One last day . . .

For our last day in Oregon we stayed close by. We started the day off by walking through many of the cute little stores through town. We bought sweatshirts, t-shirts, and some salt water taffy! When I was walking back from town with my dad we walked past the harbor and saw two of these little guys swimming around:

It was so cool! They were swimming around the area where fish are being cleaned so that they could enjoy the scraps being thrown over the edge. It was so much fun watching them!

We spent the rest of the day enjoying some nearby beaches. Liz and I joked that the first beach we went to was good for exfoliating our feet. The sand was dark and really coarse, and there were big, beautiful boulders all along the beach.

Later, we headed over to another beach, the kind that you generally think of when you think of beaches. This one had lots of lighter, fine sand (the kind that Ivy LOVES)!!! She had one more chance to crawl around and get covered in the stuff . . .

and she even taught Maddie just how fun the sand can be! Mads was still a little hesitant and not thrilled that the sand made her feet dirty, but she actually walked through it today and had fun! At one point I heard Maddie say "uh-oh", when I turned around Maddie's shorts were lying in the shallow water. She wiggled out of them once they got wet and spent the rest of the time running around in her diaper. Funny girl!

The beach we went to was the same beach we were at when we took this sister picture (below) in 2001. We decided to try and recreate it, eight years later.

This was the closest we got!

Then we decided that we needed an updated sister picture, since we have another sister now!

I love the beaches here! I love that I can wear shorts and a sweatshirt. I am way more comfortable in that than a swimsuit!

It has been incredible! I could stay here for several more weeks, but now it is time to return to reality!

Just horsing around in Oregon!

Today we drove south to the town of Florence. The drive was incredible, with beautiful veiws of the coast. We stopped along the way for a picnic lunch, and took a picture for the 2009 Christmas card. Can't you tell that attractive genes run in the family ;-)

After eating lunch we went to the Sea Lion Caves. Lacey found a pamphlet that talked about these sea lion caves and we knew we had to go. The cave itself is one of the largest sea caves in the world and is a place where sea lions flock naturally (So all the sea lions you see are not forced to be there, and can leave any time, but they don't because they like it). Even before entering the cave you can look out in the ocean and see sea lions playing.

When you walk into the cave you look down and can see hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of sea lions sleeping on the rocks, and playing with each other. There are so many that they are laying on top of each other. It is a phenomenal sight! It is pretty loud in the cave due to the sea lions and crashing waves. I had never actually seen a sea lion, and I could have stayed there all day just observing them. As I watched I learned many things about sea lions that I hadn't known. For example, did you know that sea lions use their tails to scratch like a dog uses it's back leg? If you ever get a chance to come here, take it! It is so much fun!

After the cave we split into two groups. Grandma, Karl, Liz, Maddie & Ivy left to go on a dune buggy ride through the dunes.

Dad, Mom, Lacey, Steve, Eric & I went horseback riding. After being assigned a horse our group headed off. First we went on a trail through a beautiful wooded area. Next, we rode up and down through some sand dunes before we reached our final destination - the beach!

I love horseback riding on the beach! It is something that everyone should experience at least once in their lives! Today was a perfect day for it. The weather was great, and there was a mist rolling in off of the ocean and across the tops of the trees (which made it feel almost dream like). It was BEAUTIFUL! Even the guides commented on how unusual and pretty it was!

We are NOT experienced riders, but we still had a lot of fun!

Hercules & Dad

Kansas & Mom

Minx & Eric

Styles & Steve, Woody & Lacey

Me & Buddy

I wish I could ride on the beach every day. I don't think it could ever get old!

Afterwards we all met back up and headed over to Mo's to enjoy some clam chowder. You can't come to Oregon and skip the chowder!

Cows, cheese, and ice cream

Today we loaded up the cars and headed over to Tillamook, Oregon for the day. We had heard that there was a fun park/lighthouse in the area, so we headed there first to enjoy a picnic.

The picnic itself was great, but the best part was getting to watch the two little girls. They have gotten to spend a lot of time together this trip, and they have loved it! They are so funny to watch!

After lunch we walked up to see the "Octopus Tree". We weren't sure what to expect at all, but when we saw the tree, the name fit! It looks like an octopus tree!

I think that every trip to the Oregon Coast needs a visit to a lighthouse. This trip we decided to visit the Meares Lighthouse. It is far smaller than many lighthouses that I have seen, but it is quaint and well kept, and they let you go up into the lens, which was fun!

This is a picture of Maddie (waving) Liz and I in the lens. The guide explained how the white light/red light/ dark combination that the lighthouse produced would tell captains where they were and how close they were. I was surprised to see how HOT it was in the lens. As fun as it was, I was ready to get out of there by the end!

Before we left the tourguide gave Maddie a sticker and she became a member of the upside down club. This is where she put her sticker. That is where stickers are supposed to go, right?

After visiting the lighthouse we all headed over to the Tillamook Cheese Factory. Tillamook is known for there amazing cheese, and our family is quite obsessed with cheese. Seriously. We eat A LOT of the stuff.

First we took a tour and watched how cheese is made. I always find it fasinating to see how factories work.

Then came the part we had all looked forward to - the cheese tasting! They had five different kinds for us to try. My favorite was the medium white cheddar. Excellent.

Our family doesn't discriminate when it comes to dairy products, we love them all! And since Tillamook Cheese Factory also happens to make excellent ice cream, we thought we might as well try some of that also! I had the blueberry cheesecake, and Tillamook Mudslide. It was great!

We are loving life here in Oregon!

Go Fish!

Another item on my bucket list is to catch a fish. Yes, I Katie, had never caught a fish. I just never had a chance to catch one. It just so happens that fishing off the Oregon Coast is GREAT, so I jumped at the chance for a deep sea fishing excursion. As my mom put it, it was "The guys & Katie" today. We left early and headed down to the dock to jump on board. Our ship looked like this:

The crew & captain of the ship were phenomenal! They were extremely helpful, and watching the big, burly captain take our picture with my little pink camera made me smile! The day was perfect, not a cloud in sight! We headed out on the sea, threw some crab cages on our way, and searched for the best fishing spots we could find.

Having never caught a fish, I had no idea what to expect, or what it would feel like when I caught a fish. We all dropped our lines and waited. People around me started catching fish right away. My dad caught one. Karl caught one. And I waited. And waited. And waited. I worried that I wouldn't catch a single fish. Finally, the tip of my pole began to bend down. I had one! My dad grinned and yelled to the captain, who rushed over to assist in pulling it out of the water. I felt so cool. And then it came out. I looked something like this:

Despite the slightly confused look on my face, I really did think it was awesome! I just didn't know what I was supposed to do with it! The captain knocked it out, threw it in our basket, and I dropped my line again.

The day in general was quite a success. Beginners luck was not with me, I caught only two fish (though I was extremely grateful for both of those beauties!) Dad caught 4, and Karl won with a grand total of 10 fish. Steve didn't fare quite as well. He had a bad case of what the company calls the "Deathly Hollows", and spent most of the time either leaning over the side of the boat or lying in the cabin. Poor Steve.

On our way back we picked up the 10 crab cages that we had dropped on our way out. Everyone helped pull them in, anxious to see how many crabs we had gotten. After throwing back all of the females (which you can't keep) we got 4 1/2 crabs per person. We got to take 17 1/2 home with us!

The best part about the whole adventure is that we didn't have to clean the fish! When we got back to the dock we threw all of our fish up to be cleaned & filleted, and the crabs to be cleaned and steamed all for 50 cents per sea creature. If you ask me, it was well worth the money!

When we got home we all gathered round the kitchen and cracked open the crabs. It took us about an hour, but we got TONS of crab meat. Tonight we enjoyed crab & asparagus crepes. Fabulous.

So I get to cross one more item off of my bucket list, though I am sure it is something I will do over, and over again. It was way more fun than I expected, and the rewards are quite delicious!

A life ambition

This morning my dad, mom and I hiked to a nearby waterfall. It was so different from the beauty of the shoreline that we have been enjoying, but it was lovely all the same! Much of the shrubbery made us all feel pretty small:

which was fun!

You had to cross a suspension bridge to see the waterfall. I love waterfalls, and I love bridges! Especially the kind that you can sway back and forth on. Kind of weird, but true!

The best place to take a picture of Driftcreek Waterfall is from the bridge. While taking pictures of the waterfall we realized that our shadows made their way into the pictures. Can you find us?

We had a little bit too much fun with that!

This afternoon we introduced the little ladies of our family to the beach. Ivy loved the beach! Much of the time was spent pulling her out of the water.

Maddie, on the other hand, did NOT like the beach so much. She spent most of her time like this:

Ever since I was a teenager I have wanted to fly kites on the beach. It even made it on my bucket list. I saw someone doing it once and thought it looked magical. We figured that this was a perfect opportunity! We all brought kites from home, and today took advantage of the cool sea breeze, perfect for kite flying!

Surprisingly, all five of our kites made it up into the air. My kite (Ollie, the Octopus) was probably the worst flier. He was easy to get into the air, but he liked to do flips and turns and ended up nose-diving after a few minutes. Nevertheless, it was SO MUCH FUN! I probably looked like a 5 year old, frolicking around the beach trying to get my kite to stay in the air. I don't mind though, it was worth it!

So if you ever get the chance, fly a kite on the beach! The breeze makes it way easier to get and keep it up, and it looks so gorgeous, the bright colors against the blue sky, the sound of waves crashing behind you! A worthy bucket-list ambition!

Tonight the fog lifted enough that we were able to see the sun set. It looked like the ocean swallowed the sun up whole. A perfect ending to a fabulous day!

A Vacation Conversation

When I was packing my suitcase I forgot to throw my church shoes in, so they ended up getting tossed underneath a seat in the van at the last minute. This morning when we were leaving for church I was searching under the seats for my shoes. I had this conversation with my mom.

Mom: What are you looking for?

Me: My church shoes.

Mom: They aren't in here.

Me: Where are they?

Mom: In the pantry.

Me: In the pantry???

Mom: In a cooler.

Me: WHAT?!?!

I went to investigate, and sure enough, my church shoes had ended up in a cooler in the pantry. Only on one of our family vacations would this happen!

One day in Portland

YAY!!! WE MADE IT!!! It took a while, but we are here! We left Utah early Friday morning with all of our stuff crammed into a van and a car. We drove all day friday, stopping for a quick lunch and dinner, and arrived in Portland around 10:30. Then we all crashed and slept like a bunch of logs!

One day in Portland is not enough. I could spend a lot of time exploring that city! Saturday morning I had the chance to visit Heaven. Seriously. We went to a bookstore (Powell's Books)that took up an entire block, and was several stories high. I could live in that place! Sadly, we could only stay for an hour before we were off to pick up Grandma, Liz and Maddie at the airport. We were glad to finally have the whole family in Oregon.

We then jumped back in the cars to drive several more hours to our final destination. We stopped along the way at a produce stand to take advantage of the local fruits and veggies (and a homemade boysenberry pie - YUM!). We were all excited to finally get to Depoe Bay. It is as wonderful as I remembered! The weather is about 65 degrees, our deck looks over the ocean, I have already had my first whale & seal sightings, and a beautiful mist is sitting over the city. It's amazing!

We have spent most of today recouperating from the trip, but we did take a drive to see Cape Foulweather (which despite it's name was really quite beautiful)! This made me laugh:

I can already tell you that one week is not going to be enough - I may need to consider moving here indefinitely.