Saturday, July 18, 2009
(Posted December 29, 2009)
This day and the last were mostly driving, so we only have a few pictures. We went out of our way and through a lot of traffic just to drive over the Golden Gate Bridge:
Lara and I visited the National Steinbeck Center while Daniel the Brave took all of the kids to the hotel for swimming and fun.
There were a lot of cool exhibits representing the novels he has written and lots of quotes like this one,
which I actually disagree with--there are too many books. I will never have time to read all the ones I want to!
This day and the next were mostly filled with violent bonding moments in the car. We stopped at In 'n' Out sometime on the way home, which usually makes everyone happy.
All in all it was an awesome trip. Beautiful sights, visiting with family, and eating way too much junk food. What more does a family need on a road trip? (Besides sleep...)
Friday, July 17, 2009
(Posted December 29, 2009)
At this point we were putting in a lot of miles each day to get home, so the only point of interest we saw was Redwood National and State Parks. In Klamath, we couldn't miss the opportunity to drive through a tree:
Somewhere near the visitor center we spotted this large group of what I believe are elk. We get pretty excited when we see a lot at one time.
We went on one or two short trails, but since it's been so long, I can't remember what they were called. I just know that the kids had been sick of hiking for many days at this point, but I think they had fun here? I'm not even going to ask them to verify that. Here are a few pictures from the trail that look like good evidence to me:
In case you're wondering how I was doing by day 13, just take a look at this beauty:
Thursday, July 16, 2009
(Posted December 29, 2009)
On the twelfth day of our trip we traveled through the fog as we made our way down the Oregon coast,
and stopped for a visit to Heceta Head Lighthouse.
We took a short trail up to the lighthouse,
stopped for a few pictures,
and took a tour when we came to the end of our mini-hike. During the tour, I took a picture of these: 
and Dan took a picture of this (the brains of the lighthouse): 
We spent some time playing on the beach in some very cold water.
That afternoon we took a break from the sightseeing and went bowling in North Bend, OR.
That night we had more down time at the hotel. I think by that time the kids were either sick of swimming or it was too cold. We ordered pizza, watched TV, read, and surfed, and tried to rest up for day 13!
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
(Posted August 30, 2009)
Day 11 took us to several points along the northern coast of Oregon. Our first stop was Astoria.
Besides being a beautiful, old-fashioned seaside town, it is also where Goonies was filmed. We wanted to see the Goonies House, so we followed the welcome sign . . .
. . .and snapped a photo in front of the house. Unfortunately, there's that huge bush now that blocks a lot of the view. Just try to imagine Data zipping from his house next door to this one.
Then we marched up 164 steps to get the the top of the Astoria Column. (Kaylynn opted out of this one because she has a mild fear of heights.)
The column has a spiral of scenes on the outside depicting the area's history of exploration and migration, but we were more awed by the views of the Columbia River, and this four mile bridge that we later drove across. (We kind of had a thing about crossing any and all bridges that we could.)
We were amused by this sign on the Washington side of the bridge. It really gets the point across:
After driving back over the bridge and back into Oregon, we just had to check out the shipwreck of the Peter Iredale at Fort Stevens State Park. I mean really, what's cooler than an actual shipwreck? (It ran ashore during bad weather in 1906, and nobody died or anything, but the kids had fun climbing all over it.)
Next stop: Fort Clatsop--where they have built a replica of the fort that the Lewis and Clark Expedition stayed in before returning east. The kids had fun testing out the beds, including the one Sacajawea slept in, and hanging out at the tables wondering what kind of food the members of the expedition ate.
And then, as if we hadn't seen enough that day, we took a tour of the Tillamook Cheese Factory.
We've never seen so much cheese at once in our lives, and never such huge blocks of it. I think it's just the camera and the lighting, but it sure seems like everything was orange like the cheese.
One of the best parts of the factory is the ice-cream counter! Tons of flavors to try. I had a sampler of three different scoops, and Dan had two ice-cream cones just to try another different flavor. It's no wonder I gained ten pounds on this trip! Here's Jeremy enjoying his selection.
All in all, quite a busy day. At this point the sugary, caffeinated beverages I was guzzling had ceased to have any energizing effect on me, and I was ready to crash by the time we got to the hotel.
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
(Posted August 26, 2009)
This is what Mt. St. Helens looked like the day before it erupted in 1980:
Here's a picture two years later, missing a chunk from its north side, letting off a little steam:
And here's our view in July of 2009:
We started out at a visitor center at the base of the mountain, where we could have spent hours, but . . . oh yeah, we have these kids who can take it all in in about five minutes.
Here's a picture of Anna avidly learning about the different volcanic eruptions in history and how they compare to one another. She's sitting next to the representation of Mt. St. Helens, and I believe the big one is Krakatoa.
After that we went on a little nature hike behind the visitor's center that the kids really liked because of the many lily pads and a frog sighting:
Here's some of the other wildlife we observed:
We then drove even closer and had spectacular views of damage from the volcanic mudflows. We visited yet another visitor center (the kids were so excited), where we watched a chaotic film presentation that made a couple of us paranoid (namely me and my seven-year-old nephew). The film ended with a dramatic opening of curtains, revealing a huge window with a view of the horseshoe shaped crater formed by the eruption:
It was here that Amy picked up one of her favorite souvenirs of the trip--a little mouse puppet that I believe she named Mrs. Mouse.
Before we went to Mt. St. Helens, I wasn't sure how we would enjoy it, but it was very fascinating as well as tragic to hear about those who lost their lives and livelihoods due to the eruption. Dan remembers seeing it on the news; I remember being vaguely aware of what had happened (I was seven at the time). Its definitely a reminder that we're living on an active planet that has its own agenda. You just hope that you're not in the wrong place at the wrong time!
Monday, July 13, 2009
(Posted Monday August 17, 2009).jpg)
Day nine took us to the place I've been dreaming about going for several years: Mt. Rainier National Park. I'm not sure where my dream originated, but I knew we had to stop there even though we only had a day. We discovered before we left Chris and Tiffani's that a major road at the south of the park was closed due to damage from the bad winter, so we were limited in what areas we could explore.
We came into the park from the East at the White River Entrance, and then wound our way through fog and mist to the Sunrise Visitors Center. I cried when we got out of the car, whether from the breathtaking beauty or wacky hormone levels due to living on junk food for over a week, I don't know. Between the snow-capped peak and colorful wildflowers, I felt like I stepped into Heidi, or maybe The Sound of Music.
From there we took a short hike to some lookouts, but our view was blocked by clouds, darn it. We waited to see if they would pass, but no luck, so we took some pictures of the kids instead. What's more beautiful--Mt. Rainier or my children (and their cousins)? Hmmmmm....
From the parking lot we got a better glimpse of Mt. Rainier, which is considered an active volcano. It is "sleeping, not dead." It could erupt at any time. And yes, I am talking about the mountain and not Kaylynn.
From Sunset, we made our way to the Ohanapecosh area at the southeastern corner of the park. The highlight there was the Grove of the Patriarchs Nature Trail.
We hiked upstream about a half a mile before come to a suspension bridge that we had to cross one at a time. This took a while with nine of us. The bridge took us to an island in the Ohanapecosh River, where giant red cedars and Douglas firs that are about 1000 years old can be seen. Amazingly, everyone had a pretty good attitude on this hike. Attitude was becoming a big issue by this time.
On the way out we got a picture by the park sign. I was so happy to have a reason to be wearing a jacket. I hear it was blazing hot in SoCal at the time. I was sad to leave, but someday we'll go back there for longer and see more of Mt. Rainier's beauty.
That night we stayed in lodge type hotel that was quaint, but had spotty internet access (I think this is when I lost my resolve to blog at the end of each day) and cold showers. We had bologna sandwiches, chips, and ice-cream bars that night. We really pamper ourselves on these road trips.
