Goonies, Lighthouses, Roses and Cheese

Before we headed up to Portland, we visited the Yaquina Head and Yaquina Bay Lighthouses in Newport, Oregon and discovered that Q LOVES lighthouses and was so bummed he could not go "ALL the way to the top" to see the light.  The black lava rocks on the beach were so beautiful and the sound of the waves rolling the rocks over and over was very peaceful.

We said goodbye to my brother and his family, my sister, nephew, parents and hubby over the next few days and then I set off with my sister and her family and my four kiddies to explore notable Oregon sites including Astoria, Tillamook, Portland, assorted beaches and a fort.  First up, we rode the Astoria Trolley and got a tour of the town.  Next, we climbed 164 steps up the Astoria Column, flew balsa wood planes from the top, took in the view and climbed back down and retrieved our planes.  We stopped by the Goonie House and drove the steep hills of Astoria and then hit the Peter Iredale shipwreck at low tide and beautiful blue skies.  The ship ran ashore in 1906 during heavy storms.  It was amazingly cool.

One fine, rainy and drizzly beautiful day, we drove to Portland to try the famed Voodoo Donuts.  Standing in line was an experience in itself.  The variety of donuts, is astounding.  And they are very tasty.  We also visited the International Rose Test Garden, which was breathtaking.  Luckily it was raining and then stopped so I could take pictures of roses with rain drops upon their petals.  Lucky.  I even pulled out my macro filters and Miss B and I took turns photographing roses up close.  I have about a billion rose pictures now.

Mr. C was less than ecstatic about the roses and fine scenery, so he was thrilled to visit Fort Stevens State Park and read about the Fort and explore the grounds, guns and barracks.

Yet another day, we stopped by the Tillamook Cheese factory and enjoyed watching the workers package cheese on a conveyor belt, sampling cheese, eating ice cream and buying cheese curd.  Yum.  Then we drove to Cape Meares Lighthouse and Q was ecstatic to be able to see the light a little closer.  We also visited Tunnel Beach at Oceanside and climbed through the coolest tunnel through the cliff to get to the beach on the other side.  We felt like the Goonies.

And then after all of that sightseeing, driving, oohing, ahhing and enjoying...finally the day came that we had to pack up and head to Idaho.  We stopped by Multnomah Falls on our way out and said goodbye to beautiful Oregon and my sister's family.  And luckily Q and Dennis survived the sheer drop-offs at Multnomah.  I barely survived with my sanity intact.  Travelling hundreds of miles alone with four kids and dragging them from one thing to the next can sometimes get a tad difficult.  Although we all did quite swimmingly considering.  And we enjoyed our summer adventures immensely.  It will definitely be a favorite memory for years to come.