To catch up anyone who cares on where we've been so far this summer, here is the first part of our summer trips!
In April we went to Cannon Beach for our typical spring getaway. We stayed at a different hotel than usual, due to extenuating circumstances, but we really enjoyed it! It was a block away from the beach, but there is a little bakery at the corner of the street we'd walk down to get to the shore, so on our way back we'd pick up fresh brewed coffee and pastries. We had excellent weather and I took many photos, as usual...
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| Don't worry! We didn't touch it. |
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| Beach Reflections |
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| Starfish on the beach with surfers in the distance...in April! |
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| Mount Rainer on the way home |
It was a nice little vacation. Another perk to staying at the hotel we did was that they own the
timeshares next door and gave us a card for an open house. We stopped by and really loved the timeshare!! It has everything we've been looking for since Surfsand remodeled their rooms and removed the kitchenettes. It has two bedrooms, two bathrooms, a fully stocked kitchen, dining room and living room and they also have washers and dryers!! Not all the units are sold, so they rent them out nightly still. We booked a weekend in early November to give them a try out :D
Then at the beginning of June we went to the cabin. It was an excellent time and a good reminder of why I live where there is electricity and a shower. Mom and I arrived on Friday afternoon and cleaned out the cabin, made all the beds, got the camp mostly set up and were sitting by a good fire when David, Leslie, Justin and Tayla showed up late that night. On Saturday everyone else helped us set up the dining tent and got the tarps over the kitchen area. Leslie ran into town to get some major groceries we forgot (#1 being BUTTER). Uncle Fred, Aunt Carla, Patrick and Jonathan showed up around noontime and we all went out to the Bryan Boru discovery hole. David and Tayla drove some of us up there and then went on up to Captain Mabbutt's cabin and a few of us followed slowly walking with the dogs. We watched David's dog Shelby play in her own little water hole that she found, watched Uncle Fred and the boys pickup and chip away at rocks and generally talked and caught up with each other.
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| Shelby and her swimming hole |
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| Fred and Carla |
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| Toby wishing for a couch to lay on |
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| Justin and Mom discussing serious things (mostly geology) |
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| Jon and Fred |
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| Patrick |
Later that day Uncle Fred, Aunt Carla and the boys went back to their much more modern rental cabin and the rest of us lounged around, David and Justin cut wood, and we ate dinner and sat at the fire for approximately 5 minutes before it started to rain. Sunday everyone convened again at camp and this time we went up to the Madonna tree, a tree that has a Madonna statue sunk into the bark in honor of my grandfather. We made another one not too far from that for my grandma after she died. We walked up the road that goes past the trees and I wanted to see how far it went. I'd been perusing Google Earth and it looked like on there it may go all the way around the mountain. We tromped through the brush some and found an old roadbed that looks like it went around the mountain at one time. We decided that we'd have to try and see how far we could go on it next year. David and Justin continued to cut and load wood onto his trailer that afternoon and a few of us took showers in the new shower tent Mom bought. We ate dinner early enough that day that we roasted marshmallows that evening around the fire and ended our trip on a perfect note.
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| David at the Madonna tree |
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| The camp at twilight |
The next morning we packed up and headed home. It took us twice as long as usual because David's trailer blew a tire and we had to drive into Colville to get new ones before we went home. David and Tayla stayed at our house overnight and then Mom and David unloaded the wood into our new Tuff shed. They also left a whole bunch of stumps out to dry, so it looks like we are set for winter.
At the end of June we went to Medford to see my best friend Nicole. It was a bit of a stressful beginning to the trip, as I am still seeing my reproductive endocrinologist and trying to get pregnant. It looked like I was going to ovulate that weekend and they said that they didn't do spontaneous procedures, in other words they have to plan for staff and all. I ended up taking Thursday off to go over for a follicular ultrasound and they said it looked like I was going to be ready for the procedure on Friday. I got a shot of HCG and Mom and I booked a hotel room in Bellevue for the night. We ended up going through the Chihuly garden exhibit they have at the Seattle Center and it was awesome!
Friday we got up and got the baby thing done (long story short: It didn't take.) and then drove the 7 hour drive to Medford. We got to Portland about 1 and promptly stopped. We crawled through Portland for 3 hours and then made it out the other side! It was 103 degrees and the car was just barely keeping up the air conditioning with all the idling and asphalt. We eventually arrived about 10 pm, checked into our hotel and fell into bed. The next day we went and found Nicole's place and then her, Emily and my Mom and I all drove to Ashland for the day. We walked around town, stopped at yarn, candy and toy stores and ate at the Standing Stone Brewing Company for lunch. The food was very yummy and the beer was awesome too! (Yes I had a small one. How many kids do you know that were conceived while their parents were drunk?) We also stopped in at the Shakespeare Festival's gift shop and got to peak inside their open air theater.
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| Oregon Shakespeare Festival |
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| Emily |
After that Nicole wanted to go to a local winery. She had previously gotten a bottle of their wine at the Chocolate Festival and was hoping to get another. Mom, Nicole and I all got a wine flight and Nicole picked a bottle of their white, while Mom got a couple of bottles of their house red. As we headed back to Nicole's house she was commenting on how close California was. It had been forecasted to be near 100 that whole weekend and it's impossible to stop me when we are that close to the ocean. So we made plans the next day to drive to Crescent City. Back in January I had bought tickets to see a play at the Shakespeare Festival, and since the Shakespeare they were doing that weekend didn't seem to thrill either of us, we decided to go see their production of My Fair Lady. I had also mailed the tickets down to Nicole a week ahead of our trip because I was afraid of when I'd be ovulating and we'd lose the tickets. At least that way she could've dragged Tony along with her and they wouldn't go to waste. But it all worked out and that evening, all fancied up, Nicole and I went to the play while Mom babysat Emily until Tony got home from work. The play was fantastic! The actors were excellent and the way they presented it was informal but intriguing and captivating.
Sunday we met Nicole back at her house and Tony, Emily, Nicole and Mom and I (and the dogs because they had come along for the trip too!) all piled into our van to go to the beach. We stopped at a Fred Meyer to pick up some extras for a picnic lunch and headed out. As we drove we all chatted and admired the general scenery and then all of a sudden there were these GIANT trees RIGHT along the side of the road. Mom and I didn't know how close we'd be to the redwoods but were awed by them just appearing out of nowhere. They were so beautiful and so big! We drove into Crescent City and down to the beach and parked ourselves. We traipsed out to a nice piece of beach under a clear blue sky. And it was so warm! It was about 75 to 80 degrees while we were there and even the water felt warm. Emily played in the sand and splashed in the waves with one or the other or both of her parents. We ate peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, apples, pretzels and cookies. I laid out for about 15 minutes and instantly scalded my legs. Nicole didn't get sunscreen on fast enough and got her neck and chest. It was a glorious day.
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| Nicole and I making lunch |
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| Nicole, Emily and Tony |
When we got tired and thought about going home, we headed over to the lighthouse there and took some pictures and used the facilities. Then we stopped and took some pictures at the redwoods on our way back too.
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| SO BIG! |
When we got back to Medford I promised to make dinner, so Nicole and I headed back out to the store. I made a ravioli bake with salad and bread and everyone enjoyed a hearty meal after an amazing day. Then we all sat around and talked, or played with Emily, and tried to get in every last second we could before goodbye.
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| Wind machines in the gorge outside Goldendale |
Monday Mom and I packed up and headed for home. Toby was so happy to be out of the car and off of a leash that he ran and ran and ran around the garden while Mom and I stood out there and talked.
And that was only the first half of our summer...
