31.8.09
Friday, after a morning of more Cartoon Network, (oh how we miss you!) we planned out our last day in cloudy Oregon.
Since it was our last full day we tried to squeeze in as much as we could. Lots of driving again, but with lots of stops along the way. Kent has a picture of himself sitting on the Octopus Tree so we set out to find it and take a generation II photo.---Copy.jpg)
This is the Octopus Tree. It is the only tree that looks like this in a forest of trees that look like this:
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No one knows for sure why it grew this way. Some say the wind coming off the oceans, some say that Native Americans forced it to grow like this. But for whatever reason, it is really cool to look at and it is GIGANTIC!
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When Kent was a kid you could climb on the branches, but now they have it fenced off so we had to settle for being right by the Octopus Tree instead of sitting on it's branches.
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Aren't they cute?
Next to the tree is another lighthouse called Cape Meares. As far as light houses go, I am sorry to report that this one was kinda lame and run by some very uptight people. They did let you climb to the top and look out through the glass over the ocean and that was kinda cool.
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This was taken looking up into the top of the lighthouse. It was very hot in there and very crowded, but neat to see how the lights worked so closely.
It was also at this gift shop that we spent the best $2.25 we have ever spent. We bought Wes a little collapsible telescope and he LOVED it. He spent a good 3/4 of our marathon car ride home looking out the window with his little telescope.
Right by the lighthouse, they had a real telescope to look out on the ocean for whales, ships and birds. We didn't see any whales or ships, but we saw a whole lotta birds. There was a bird sanctuary off the coast on a giant rock. I have never seen that many birds hanging out in one place before. Crazy and LOUD!
Walking back up to our car from the lighthouse, we followed this little forest place that had great lighting for pictures. I asked each boy to think of their best and cutest picture pose and here is what they came up with:
Kaden
Tanner
Weston. This kid cracks me up. =)
Note to future Lucy: You really did come with us on this vacation, you just don't hold still long enough to get a decent picture.
Driving home after a very adventurous day, I noticed a sign that said "Sand Lake". I was most intrigued as we were certainly not in an area that you would think of as sandy and dry. I made Kent go check it. He was less than thrilled as it added a few miles to our journey and a sandy lake just didn't sound that exciting when we had a whole sandy beach waiting.
When we got there is was exactly what you would think it would be.... a big lake of sand in the middle of the rain forest. I thought it was really cool, but no one else would even get out of the car. Big bums.
We spent the rest of our last day playing in the waves on the beach, driving back to the cheese factory for even MORE cheese, eating some more super yummy seafood, looking at the spot where Lewis and Clark mad salt, (lame, but a big deal if you are in Seaside) and cleaning up our little house so we could roll out early the next morning.
We were very sad to leave and will most definitely be back, even though that drive home almost did us in as far as sanity goes.
I will end my recap with a little list of things I learned about Oregon, just in case you find yourself there one day.
1. No one goes even one inch over the speed limit and just forget about passing on the right. When it comes to traffic laws, these guys were sticklers.
2. There are no self serve gas. Attempting to pump your own gas sends the workers into panic mode.
3. If you aren't prone to car sickness in the wide open plains of the desert, you may fall prey on the windy roads of the coast. Not fun.
4. Eagles are everywhere! ( if you don't stare at the eagle but rather the corner of the picture, it kinda looks like it is flying)
5. There is no sales tax! This was a most pleasant surprise.
6. Wild raspberries, blackberries and blueberries grow all over the place.
7. The people are really nice and friendly, they think that 75 and partly cloudy is a super sunny day "perfect for the beach."
8. Fresh cheese and ice cream is much better that the stuff you can buy in the store.
9. There is no road kill on the highways, or maybe the rain just washes everything off so you can't see it. Either way, it was strange with it not there as it is such a part of Utah driving.
1o. It is the perfect place to take your family on vacation, no matter their ages and interests.
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#1 - So NOT like New Jersey
Sounds like a great trip. Next year, do the other coast! ;) And I agree with April--that is a GREAT picture of Tanner.