Oregon Road Trip: going home

It was hard to say goodbye to Oregon, especially when we were facing a very long haul to get home.

 We pulled over at Cape Sebastian for one last look of the lovely Oregon coast.  The kids weren't interested in stayed in the car.

And then we were on a mission.  Mission: home.  It took us over 10 hours with stops.  The kids were absolute troopers and did a lot of eating, reading, gazing out the window and a little of this.  

And that wraps up our epic Oregon road trip for summer 2016.  It was an amazing experience and I look forward to visiting Oregon again soon.

Oregon Road Trip: Day Six - beach day

We had originally thought we would drive home on Wednesday, July 27th, but we quickly realized after we had made the long trip north that we should take a little more time enjoying Oregon.  This made Wednesday a day to relax and explore.  

We headed north, crossing over the Rogue River via the Isaac Lee Patterson Bridge.  Still love that river.  

Our river guide recommended Arizona Beach, so we decided to check it out first.    

It was beautiful and there wasn't another soul there.  

Tom got pretty relaxed, pretty quickly.  

Father daughter selfie. 

Mussel creek ends at this beach.  

The kids love this kind of beach that has both the ocean's crashing waves and the calm waters of the creek gathering.  

It's no ordinary sand castle when Daddy gets involved.  

Unfortunately, it was a windy day and it began to defeat us, so we packed it up and headed north again.  We ended up at Port Orford.  It was very pretty but also very windy.  

Windy selfie.  

 We had a delicious late lunch at a little fish-n-chips place and then made our way back down to Gold Beach.

We stopped by the beach in front of the hotel and the kids were thrilled to see the stick they had stuck in the sand the day before was still there.

 They pretended it was a microphone.

 It was still windy, so we decided to hang out in the hot tubs for a while.

 We also had some bubble fun on our balcony.

We headed out in the early evening and discovered that the fire hydrants in Gold Beach were golden.  A local offered to take our picture next to it.  I think this is a common occurrence.  

Back to our home away from home.   

 Nothing really beats a taking in the beautiful view from the balcony.

It was a great day that was leisurely and fun.  We didn't have a jam-packed itinerary full of extreme adventuring and endurance hikes.  As enjoyable as it was, I don't think that will be the norm for us. 

Oregon Road Trip: Day Five - heading to the coast

We got up Tuesday morning eager to get to the beach.  The road lead us back into California in order to swing back up along the coast.  

It was overcast along the California coast, but shortly after crossing back into Oregon we found sunny skies and a perfect beach to explore.  

Can you tell she loves the beach?

The long dress didn't last long.  Luckily, the car was parked close by and I grabbed her something more beach-friendly. 

Leo loves the beach too.  

It was a really nice spot.  

After enough fun in the sand, we kept heading north and took a stop to check out a scenic overlook.  

Down a little path was a view of Arch Rock.  

We made it to our inn in Gold Beach.  Every room had an ocean view and access to the ocean front spas.  Of course, those had to be our first stop.  

 The beautiful deck overlooked the ocean with three hot tubs.

 This may have been my favorite vacation moment.

Beyond the hot tubs was a trail to the beach.

 More beach time = happy girl

 I told Serafina to show me a cartwheel but instead she heard "run fast".

 Here's her cartwheel.

 Here's Leo's.

 These recliners in the room facing the big windows overlooking the ocean were pretty perfect.

 Ahhh...beautiful sunset.

Sunset watching selfie.