Bells and Whistles: Oregon Trip, Day 1 and 2, Aug 2020

Wednesday, March 17, 2021

Oregon Trip, Day 1 and 2, Aug 2020

So I had planned a pretty amazing trip to Banff for the summer of 2020, and I had been enough on the ball (unusual for me) to actually have made reservations for campgrounds early early so that I could get them, because I know they go like hot cakes, so I was on 6 months early, some even earlier than that... all for naught, since the border closed and we could not get there. :(

But, all was not lost, because I decided to go to Oregon for our summer trip instead. I was pumped for Oregon, and spent a lot of hours trying to plan out how to get the most out our week. Tip--planning a trip where you move around is difficult. Brett was surprised just how many hours I spent, but we were late to the game and so many places were booked and it was just crazy. In the end, though, we had a great time! AND I want to go back to Oregon sometime because there were so many things we didn't get to and I still want to see them.

Here we are, driving along, kids glued to the screen (which we pull out for long trips like this). I think we left the day after the Bell reunion ended.

The first campground we had reserved was one of the most red-neck places I've ever stayed at. It was pretty wild. And they had booked it wrong, for only 2 nights instead of 3, so then we were scrambling. BUT it was very close to this gorgeous beach that was not crowded whatsoever.

Also, pictures for this trip are going to be weird because I used both my phone and my big camera to take pictures, so they won't be in order.

Brett wanted to drive on the beach, which was fine but I was a little bit nervous about getting stuck in sand--of course, Brett wouldn't get stuck, but we did help another guy get his car unstuck from the sand.

We were tenting instead of in our pop-up, so the girls shared a tent, the younger boys shared a tent, Brett and I shared a tent,

and Jethro slept in the little Uhaul trailer that we rented.

The next morning.

Our first hike was Cape Falcon. My cousin Rocki happened to be nearby, so she came with us. She used to live in Oregon for a long time, but had recently moved to Arizona. She was back visiting to bring puppies to people.

Oregon is soooo jungly! And I LOVE seeing the ocean while hiking!

Jethro and Wyatt had found this place where there was a rope to help you get down the very steep drop to the beach. We asked Jethro if he thought we could do it, and he said yes, so we did, but it was exciting!

Brett stayed there and helped guide everyone "rappel" down and keep them from slipping.

I'm so glad we went down to the beach there because we saw such cool things in the little tide pools. And we got to touch them and explore them a lot with nobody else around.

Later we went to Cannon Beach. When I would ask people who have been to Oregon where we should go, EVERYONE said Cannon Beach, but we were quite underwhelmed with it. Probably because we were very chilly (was not expecting how much colder it would be in Oregon). So basically, we walked down and back and then left. And we tried some clam chowder from the famous chowder place.

Then we went to Astoria, where Rocki had recommended several things to do, climb the Column, and go on the trolley? but both were closed down for COVID or for repairs or whatnot. But we did get fish and chips at the highly-recommended Bowpicker Fish and Chips place, and it truly was as good as it was touted. We slicked all of the food down so fast it was crazy. And we walked along the shoreline drive. Also, we saw two sister missionaries and stopped and talked to them for a little bit, and we told them that Jethro had his papers in and was waiting for his call and what's crazy is that it was SUCH good foreshadowing, had we known--because their mission was the Vancouver Washington mission. Astoria is the only tiny part of Oregon in that mission. In a few days he would find out that THAT IS HIS MISSION!!! But we didn't know at the time.