Oregon Coast and Enchanted Forest Trip

 Day 1

We headed to Oregon bright and early on July 5th.  Mental note- the airport is insane the day after July 4th.  We almost missed our flight, the security line was THAT bad.  We stopped at one of our favorite aviation museums in Evergreen, Oregon, and enjoyed looking around.

Then it was a few more hours drive to our condo.  We were happy to eat at a 50s diner for dinner.

Day 2

We walked around the condo property then drove to a favorite shopping place, Pirate's Plunder.  I found the booth where the cute letters were that I bought 10 years ago for my kids' bedrooms.  Those were pretty nostalgic to look at.  We had those hanging in their rooms for many years.

Next, we wandered around Newport Bridge, stopped at the Devil's Punchbowl, and saw a movie in the evening.

Day 3

Tillamook Cheese factory was first up.  Then we went on a little hike.

Then we walked around Cape Meares Lighthouse and the Octopus tree.

Found some dinner back at Tillamook and then hiked to a waterfall and later checked out a beach sunset.

Day 4

Although the temperature was mild, our kids loved the beach and happily played in the sand.

Finished the day eating some yummy seafood at Mo's Restaurant.

Day 5

Had a tiring hike up to Yaquina Bay Lighthouse and Heceta Head Lighthouse.  The views were unbeatable.

Found some delicious Mexican food and a new to us species of plant: Darlingtonia. (Basically, large Venus fly traps.)

Discovered some tide pools and lots of waves coming in.

Day 6

Found a cool antique shop, watched glass being blown, and had a picnic at a haunted bay.

Went back to Newport and crabbed for dinner.  It was different cooking them up at the condo. One kept crawling out of the pan and we kept putting him back in, poor guy. It's kind of like sin- If you jump all in to the hot water, it's very noticeable.  But if the water heats up little by little, most things (people), don't even realize it before it's too late.

Day 7

We had our last condo day as a beach day.  The beach is one of our happy places.  It's so relaxing and everyone can have a good time.  I read a book, Scott and Makayla looked for fossils, and the boys happily made sand castles with moats around them.

Day 8

We drove to more inland to a hidden amusement park called "The Enchanted Forest." This place did not have very many rides, but they made up for it with all the cool hand carved decorations and nursery rhymes.  The kids shot targets, drove boats, and mined for rocks. This place was really neat and was worth the trip. After, we found a pizza place in town, and ended the evening with miniature golfing.

Day 9

We went back to the Evergreen Museum and went to the airplane waterpark.  Most of the day was fine. The downside is I smacked the back of my head really hard on cement my first ride down, so I had a constant all-day headache.  Another bummer is that when they closed the park, they made Scott and the kids walk down 10 flights of wet stairs instead of riding the slides. The final depressing thing was Lincoln and I got athletes foot from this place.  Such a letdown.  I would not want to visit again.

We found a yummy place for dinner called Shari's.  Then we played at an arcade on our last night.

Day 10

We traveled home this day.  Goodbye beautiful Oregon Coast!