At the beginning of September, we had an opportunity to take an incredible vacation with Gordon and Sandy. Gordy decided that he wanted to take us to the west coast, Oregon specifically, because I had never been and it's one of his favorite places on earth. It was also to celebrate the end of law school and the bar being over and done with.
Since there were some things we wanted to see along the way, driving was the way to go. But being cooped up in a car for the long drive with two little boys and the cost of hotels on top of travel expenses made us consider taking an RV. And let me just tell you, it. was. awesome.
We got the RV from the rental company and had everything loaded up and we were on the road by lunch time. We were on the road for no more than 15 minutes and Sandy and I started getting lunch ready for all of the boys. I was just dishing up from a huge bowl of pasta salad in the kitchen,(which is in the middle of the RV) and the next thing in know I slammed into the back of the front passenger seat, knocking Charlie over (he was buckled into his traveling high chair) on the way. I seriously flew through the air. It hurt pretty bad, but I was really grateful it wasn't the windshield that stopped me when Gordy slammed on the brakes to avoid a car drifting into our lane. Poor Charlie was so confused about how I knocked him over. We were all shaken up for a few minutes, and then Sandy started laughing because as I was flying through the air, I held onto the bowl of pasta salad, and I didn't even spill it. It was pretty funny when I pictured myself flying through the air with giant bowl of food. Charlie and I both had a bruise, but we learned our lesson early on; no walking around while the RV is moving.
Our first stop was a gas station in the middle of a desert, which had llamas. That was pretty cool for the boys, but we actually parked right next to them, so when we opened the door to get out, we let like 500 flies in our RV. We spent the rest of the trip trying to get rid of those dang flies. Not cool.
We drove into the night until we all started to get sleepy and then we spent the night in a Wal-Mart parking lot with bout a hundred other RVs. No exaggeration. We got an early start to our day, thanks to Charlie... We all brushed our teeth in the wal-mart bathroom and then headed off.
We stopped at a fish hatchery next. The weather was just absolutely incredible. It was like a dream. And the fish hatchery was really cool too. I thought that it would be smelly and kind of gross, but it was very well maintained and the grounds were just lovely. There were gigantic hydrangea everywhere.
When we were all finished there. we drove right around the corner to Multnomah Falls. Talk about breath taking. This is one of those places that makes you in awe over the beauty and majesty of God's creations. It's like a scene out of a fairy tale. There is a short paved hike up to the bridge, and we took the boys up. We had them walk all the way up and down to burn some energy and it worked like a charm. The walk was gorgeous. Everything was just consumed with thick green moss. After we hiked down, we let the boys play in a little stream while a musician nearby serenaded us. The boys were completely soaked by the end, and we ended up carrying their freezing wet little bodies back to the RV to change their clothes.
Then, we swung by Gordon's old work at Fred Myer so he could surprise an old co-worker friend. Then, we got to see the house Gordon and Sandy brought baby Gordy home too. I loved seeing where they lived.
Then, we drove on in to Portland and had such a nice visit with Aunt Caron and Uncle Dennis and their little dogs. They were such gracious hosts and had such a nice lunch ready for us when we walked in the door.
Then it was on to the beach. We, and by we I mostly mean Jack and Charlie, were so ready to be out of the RV. So, when we made it to the coast by dinner time, we didn't waste anytime going to the camp ground, we went straight to the beach! To say it was amazing would be the understatement of a life time. The entire time I just couldn't believe what I was seeing.
The boys, of course loved playing in the sand and stretching their legs, but while they played, Sandy got us a table at Mo's, her favorite seaside restaurant. It was getting pretty chilly outside, so I was super excited about a hot bowl of clam chowder, and let me tell you, it did not disappoint.
After dinner, we went back out onto the beach to watch the sunset. It was kind of this hazy magical thing. Of course the boys were drawn to the water like some kind of magnet, even though the water was so cold it felt like pins and needles when you touched it. AND, of course they both caught knocked over by a big unexpected wave and were soaking wet and cold, and that was the end of that.
Then we went to the campsite and checked in. By then it was getting dark and it was pretty hilarious to watch Gordy try to hook up the poop shoot in the dark. But, I must say that I'm pretty proud of my man. Even being a novice RV-er and in the dark, the men folk got things figured out.
In the morning, we slowly got ourselves ready. Jack played dinosaurs for a while, and then we all walked to breakfast. On the way, I was just amazed that the most delicious blackberries grow EVERYWHERE! I must have picked an entire pints worth on my way to breakfast alone. We ended up walking around the town for a while looking for the breakfast place that Gordon and Sandy remembered. It was pretty cold outside, but it was worth the walk and the wait!
After breakfast, we walked around town for a while, looking in shops and what not. Then we headed to Haystack Rock. We fed the birds, we played in the tide pools, we dug in the sand.
The next day, was laundry day. We swam in the pool at the campground too. That evening, we drove over to Seaside to get some icecream. Unfortunately, everything was closed. But we did end up riding a carosel and swinging on the beach at sunset.
Since the ice cream shop was closed, we ended up going by a grocery store and buying local Tillamok chocolate ice cream. It is probably the best ice cream on the planet.
The next day, we decided to head on our adventure and hit the road again. Our next stop was Spokane, but we had to drive through Portland, and if you drive through Portland there are a few things you should do, like go to VooDoo Donuts and see the Portland temple and see another childhood home of your husband...
We continued on to Spokane, to visit with Gordy's Grandparents, Chuck and Shirlene. They have a house on beautiful Liberty Lake. We got to go to breakfast at Grandpa Chuck's favorite place, kid free (thanks for babysitting, Gordon). We played on their beach, went to a farmer's market, a church dog fair, had a nice lunch with Gordy's cousin and wife.
We also got a world class tour of downtown Spokane. We saw a giant radio flyer wagon with a slide, so that was a must do. We took a walk through a GORGEOUS park, and found the old carrousel that was just gorgeous! We took a gondola ride over the river and were trapped in our little gondola for way too long and it was SOOOO hot, but the views were incredible.
I like to tease Gordy about not being spontaneous, and the one time he does something truly spontaneous, I get kinda ticked. We all got off of the gondola ride, dripping in sweat, and Gordy ran through this giant water feature with the entire stroller, both boys, and diaper bag and all. There were literally PUDDLES of water inches deep in every nook and cranny of the stroller and diaper bag. It was such a hassle to clean up, but the boys thought that they had the coolest dad ever. It was worth it I guess...
We also got to spend a few hours in Couer'delene. Heaven on earth there. We happened to be there when the local high school was having a home coming parade, so that was fun for the boys to see. We also got to see some pretty awesome boats and take a tour of a really cool hotel lobby with some giant fish! Poor Charlie fell in the hotel lobby and smacked his head on the granite floor. It made such a loud smack, so so sad.
While we were at Gordy's grandparents house, we found out that GORDY PASSED THE BAR!!! It was the best news every because it meant all of his worry and hard work paid off (not to mention the bonus he would get from work if he passed)! SO incredibly proud of him!
Right before we left to head back to Utah, we had a nice picnic at Aunt Gay's house with the entire family. It was so nice to be together and let the boys play in her backyard.
We had such a fun and busy trip. It really was the trip of a life time! We are so grateful that Gordon and Sandy came along with us and treated us to such a fun time!
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