Day 3

Day three, Wednesday found us at Bandon Ocean Wayside.  I think we all agreed that this was our favorite beach so far.  If we were to ever have a family reunion on the Oregon Coast this would be the place of choice to go.  I believe this beach may have been called Coos.  Not positive.  Or Bandon Ocean Wayside.

Annie and I were walking along and low and behold we came to a name in the sand.  Tucker!  We had to take a picture and send it to Tucker.  He responded back immediately saying that they were just there!  We certainly had a good laugh.

Found a little critter.

 Abby climbing up in some rocks on the beach.

Leaving the beach.

 Cleaning our feet and even washed Digby's feet.

From here we headed to Fort Orford.  Not sure what Fort Orford is or what, but we went past it.
We saw these dinasours and had to stop and take a picture of them.

We leave Oregon and head into California.

 Our next destination was Crescent City to see a operating lighthouse.

 This is a picture of all the buoys that have floated up on the beach and the lighthouse keeper has been collecting them and hanging them on this old tree.

 It is called Battery Point Lighthouse.  It was amazing and so fun to be able to hike up to it and see it in operation.

We still had sights to see so we headed to Jedediah Smith Redwoods State Park.  We had such fun there taking pictures, laughing, horsing around and driving through this amazing forest.

 Annie and I were getting in the car and all of a sudden we see Abby's hand come out of the window on the other side and she snapped a picture.

 Just holding up the tree!

 We found a whole batch of clovers but not a 4 leaf among them that we could find.

 This picture cracked me up.  Annie was getting a picture of Abby and Digby and she had to bend way over.  I just happened to be behind laughing so hard that I could hardly snap the picture.

From there we hit the Trees of Mystery forest and ran into Paul Bunyan and Paul's blue ox, Babe.  Of course pictures had to be taken.

 For those who may be a little sensitive, don't study this picture.  It was an Annie and Mom moment of total laughter.

 We then entered the Redwood National and State Parks and the first thing we come across is a herd of Elk.  We had to stop and take pictures.

Our day finally ended and we settled in to a motel for a well needed rest.  It was a long day in the car but we did have a fun time.

Day 2

Tuesday found us at Beach.  I have to say that it was cold, windy and rainy the whole day.  But, we didn't let that discourage what we had come for, so off to the beach we headed.  We did some shopping, bought some sandwiches, chips and a drink and headed down to the beach to eat and enjoy the ocean.

 You see that big rock?  It doesn't look that far away, but it was and we walked all the way to it and then all the way back.  It was cold, windy and raining the whole time.  About 1/4 the way back I thought we were back where we started, but much to my dismay, we weren't.  Not even close.  I almost cried, I was so miserable.  But persevere, I did.

 Beautiful Abby!

 Digby loved the ocean!

 Our glasses were typical of the constant rain.

We finally left the beach about 5:00 p.m. and headed to Tillamook.  We thought it would be fun to get Tillamook ice cream.  The line was doubled a few times over and we decided we could go to the store and get all the Tillamook ice cream we wanted without standing in a two hour line!

We did do some shopping in the store and bought some shirts and trinkets.  From here we headed to Newport for dinner and to find our motel. It was fun to find a place called Abby's.  Of course we had to try it out .

Abby's Graduation Trip - Day 1

Our journey began on Monday morning, July 8th.  Abby's planned trip consisted of flying into Seattle, renting a car and driving down the coast on Highway 101 and stopping along the way to see all the beaches we could and other tourist sights.

We were at the airport at 5:30 a.m.  Annie had our boarding passes on her phone so we were able to go right to security.  I was wearing a beaded top that apparently caused the security concerns so I was patted down!  Yup.  Literally patted down.  The lady said that we could go in a private room if I would be more comfortable.  I told her as long as I didn't have to remove any clothing to just go ahead.  It wasn't a bad experience, but would prefer not to ever have that happen again.  Here we are waiting to board the plane after surviving security,

Here we are on the plane.  Just a note here.  Abby is not fond of flying.  she would much rather be on the ground.

We arrived in Seattle, rented our car and off to see the sights.  Our first stop was to see the house where I grew up in until I was 7 years old.  It has changed very little over the years.  The color has been the most drastic.  It was always a red home and now it is yellow.  They've also put a fence or shed on either side of the house, but the main house is exactly the same.  Such good memories.

After we left the house we found my old elementary school, Daniel Bagley, which they are renovating.  They had tall fences around it.  It is interesting that everything, when you are little, looks so much bigger and when you revisit the sight as an adult, you see how much smaller it is.

From there, we circled Green Lake and then headed to the Needle.  We didn't go up but wandered around the area and took some pictures.

From there we headed to the Farmers Market or Pike's Place.  We had a fun adventure there.  Tons and tons of people but very fun.  We bought our share of doughnuts and dried apple slices.

 You can see how dang crowded the market was.  People, people everywhere!

 This picture is the three of us standing in line to get doughnuts!  It was worth it!

 We finally reached the end of the line and got our doughnuts.  They were delicious.  Every good as we remembered.

Our next stop was the gum wall.  UGH!!  Good to see it once.  But once will do it for me!
Abby loved getting the smashed penny from the machines at each place we went to.  I didn't have the heart to tell her that the penny she puts in really isn't the penny she gets back.  It is just a piece of copper that has been previously made to look like the penny she put in.

 From there we headed to the Bremerton Ferry.  It was so fun to experience the ride across the Bay to Bremerton, Washington.  Look at the Seattle skyline.  It is gorgeous!

When we reached the shore we drove into Puyallup to see the home where Annie and Jeff lived for a few years.  As we were leaving Annie saw her neighbor and stopped and visited with her.  Fun catching up on each of their families and some of the ward members.

 This next series of pictures we laughed and laughed at.  I laugh now as I'm posting this.  Annie's face!

 then the next picture looks like she is flipping us off, which she wasn't.

 I'm looking at her laughing.

 Finally the picture

 This is the home in Puyallup.

Our next stop was Oregon.

I think our first stop was the Astoria Column.  I may get the stops a little mixed up but close.  Abby took notes and has a better calendar of facts of places, but she's home and I'm here blogging so we will go with the best my memory can offer :-)

 164 total steps to the top.

 At the top of the tower.  If you look closely you will see the wooden airplanes all over the top of the house with the dark roof and you can't see but they are all over in the trees.

 Annie and Abby ready to cast their airplanes off the tower.

 I loved this old mansion that has been turned into a museum.  The history is quite interesting.  If you want to know more about it.  Look it up :-)

We also some the place where Goonies was filmed, the Jeep with the bullet holes in it and the school where they filmed Kindergarten Cop.  

I think that ended day one and we found a place to eat and then to our motel to for a good nights sleep!