Oregon Trip -- October 2013

I had high hopes of posting about our Oregon trip in daily doses, while actually on the trip, as we crammed so much into our week out there. But it did not happen that way, so here I am playing catch up. I am still going to divide it up into days, just to make my memory perhaps work in a more organized manner.

Saturday, October 12
We woke up early, loaded up the car, and Jarrett drove us to the airport. My parents were flying from Charlotte, with a connection in Atlanta, where we all then joined up on the same flight out to Portland. Jarrett was able to get a gate pass and help the girls and I through security and walk with us to the gate, which as a godsend. I could have made it by myself, but the extra help made things much easier.

The flight went surprisingly well—I even received comments from a couple of fellow passengers, post flight, relating to how well they thought the girls did on the plane. I figured Elsa would probably do okay, occupied with new books/activities I loaded into the girls' backpacks, as well as the iPad and snacks. And I was right. She did great. And we were able to keep Aveline fairly busy, continuously feeding her food, reading her some new lift-the-flap books, playing and coloring, and I was even finally able to settle her down enough to get her to fall asleep, albeit for only about 45 minutes.

Once there, it took forever to get our two rental cars, but finally we were all settled in our two Ford Escapes, and headed straight to my aunt and uncle's house in Portland. My never-failing aunt had plenty of food all ready for us, and we were able to all sit and chat for a bit with her and my uncle; my cousin, Melissa, and her husband, T, and little one, Owen (whom Avie, of course, loved); and my cousin, Mike, and his daughter, Haley. From there, we hit the grocery store for a few items and then went to the hotel to check in. My dad decided to stay at his brother's house, so it was just us girls. It was a little tough to get the girls settled in and to sleep (the three-hour time change seemed to take its toll over nearly the entire week), but it did finally happen.

Sunday, October 13
The girls woke up at the crack of dawn (as did I, really), so I bathed them and then we waited around until the free breakfast was ready downstairs. We ate and packed it all up again. My dad met us with their car, and we hit the road, making a brief detour through the town I grew up in, West Linn. They now have a Starbucks, much to my delight, so with pumpkin spice latte in hand, we drove by our old house and the elementary school, where I spent third through fifth grade, walking just across the street, to and from school.  It brought back a lot of great memories, and I nearly decided right then and there myself that we were going to move our entire family back.

The old West Linn house.

We got back on the highway and made our way about two-and-a-half hours south to Sutherlin, Oregon, to my grandma (my mom's mom) and Grandpa Larry's house. There was a bit of a family reunion planned, and it was highly ironic how we all seemed to arrive at nearly exactly the same time. It was awesome to have everyone together: Grandma; Grandpa Larry; Mom and Dad; the girls and myself; my Uncle Dan and Aunt Wendie; my cousin, Ben, his wife, Jaime, and two of his children, Eric and Lexi; my cousin, Patrick, and his girlfriend, Kiley; and my cousin Tim and his long-time girlfriend, Rachel. We were just missing Ben's oldest, Tyler (he was working, and my brother, Billy (we SO wish he could have been with us... also working!). Elsa and Avie had fun running around with Lexi, and it was just so nice to see and catch up with everyone after so long.

Second cousins.

Eric and Lexi.

The whole clan.

Being silly.

Mom, Grandma, and Uncle Dan.

Uncle Dan and his boys, Pat, Ben, and Tim.

Me and Grandma.

Rachel, Tim, and me.

The cousins.

The cousins, significant others, and kids.

Monday, October 14
My dear grandma has endured several surgeries this year and, thus, feels fairly worn out and tired (though looked really good!). So when there was talk about taking a trip to the coast, she was not sure she was feeling up to the two-hour drive. My mom did not want to leave her behind, so my dad and the girls and I decided to take the trip ourselves. And I am so glad we did. I do not know if I remember a more perfect day on the Oregon Coast. The weather was gorgeous—sunny, not too hot/not too cold, calm air. It was lovely. I have always loved the drive to the beach, feeling like you're driving in the mountains and then feeling simply dumped out at the ocean. And the drive to Florence was gorgeous, with the leaves on the trees just beginning to change color. We decided to first go down to the beach, and figured out a good place to park the car and then walk over the dunes. Before starting the trek, and older, weather-worn-looking man was putting his dog in his truck, when he handed the girls three sand dollars he'd found on the beach. They were thrilled. It was quite the hike to the ocean, but we made it and, despite the cool air and the cold Pacific water, the girls immediately wanted to shed the shoes and socks and run into the water. My dad was holding Avie's hand and running into the surf, and then all three would run back as the waves came in. At one point, I was trying to help roll up Avie's pant legs and the water caught us all off guard, and somehow, while trying to run back to dry land, both girls ended up falling flat on their stomachs, directly in the water. And, of course, I did not think to bring an extra set of clothes. Avie was so we that I immediately stripped off her clothes and wrapped her in the fleece I was wearing. Thankfully Florence actually has two thrift stores, so we stopped at one of them and I ran in and found about the only halfway decent clothing in sizes 2T and 5, some socks and a sweatshirt for my dad (as he also got wet!), and a couple of Cabbage Patch babies that were a buck each, just for fun. (Mostly) dry again, we then ate lunch at my dad's favorite clam chowder joint, Mo's, where I also partook in the chowder and completely agree that it is the best. After lunch, we decided to drive a bit further up the coast to the Sea Lion Caves, and though the sea lions were not actually in the cave this time of year, Elsa still thought it was really awesome to be in a cave herself. So it was worth it just for that excitement. And we did sea a number of sea lions swimming around and fishing out in the ocean. By the time we were done with the caves, it was time to head back, and both girls ended up conking out in the backseat. What a full, wonderful day!

 

Tuesday, October 15
As kids, my brother and I were often treated with a trip to Wildlife Safari when in town, visiting our grandparents. So this was an obvious destination for my girls. My fond memories, paired with Elsa's recent love of cheetahs, presented the perfect combination. Avie was funny initially, and did not want us to roll down the windows, especially when the car was close to any of the animals, but eventually she warmed up to it all a bit more... until the miniature pony in the "petting zoo" portion of the village sneezed at us (and completely startled me). Then she was done. But Elsa loved the drive through the park, talking to the zebras, noting all the animals we passed, looking up in her Wildlife Safari guide any animal or bird we were not sure of, and especially being up close and personal with the cheetahs. She actually really lucked out, as when we first go to the park, she had to go potty, so my mom walked her into the village to the restroom and, on their way, there was a cheetah behind a fence (who was raised as a cub with a puppy, and the cheetah and the dog are still housed together) that she got to see very close up. Needless to say, she was thrilled.

After the safari (and attempting to stop in for lunch at this place... WEIRD, let me tell you... I won't even try to go into it all, but I could not stop hysterically laughing for about five full minutes after we left the deserted place), we had lunch at a local restaurant that surprisingly actually had gluten-free bread items, which was totally not expected. So Elsa even delighted in a grilled cheese sandwich with gluten-free sandwich bread!

That evening, we went out to dinner with Grandma and Larry to a local Mexican restaurant. Elsa was enamored with the staff putting up Halloween decorations. Speaking of Halloween decorations, a neighbor up the street from my grandma had multiple blow-up (and lit-up) decorations in their front yard. I cannot tell you how many trips we made, walking to this house, to look (and gently touch) these decorations. The girls loved them.

Wednesday, October 16
We laid rather low on Wednesday. Uncle Dan drove back up from Grants Pass to spend a good chunk of the late morning/afternoon with us, which was really nice. We had lunch at the house, and basically just spent the time relaxing and catching up with each other. That evening, we enjoyed homemade beef stew at the house.

Siblings.

Four generations.

Thursday, October 17
My dad, the girls, and I packed things up Thursday morning and headed back up to Portland. After driving by another old house (my parents' first house in Portland, where I lived when I was a baby, and then again in half of second grade), I dropped my dad off at my aunt and uncle's house, and we visited very briefly before I left and headed with the girls into Lake Oswego (the town neighboring West Linn). I was happy to learn that the Tillamook Creamery still existed there, and the girls and I enjoyed lunch and ice cream with one another. We then hopped back in the car and headed to the home of my half-sister, Amy, and her husband, Michael, and their son, Matthew. It was great to see them again, and the girls and I hung out with Amy and Matthew and settled in and played for a little while before taking a stroll over to a nearby park, where we met up with Michael. The girls enjoyed swinging for a bit, and then there was much sliding by all three little ones, and some climbing on the jungle gym by Elsa. We enjoyed a yummy taco dinner together, and then us grown-ups stayed up and chatted over tea a bit before heading to bed.

The old Portland house.

At Tillamook Creamery.

Aunt Amy and Avie.

Michael and Matthew.

Elsa and Mommy.

Friday, October 18
The next morning, Elsa was super excited to make pancakes with Aunt Amy, while Matthew and Avie played and played with Matthew's play kitchen. It was a nice, relaxed morning, and then the younger two napped before we all headed to the Oregon Zoo. It had changed quite a bit from what I remember as a child, but some things remained the same, such as the elephants, chimpanzees (although they were on loan to another zoo), and the bears. And the train was not running, which was a bummer. But the girls had a blast. And Elsa was very excited to see cheetahs up close once again.

After the zoo, we headed straight to the Old Spaghetti Factory for a reunion dinner, of sorts. My aunt and uncle and cousins were there, as well as my parents, Amy, Michael, and Matthew, and my birth mother, Sue, and her husband, Ken. We were placed in a room with several other very large parties (one of which at least was a birthday party), so that combined with fairly loud music made for difficult conversation, I felt, which was kind of a bummer. I did not feel like I could really adequately converse with anyone except my two children on either side of me. But, regardless, it was a lot of fun to have everyone together, and we did get some picture taking in at the end of it all.

From left to right: Aunt Esther, Sue, and Ken.

Saturday, October 19
Saturday marked the end of our trip. We spent Friday night back in the hotel we started in (with my dad at my aunt and uncle's again), and then we packed it up Saturday morning, and met my aunt and uncle and dad at Elmer's for a farewell breakfast. Elsa delighted in a most magnificent cup of hot cocoa, and Avie had quite the fun plate of decorated pancakes. From there, it was to the airport and back on the airplane. After Avie threw an incredible tantrum in the middle of the Portland airport, we endured the slightly shorter flight back home (thank you, tailwind). It was not horrible, but I did not find it as easy as the flight out there, and I was super happy to touch ground back in Atlanta.

It felt like somewhat of a whirlwind of a trip—there were people I did not get to see, and places I did not get to go—but it was full, and in a really good sort of way. I had a wonderful time spending the trip alongside my parents, and it was so great to see some of the old haunts and, most importantly, spend time with those loved ones we rarely get to see.

Until next time, beloved Oregon...