Man Vs Nature 2014: Part 5 Finish Up This Bad Boy

I guess this little family vacation was so great that it has taken 3 months to sum up my thoughts on the subject matter. How in the world can I fit all that perfect, wonderfulness that was had on this trip in a few blog posts.

We spent the last few days exploring and playing on the many beaches along the Oregon coast.

We went to an aquarium, fed seals, rode a carousal, of course Nory found a swing. Not just any swing, but a swing on the beach

 

Climbed a tall tower, what a view!

 

 

Played in an old shipwreck

 

 

 

and of course playing in the water

 

That pretty much sums up the trip...

 



 

Except for this gem of a ride that broke while Nory was riding it. We were at a little fair in La Grande, Oregon taking a pit stop. They happened to be having a fair. Nora really wanted to ride on the motorcycles

 

 

She was having a great time until we watched in horror as her purple motorcycle snapped off the bar and tipped over. We jumped the fence and grabbed her. I was literally sick to my stomach the rest of the night. She wasn't so traumatized. When we asked her what her favorite part of the trip was she said, " When the motorcycle tipped over. That was funny." No, no it wasn't.

 

She still wanted to play after. We wanted to go home.

 

 

Have I mentioned how amazingly, beautiful Oregon is?

 

 

 



Man vs Nature Tour 2014: Part 4 The Coast

 

We stepped out of the city and onto the canvas of this exquisite painting. How can anyone even begin to describe that moment when toes melt into soft sand. The moment when the crisp air kisses cheeks. The feelings that drown everything else out as you stare into the nothingness of the deep waters, waters that breathe and pulse upon the shore and then recede back into the vast nothingness that is the ocean.

 

 Breathtaking



 

 We splurged and stayed in a hotel right on Rock Away beach

 

 

We pulled up to the hotel. Dumped our bags on the floor and then ran for the beach.

 

 

We spent that afternoon flying kites,

 

 

 Eating sand, filling our pockets with sand

 

 

Chris found a really cool seashell. It was a deep purple and blue color. He handed it to Nory and she got so excited, "Wow" she said. Then she proceeded to scoop up sand in the shell and shovel it into her pockets. When her pocket was full she threw the shell away and happily patted her pocket full of sand. Evers just ate the sand. Handfuls and handfuls, as fast as she could.

 

A heavy fog settled over the water, the wind got so strong we had to cover the girls eyes. We decided to pack up and head back to the hotel to swim and then eat dinner.

 

We got takeout so we could eat on the deck of our hotel. The place we went to was packed. They were running around like mad. Too many costumers, not enough employees. This should have been our first clue.

We ate, the girls went to bed and Chris enjoyed this view,

 

 

while I enjoyed throwing up, because of the food poisoning I got. Chris sat out on the deck watching the sunset, fires on the beach, and even fireworks. I laid on the bathroom floor puking. Chris and I prayed that I would find relief fast so that we could enjoy the rest of the trip. We were blessed and by the next morning, with none of that food left in my belly, we were off for more adventures.

 

 

 

Man vs Nature Tour 2014: Part 3 Portland

We jam packed so much family fun into day 2 and 3 in Portland. We maintained a good mix of man-made wonders and Heavenly-made nature.

We started out at the Portland Zoo. The walkway around the zoo weaved in and out of large forest trees. Big canopies of leaves kept the hot sun at bay.

 

 

 

The zoo was going great, until, Everly got hungry and we realized we had left her formula in the car. No problem, easy fix, take a short cut through the zoo and get it. Only one problem, we were about half way through the park and the map showed no shortcuts. Our only option was to turn back or keep going. So we booked it. What started out like this

 

 

 Ended a little like this

 

 

A long day at the zoo. We definitely need a nap to recharge

 

 

After the nap, we headed back downtown for a tourist must... Voodoo Donuts

 

 This rite of passage did require us to wait in a long line

 

 

Nory thought it was fun. Clearly one nap was plenty to recharge her batteries.

 

 

She didn't enjoy the "stand in line" part as much as the "donut" part

 

 

Can you blame her?

 

After the donuts we went on a tram ride over the city

 

Our little photographer had fun taking pictures at the top

 

 



We ended the night eating at Lardos. It was YUMMY!!!

 

The girls had fun staying up way past their bedtime. Clearly, they were exhausted.  

 

The third day we spent in nature. Oregon is so beautiful!

 

 We hiked all over the Leach Botanical Garden. It was like we were in a magical, secret garden. 

 

 Hiking through the dense trees we found a dinosaur  

 

 





and we happened upon a witches hut.

 

 

Luckily for us, she must have been out looking for frog legs to add to her magic potion or to cook on her alter

 

 

This fairy-tale like cottage was build in 1932. The floor inside was amazing

 

 

We had fun hopping and skipping down different trails and knocking on witch's doors

 

 

Have I mentioned how beautiful Oregon is?

 

 After hiking we headed off to our next adventure. The Coast.

 

 



Man vs Nature tour 2014: Part 2 Portland

We had finally made it! All safe and sound and ready to conquer the world, or at least ready to conquer Portland.

 

We spent 2 1/2 days in Portland, and oh the adventures we had. We got a nice, little glimpse into why the unofficial motto in Portland is "Keep Portland Weird".

We pulled into Oregon with our car still brimming with luggage, we jumped right out and got busy seeing the sites of the awesomely, crowded street market. 

    The streets were jammed packed with people from every walk of life and items for sale that matched the path those interesting people had traveled. There were artists and musicians, homeless people and tourists all jam packed upon the sidewalks and streets. The ecclectic flavor melting and blending together along with the sole of our shoes on the pavement.

 

 

We saw a lady giving her cat a bath in a fountain. It was hot that day and the humidity so high that I was tempted to jump in with that grey little tabby and cool off.

It was so hot and humid and crowded and sweaty and loud that I started to feel myself shrink away. Chris loved the excitement and energy. I could only handle so many people and cars for so long.

 

The second half of the day we inversed our direction and headed for the Portland temple.

 

The relatively close location of the two venues made a great case study for compare and contrast.

The Portland Temple grounds were so quiet and calm. Until the Browns and their Littles got there.

 

 

 

 The temple and the grounds were very peaceful but it was still so hot, so we extracted the kiddos from the fountain in front of the temple and headed back to the hotel to take a dip in the pool.

Oregon is so beautiful and has such a perfect mix of architecture and nature. It was definitely a perfect place for this family to vacation.
Day 1 of the vacay was a success! Except for the whole driving up a one way street the wrong way adventure.