The beautiful Oregon Coast

This year for our family vacation (we are chipping away at our list before kids go to college) we decided to spend the kid's spring break along the beautiful Oregon Coast.

We are talking a serious ROAD TRIP.  We did quite a bit of driving and visited three different time shares, including stops at Klamath Falls, Seaside, and Depoe Bay!  We saw some beautiful scenery, sat in the hot tub, rode our bikes, explored the coolest tide pool, walked along the beach, watched a few movies, experienced “pitch black” in a cave many times bigger than our house, swam in the pools, played ping pong, ate lots of snacks, visited a few sites, got Dairy Queen (shocker, my kids didn’t even know what Dairy Queen is…that is all I grew up with in a small Idaho town!) “happy hour” coke milk-shakes, went on a hike, and even climbed a light house.  All in all, a great trip with some super memories!

We were just pulling up to check in when…it wouldn’t be a road trip without at least one child throwing up, right?  Oh so close and then to have to clean up the remains and try to deal with the smell…good times!  Oh well, these are the days.  I guess when you’re little you don’t feel it coming?!?   Thank goodness for Febreeze!

Our first stop was Klamath Falls, Oregon, just barely over the California border.  Here, we visited Lava Beds National Monument.

We love visiting the National Parks and my kids have now added this park to their list of Junior Park Ranger.  Our ranger took it quite seriously as after they finished their book requirements, she swore them in by having them read and repeat, “As a Lava Beds Junior Ranger, I pledge to explore all that I can above and below ground.  I pledge to learn about and protect the natural, cultural, and geological resources of all National Park Service sites.”  They then earned their appropriate badges and we picked up an addition to our patch collection for our hiking backpack.

As of January 2011, this national park has 777 known caves.  We checked out our flash lights and we’re off to explore Mushpot cave, Valentine cave (1635 feet), and Skull cave.

For the most part the kids LOVED the exploring. Some of the caves are HUGE (can you see my little family in there on the right?) and some have places to duck or even crawl. 

 We were all alone and so at times even I was a little nervous (mountain lions and rattlesnakes were one of the risks listed- yikes!).  It was VERY dark even with seven flashlights.  We had a great time.  We finished up our night barbecuing on our back porch for dinner, swimming at the indoor pool, and watching movies.

               The next morning we woke up to beautiful blue skies and took a bike ride around the Running Y area, before heading to Seaside.  It was about a seven hour drive with patches of snow and evergreen trees as far as you could see.  The kids were great travelers and we got there at dinner time, caught some pizza at a local “ma and pop” dine in pizza shop.  It was barbecue chicken with one of the yummiest crusts ever.  Tyler and I took a late night dip in the hot tub down at the pool right off the sand.

 Seaside, although very small, remains one of the coast’s most popular year-round destinations.  The timeshare where we were staying was beautiful.

We spent the morning at the pool before lunch (Aubrey’s leftover pizza got stolen by a seagull off our seventh story balcony!) and headed out to explore the nearby area.  We first went to Cannon Beach.  The city doesn’t specify materials, but many people use shingle siding making the buildings compatible with the character and setting of the city and resembling Carmel, California.  Haystack Rock, the unofficial symbol of Cannon Beach, lies just south.  It was very windy, we got cold quickly and didn’t stay too long.

   We set off and found a beautiful waterfall, called Youngs River Falls.

A short hike to this 65 foot waterfall was perfect.  After such a pretty drive and dinner we enjoyed a low key movie night piled on the King size bed together! It is always so nice to be on vacation without the normal distractions...no phone calls, no computer, no laundry needing to be folded.  We really enjoyed some great family, down time.

Thursday we headed for one of Oregon’s top 10 Attractions (really I read that in a magazine), the Tillamook Cheese Factory tour.  It was a self-guided tour that gives you a look at the cheesemaking room and packaging line, with videos and historical displays along the way, ending with cheese and ice cream samples.

 We then took the Three Capes Scenic Loop down to Depoe Bay.  We stopped at Cape Meares state park.  It’s light house was built in 1886 and is Oregon’s shortest lighthouse, standing only 38 feet tall.  The lighthouse was vandalized in January 2010 and was waiting on funding to get repaired so no was allowed up inside.

 It also had an “Octopus tree”, (an unusually large Sitka spruce tree aptly named for its unique shape) the kids really liked.  And of course such picturesque coastal lines at every turn!

 We got to Depoe Bay, had dinner, and enjoyed swimming at the resort indoor pool, putting kids to bed, and a walk along the coast line.  Here is the gorgeous spot where we stayed.

I never tire of hearing the waves roll in.

Friday was my favorite day of our week!  We woke up to bright blue skies and headed off with a full list of things to discover in Newport.  We took the Otter Crest Loop, once Highway 101 itself, the road is now a scenic one way road with spectacular views.

Our first stop was Cape Foulweather (was named on a day of particular inclement weather).  It had a great gift shop where the kids found some “treasures” and a breathtaking view.  We even chatted with some guys filming for BYU-TV there.  Next we stopped at Devils Punchbowl, where during winder storms, water from the restless ocean slams with a thundering roar into a hollow rock formation shaped like a huge punch bowl.

Next we went to Yaquina Head, which ended up being almost the unanimous favorite spot for the week!  First we stopped at the most amazing tide pool we have ever seen.  Tide happened to be VERY low this week (as in, 52 week low) and so we could see TONS of different marine life.
We were at Cobble Beach a long time, loving finding and touching the star fish, anemones, and many other colorful plants and animals.  We also admired the nearby small island where beautiful white seals basked in the sun with their little pups.

We tried our best to not step on anything alive, yikes that was hard with little feet just trying to balance without falling in!!

After the tide pools and with a few wet shoes we climbed to the top of the historic lighthouse.  Built in 1873, at 93 feet tall, Oregon’s tallest lighthouse continues to cast its light with the original lens in place.  The visitor center, short tour, and of course, the views were fantastic!

 After lunch we got to Newport and checked out the Hatfield Marine Science center.  Run by Oregon State University, this had some informative and hands on exhibits.  We spent the rest of the afternoon at the Oregon Coast Aquarium.  This world class facility, rated in the top ten in the U.S., has indoor and outdoor exhibits.  I think feeding the sea lions was our favorite, they performed tricks like a Seaworld show!  We also loved their “passages of the deep” where you could walk through a suspended underwater acrylic tunnel to see sharks, bat rays, and other deep sea fish swimming around, above, and even under you.

 On our way out we found a fun play area, started off watching the kids play and then joined in playing tag!  A simple, fun memory I want forever in my mind.  It was as if time were frozen, no one else was around, no interruptions or time constraints.  We laughed, squealed, and enjoyed every minute together! 

I had put dinner in the crock pot so we came back to our time share enjoyed dinner, drove a few miles up the road to Gleneden to chase the waves a few more times (it was really windy), got some ice cream to enjoy with our view off our porch, played some ping-pong and got to bed (well after cleaning up two kids throw up, but I’ll spare you the details).  It was a great day!

Although we still had more vomit to endure on the ride home, we enjoyed a BEAUTIFUL drive home on Saturday.