Oregon Small Blog Bites
We started documenting our trip with small snippets at the end of each day. Here’s all of those daily snippets organized in a better manor to make it easier to follow our gap year journey. There is not a lot of information in these small notes but there are a lot of memories and I feel it gives a better day to day feeling of long term family travel. These mini-articles may not be SEO or Pinterest friendly enough to make a website run but I still think they’re fun. These post are more like small journal entries than webpages. Please Enjoy!
Vegas baby
Vegas baby … surprise lay over to start the trip. Apparently someone won 2 million in the terminal just after we left. Next time I have a layover in Vegas I’m putting more than $10 in those machines.
Also my birthday – I’m not sure how I managed to schedule most of our travel days on holidays. At least A got a good nap.
Portland’s Children’s Museum and Zoo
Portland has a wonderful part just outside of the main area of town called Washington Park. In the part there is lots of hiking, a large playground, zoo, rose gardens, forestry museum and a great kids museum. When we travel we always look for a kids museum and if we find one, we go. This one was great. After a full day of travel, then another day in the car circling around downtown, the kids just had a blast. They can run and play and be kids (that aren’t strapped in car seats). They had a large area outside that was perfect for hide and seek as well as several areas for building and art and imagination play. Kids museums and playgrounds turn OK vacations to great vacations. We also hit up the playground one morning and the zoo another. The museum was such a great treat that the kids still keep asking to go back 1 month later.
Camping and Hermione’s Purse
On each leg of this trip we are trying to downsize more and more. It’s a pain to carry large luggage and really we seem to wear the same clothes over and over. Downsizing continues to be a work in progress. We were able to get down to 3 checked bags, car seats and personal items for the flight to Portland. That includes most of our homeschool material and camping supplies. It’s fine to have luggage when you have a hotel or airbnb but for this part of the trip we had our rental car and that’s it.
The rental car became known as Hermiones Purse
We had a tent, smores sticks, campfire coffee maker and camp skillet (Randy’s must have) in the luggage. We bought a full and twin blow up mattress, 2 sleeping bags and 2 blankets. The problem is there was pretty much no room left in the car. We also had the possibility of being stuck in excessive traffic so we needed 3 days of emergency food and water. We had every little nook and crannie shoved with something but we did it. We had that car so packed there was no more room.
We kept our tent and supplies as small as possible and as a nice side effect it took us about 15 minutes to set up and take down the campsite (very helpful since we stayed in 4 different places). It usually takes us twice as long. We have learned how to be super dooper camp site setter uppers. Now repacking the car – that was tricky.
The kids (and us when we make is low maintenance) really enjoy camping, especially the smores. I love having the kids that involved in nature.
Checking off the Bucket List at Crater Lake Oregon
Crater Lake has always been high on my bucket list and since we were so close I couldn’t pass up the chance to go. Well, I can tell you – It was beautiful – I’m sure it was – I could just feel the beauty .. and if the smoke from the nearby forest fires would have lifted enough for us to see more than 100 feet I would probably have some great pictures and memories to prove it. However, instead we had 2 forest fires “smoldering” about 20 days before we arrived and it was a smokey mess. We stayed one night in the Mazama campground but decided to move down the road the next day. Black boogers are a sign …
I’m sure when it is not surrounded by forest fires Crater Lake is likely amazing. We will go back. We were able to swim in the caldera which was really cool (or cold depending on your half glass full or empty attitude). I’m still glad we went. I just wish I could have seen view.
I also would like to send a shout out to all the Pacific Coast Trail Hikers we passed. What a cool, eclectic group of people. I really enjoyed watching the PCT’ers gather outside the shops. How amazing that must feel to complete such a challenge. Makes me feel a little wimpy but at least I probably did smell a little better than the hikers (not likely much better with tent camping and hiking but it’s something).
We Swim in a Volcano at Crater Lake
Imagining the Views
It was smokey when we went to Crater Lake National Park in Oregon but that didn’t stop us from having some fun. We just happened to pick a time when there where 3 separate large forest fires in the area. They were controlled but the entire area was still very smokey.
I’d love to say that the views from Crater Lake were amazing – What I’ll say instead is I can definitely imagine behind the smoke there where awe-inspiring views. I know the views are great, we just couldn’t see them.
Taking a Hike
We did still have a really good time. I absolutely recommend taking the Cleetwood Cove Trail down to the caldera. It’s a tough trail so take your time and remember you have to make your way back up too. It’s a mile hike and somewhat steep but really enjoyable. Parking is at the top and you just snake down the side of the volcano. At the bottom there is a boat that you can book tours on and you can swim … in the volcano. Who wouldn’t want to swim in a volcano?
Time to Swim in a Volcano
I don’t do cold water and someone had to stay near shore to make sure the 3-year-old doesn’t sink. I did at least put my feet in. The other ones went for it and had a blast. It was chilly but I heard that once you got a little way from the shore you could find some “warm spots.” Me, if I jumped in that water my body would just stop working and even with 10 years of competitive swimming and years being a lifeguard I would just sink to the very deep bottom. There were several cliffs that you can jump from. They were a little taller than what I would be comfortable letting M jump but next time …
It was beautiful and definitely part of my bucket list. The water is crystal clear. If you swim a little off shore you can see a hundred feet down. Randy helped B swim out and when he looked down he screeched in surprise and joy.
Do We Stay or Do We Go?
When we started planning this trip we did not know about the pending solar eclipse. So it was a lucky accident that we ended up so close to the area or totality. Or original plan had us staying at Crater Lake for 2 nights then transferring to Oregon Coast on the 21st. To get to the area of totality from crater lake would normally be a 90 minute to 3 hour drive depending on the location. The entire area was forecasted to be gridlocked in traffic around eclipse time. We had been debating back and forth on giving it a try or just taking a 95% coverage view over crater lake. We had not made our mind up either way.
So when crater lake was smoked in we bailed on our last night of camping in Crater Lake and just took off in the direction of the coast and close to the totality zone. We found a great campsite along a lake in a small town for the night. We got up at 5 the next day and headed to 1-5. The traffic was OK. The atmosphere at the rest stops and other places was infectious. 95% eclipse was just not good enough and the next night’s campsite was much better on the nose – no more black boogers.
The Eclipse
We packed up camp early and drove up I-5. Once we got in to the area of totality we jumped off on back roads and kept heading north. We followed a road through open fields and down all the side roads people were setting up for viewing.
We were trying to decide our stopping point and … bagpipes. Someone was playing bagpipes on the side of the road – that’s definitely our sign.
So we watched the eclipse with about 20 other people on the side of the road in middle of no where Oregon and someone had bagpipes. It was so surreal and perfect. The eclipse was one of those amazing experiences. I’m so grateful we made it to totality. Less than totality would not have been the same. It was so vivid and beautiful. We all loved it. I think we may become eclipse chasers.
Eclipse Alerts
Newport, Oregon
On the way to our campsite on the Oregon we stopped in Newport for lunch. The town is cute and we took some time to walk a few blocks to take in all the sites and smells. I can not stop in these kind of towns without chowder and fish and chips. I don’t eat clam chowder anywhere else but if I’m in a west coast town it’s chowder every chance I get … so yummy. The kids (and us too) really enjoyed watching the seals and sea lions soak up the sun and battle for dock space. Those dudes are big, and loud – I totally wouldn’t mess with them.
Camping on the Oregon Coast
After the eclipse we drove west through Newport and then south to our campsite at Beachside State Park. The beach was really nice but foggy and chilly. The campsite itself would have been nice too but many of the tent sites including ours was way to close to the road for a quiet night. Beachside is near a cute little town and we really enjoyed eating at one of the small restaurants. The camping area was along a large sandy beach so we spent most of our time walking the coastline. It was a little chilly sleeping but I got some handwarmers to keep everyone snuggly warm. We packed up the tent site in the morning and headed North to explore more of the Oregon Coast.
I did get a picture of Randy repacking Hermione’s Purse (the rental car) – hard to believe all that stuff and the five of us all fit.
Oregon Coast Aquarium
Our first stop on our tour up the coast was the Newport Aquarium. Randy needed to log in to work, the kids needed to run around, and I thought I could pawn of some of this homeschool kid learning stuff on the aquarium.
Randy was working from the car but when his computer’s battery got low he snuggled in to a spot in the cafeteria. This aquarium is not the biggest I’ve been to but it’s definitely worth a trip.
I enjoyed the the layout and it had all the typical aquarium must haves. They did have the best touch tanks that I have seen. The kids got to feel urchins, barnacles, clams, several different mollusks, starfish, anemones, cucumbers, tube worms and many more. Apparently sea urchins will hug your finger and anemones will stick but the green ones on display where not strong enough to sting. Red ones are more trouble (or so we heard).
Tillamook Factory
Like a Scene from a Movie
On our way to our next stop we took a break to check out Cannon Beach. This place is amazing. If it looks familiar there is a reason – the rocks are movie stars. At the base of the rocks there is a “sea garden.” The tidal pools are filled with hundreds of sea anemones, star fish, clams and other tidal creatures. We had so much fun playing in the sand, chasing the waves and exploring the tidal pools. It’s been rated several times as one of the worlds best beaches – I can see why.
3 Days of Beach Bliss in Seaside Oregon
Before and during this trip I had looked at so many different lodging options that they were all blending together. After camping for 3 nights I just wanted a comfortable bed and a hot shower. What we got instead was a great 2 bedroom with kitchen and fireplace – Awesome!
I really like the small complex that we stayed it. It was right at the end of the boardwalk and so pleasant. We went for numerous walks down the beach and boardwalk. It was such a relaxing few days and a great choice for lodging. We even got to have a firepit on the beach for smores. That’s such a cool thing to do and definitely not allowed on my hometown beaches.
Seaside is such a great town. I wish we could have stayed longer.
The Washington Coast and my new Found Phobia of Bridges
We packed up and headed out aiming for Washington State and Olympic National Park. We stopped in Astoria for lunch. Cute town, everything in this area is cute.
I was driving so Randy could work. On the way out of town there is a “bridge.” I don’t generally have problems driving over bridges and I don’t usually have problems with heights (usually) but this thing was freaky. I kept having flashbacks to that a nightmare that I had when I was like 10 of being on a steep bridge that had steep loops and falling off. This thing is very tall (I think the clearance is 200 feet) and it has some really large spans. The pics do not do it justice. The stopping on the highest curb for 15 minutes for road work didn’t help either. Neither did all the tsunaumi warning signs along the way. Thankfully, no earthquakes while on the super tall bridge. Made it across just fine. No panic attacks or anything 
We’re a family of 5 (Physician Assistant mom, IT project manager dad and 3 kids ages 3,6,10) taking a gap year from normal life to travel. For blog posts, locations, and more information on how we did it and how you can to click here.
