photo, the lighthouse is really out there......

Say Cheese

We stopped to check out the cheese factory, the Tillamook Cheese Factory, that is.

We did the self guided tour. It was really cool to watch the cheese come out in these huge blocks, see them cut to size and packaged and sent on down the line.

Start of Day 5 - guess what more rain

Each day starts out with rain. However, it's really a good thing. All looks clean and new again, and the rain seems to stop just about the time we get going. A quick stop at McDonald's for breakfast, and up north we are headed. Cheese factory is next.

Back to the beach again

We got the kite out and headed back out to the beach. The kite only had a few instructions, and I still couldn't figure it out. Eventually I got it to work......but.....no wind. We tried the best we could, let out 100 yards+ of string to get the kite way up there. That worked.....but only as long as I kept running at about 5+ miles an hour.....which I can, for a few hundred yards. So that didn't work so well. I wound up the string and started playing with Tyler in the water. I took him out into the water, and waited for the waves to go out. I put him on the sand and had him start running back up the beach as the next wave came in....but those little legs just couldn't keep up. Just like Kendra the other day, Tyler went face first into the sand and water. He was really good, and tough. I told him back to the room and cleaned him up. He was a real trooper and hardly had a problem with it. No pictures here, we took the video camera on this one, we'll have to watch that later.

Lighthouse 2

After the aquarium visit, we headed back to the other lighthouse in the Newport area.

Another beautiful day

The rain let up around 11. We had some drizzle rain on and off during the mid part of the day, but it's been great, and cool throughout the rest of the day. We headed back south to Newport for lunch, and to visit the Oregon Coast Aquarium http://www.aquarium.org/.

Start of Day 4 - Rain

Rain again. Weather.com says today should get better.

Great Sunset

I wanted to spend at least one evening at the room, just watching the sun go down. Most nights we are running around too much. This night we were able to slow down, and just watch the sun drop into the ocean.

Back to the beach

After shooping we headed out to the beach. It was cold, but it was time to play.

Shopping - Toys, Kites & The Outlet Mall

After the lighthouse, and lunch, we stopped at a toy store for some sandcastle and beach toys. Then we went to great kite store in Newport. With the weather looking darker, up until now it had been really good for us, we headed back to Lincoln City, and the outlet mall. There is a great Columbia wear store there. We had to stop there, and a few others. We did well, and didn't spend too much here.

The Light House

Further down the road, in Newport, is one of the best looking lighthouses, on the coast of Oregon. (Ok, so I've seen two, but this one is the better of the two).

Depoe Bay - Whale Watching

We drove down the coast a bit, toward Depoe Bay. We stopped along the way a bit at a rest stop area where we could see the ocean. We stopped to look for any whales, none found here. All of us got back on the road and headed farther south, into Depoe Bay. Here we looked again for more whales. At first we didn't see anything. We walked down the street a few hundred yards to the whale watching center. The park ranger came out with his camera and pointed down where we came from and pointed out two whales in the water. They are hard to see, but if you're patient you can see them surface every few minutes. The park ranger said the great place to be at the moment was down by that "dark van", he pointed down the street. That "dark van", was our van that we just got there in. The photo doesn't show much....but there it is.

Start of Day 3 - Rain

It started a little misty, then the rain came down, and heavy as ever. But 30 minutes later it was over, and the sun is coming out. The beach is really bright now.

The Pizza

We came all the way for this pizza. We got here 10 minutes to 9:00 pm, they were kind enough to let us stay as they were closing. Mindy had to run back and take care of the emergency laundry. We had to wash Kendra's jacket, it was soaked and was the only one she had...and it's been a little cold out there.

Arrived in Lincoln City

We arrived after 6:00 pm. What a difference in temperature. It was pushing 100+ yesterday, here mid 50's if we were lucky. The kids were driving us crazy to go to the beach. Our hotel here is right on the beach, with a ocean front view, it's really great. We did finally go out the the water. The girls just love to run out to the water, and then run back up as the waves came in. Mindy was worried how far our the girls were walking, I wasn't nervous a bit. Sure enough, a strong wave came in and swept Kendra right under, she can now attest to how it really is salt water. The worst part, the water is freezing. We did get some pictures, but none of Kendra soaked, she was hurting and we had to get her cleaned up.

Cheesecake Factory

It's a rule, we had to get a cheesecake when in a town with the Cheesecake Factory, we recommend Snickers.

The Train

While at the first water fall, there was a train track really close. I thought I get a few pictures of the Deidra and Tiff next to, and on the tracks. We'd been there at the falls having lunch, been there an hour and no train had gone by. I watched one way, and the girls the other. I took two pictures of Tiffany pointed one direction, and was about to take a few of Deidra pointed the other. When Deidra and Tiffany started yelling.....a train just came around the corner at full speed. That was enough to make us a little more than nervous.

The Falls

We stopped by some really incredible falls.