(A Post by David)
Back in September 2015, I was asked to help train on new software for my firm. As part of that, I was scheduled to train in Boise. Since Shantel's grandparents live in Boise and we have not visited since we were married, we thought it would be super fun to combine my work trip with our family vacation.
Boise
This was our first chance to really enjoy all the extra space in our new van. We got all packed up and had plenty of space. We were up late on Thursday night and then early Friday morning getting ready.
Shantel's mom, Lori, decided she would come up and spend the weekend visiting her parents and spending some time with us. You can see Lydia in the very back so Lori could sit up by us.
It was so great that we were able to stay with Zuriel and Allen (Grandma and Grandpa Knowles). Lydia especially loved sleeping on the couch bed and exploring everything in their house. On Saturday we picked up KFC and went to have a picnic at the park and feed the ducks. The kids loved feeding the ducks and running around. Eric Knowles came along as well. After feeding the ducks we let the kids play at the park for a while. Then we went over to the train depot and saw a large steam locomotive and it has a great view of the city. On our way home we stopped for ice cream at Delsa's Ice Cream.
On Sunday we went to church with the Knowles and then Scott came and picked up Lori so they could head back to Morgan. It was fun to have her in the car ride up to Boise and with us all day on Saturday.
Since I had to do training and go to work on Monday and Tuesday we had a hotel for Sunday night and Monday night. After dinner on Sunday we said goodbye to the Knowles and went to our hotel, The Grove. One of Lydia's favorite things is staying in hotels, she loves exploring the room, jumping on the bed and sleeping everyone in the same room. Her favorite thing here was leaping from one bed to the other over the water full of sharks. She would leap across and occasionally go straight from her leap into a flip on the bed. Austin had just as much fun, but he realized he could not quite jump that far and wanted me to help him jump across the shark waters.
While I worked on Monday and Tuesday Shantel went and explored the town. They had a great time at the splash pad. Lydia's favorite thing was climbing to the top of a giant rock (all by herself). She is really great at climbing and completely fearless. Austin loved playing in the water. On Monday night, after I got off work we packed up little make it yourself pizza's that Shantel had put together and walked to a grassy area by the state capital. We ate dinner and then had races. We would line up, then say "ready, set go" and take off running. Lydia won every time of course, but Austin and I loved chasing after her. Then we walked over to the capital (it was closed, so we could not go inside) and checked out the building.
On Tuesday I was hoping to get done as soon as possible so we could make the 7 hour drive from Boise to Portland. Shantel and the kids did a few more fun things (including eating pudding cups in the car). As you can see, most of Austin's pudding ending up on his face and the rest ended up on his arms. Shantel went back to her grandparents house to see them before coming to pick me up just after 4 pm. We drove pretty much straight through with only about one stop to stretch legs and change into pajamas. With the time change heading to Portland we made it to our hotel in Vancouver, Washington (just across the river from Portland) just after midnight.
Shantel: I have numerous picture of me and my siblings on this green floral couch. I pulled back the blanket they have covering it so that I could get a picture of Lydia and Austin in the same place.
Portland & Tillamook
In the morning we got up and went into downtown Portland. We did not have a ton that we really wanted to do, except we really wanted some donuts. We walked down to the river so we could see the boats and the numerous bridges spanning the river. The kids loved seeing the boats and it was pleasant just to walk around. We brought a little picnic lunch and found a little spot to eat lunch near the river.
After lunch we decided we would go and get donuts as our treat. We had read everyone about Voodoo donuts and that they had the best donuts in town. Shantel had also read that Voodoo might be the best tourist spot, but that Blue Star donuts was really the best in Portland. We headed over to Voodoo donuts and got in line (There were probably 20 or 30 people in front of us). After waiting a few minutes we decided to check out the menu so we would be ready when we got to the front. It was then that we realized that unfortunately many of the menu items were very vulgar and inappropriate. We would not even be comfortable saying lots of them in front of our kids. This brings me to something that I love about Shantel. She had been looking forward to donuts in Portland for weeks. She had read multiple online posts about the best places and was really excited. Even though we had already been waiting in line for 10 minutes and Shantel really had her heart set on it, we talked about it and decided to get out of line. It might not seem like a big thing, but I think it is. It would have been easy to find something else on the menu that we could order, but we talked about not wanting to support that type of business that does not represent our values and would certainly chase away the Holy Ghost. I appreciate that Shantel is so willing to give up something she wanted so easily to do the right thing.
After we got out of line we tried to see if we could change plans and find a Blue Star donuts close by and found one about 15 minutes away (walking). We headed over there and felt great about it. Blue Star donuts was fantastic. Shantel ordered a raspberry donut and we saw in the back these chocolate donuts that looked incredible and they said if we wanted a few minutes, they would be ready. Shantel really loves donuts, but I just like donuts. They are fine, but not my favorite. This chocolate donut was the best donut I have ever eaten. The dough was perfectly cooked and fluffy. It was covered in a dark chocolate ganache and crunchy fudge balls. Inside was delicious cream filling. We shared donuts with each other and the kids and then headed back to our car.
Next stop was Tillamook, Oregon to the Tillamook Cheese factory. We got to tour the factory and see how the cheese is made. We also did some cheese sampling. Lydia loved sampling the different cheeses and wanted to go back through multiple times.
After the factory we got in the van and had a beautiful drive along the Oregon Coast Scenic byway. We loved driving through the forests and when we finally made it to our first view of the Pacific Ocean it was Beautiful.
Oregon Coast
We got to our campsite fairly late on Wednesday evening and just had time to do dinner, set up our tent and camp stuff and then take our first walk over to the beach to at least get a look before going to bed. A couple of things before I dive in. First, although this post may not convince you, we really did not take a lot of pictures at the beach for the three days we were there. While I would have loved more, I think Shantel and I both loved just taking in some of those moments with the kids without worrying about pictures. Some of our favorite moments from the whole trip have no pictures, but I'll try and describe them as well as I can.
First of all, I must say, we loved our campsite. It was absolutely the perfect place. We stayed at Beverly Beach State Park, just about 5-10 minutes north of Newport, Oregon. We actually were really lucky to get a spot here at all. We had planned for months to go on our family vacation to Boise, but did not know what else we would do. Shantel really wanted to go to the Oregon Coast, but it was such a long drive and I was just not sure it would all work out. When we finally sat down to plan things out a couple days before the trip, it was obvious that Shantel had her heart set on the coast. We mapped out our options, talked things through and at 1 am we booked our 3 nights at Beverly Beach State Park. We really wanted a Yurt, but those were full, and there were just a few Tent sites left and we were lucky to get one.
The campsite was absolutely beautiful and we were sounded by tall trees everywhere. The way it was set up, we were very secluded and really did not notice there were other campers anywhere near us. It also helped that the whole week was perfect weather, it never rained and was about 60-65 degrees all day. At night, we would put on our jackets and felt good. In addition to being so secluded there was a giant tree at the back of our camp, but there had been two trees side by side and one was cut down to make a perfect stump that Lydia could climb up to and overlook our camping site. The A and B loops were a little closer to the Beach, but our spot was almost as close as a lot of those sites, plus it was near the ranger station where we could buy ice or firewood. It took less than 5 minutes to walk to the beach from our site.
We loved making dinners and hanging out at the campsite while the kids played. At night we would put the kids in the tent to go to sleep and then catch a couple minutes together in our camp chairs reading books or sitting and talking. We were a little nervous that it might be kind of cold, but it was great. At night, the kids stayed pretty warm and while we wore jackets around (usually on the beach) it was quite comfortable and nice to get away from the heat.
Lydia loved having Shantel or I play with her and climb up to the top of the tree stump. (Notice the boots below, we bought some little tennis shoes to help her climb around the tree even better). The kids also loved playing hide and seek in the bushes in our site.
Shantel: Austin is at such a fun age. He and Lydia really played well together on this trip. Playing true games of hide and seek (Austin would cover his eyes with his hands, count, then go find Lydia). It was so fun to watch them have such a good time together.
Shantel was really creative in coming up with great meals for our entire trip. I appreciate all the time she put into planning things that would be delicious and fun for our trip. You can see Austin below enjoying some oatmeal for breakfast. Lydia's favorite dinner was definitely hot dog Spaghetti. My favorite was the walking tacos. We also did hamburgers one night.
On Thursday morning we got in the car to start exploring. Our first stop was Yaquina Head Lighthouse. You can see Lydia with our binoculars. To help make the car ride enjoyable for everyone, we brought a few fun gifts for the kids that we would let them open as we could tell they needed something to keep the entertained. One of the favorites was a set of "kidnoculars" that Lydia and Austin loved using all trip. Near the lighthouse we walked down to the beach and checked out the water. Most of the places we went had nice sandy beaches, but this area was cool as it was made up of dark black rocks.
After the Lighthouse we headed to Newport to walk around the town. The whole town was really built around the bay and each building that backed up to the bay was some sort of fishing place with boats coming and going to bring in the day's catch. One of the most famous places there is Mo's Clam Chowder. We stopped there for lunch and ate right by a window overlooking the bay and watching the boats bring in and start prepping the fish. Shantel was really adventurous and got a bowl of clams, mussels, scallops, and shrimp that came with the clam chowder as well. She was not sure she would even like it, but wanted to give it a try and actually really liked it.
Shantel: Who knew that although I don't like fish I actually like clams & mussels, and love scallops! Also, the clam chowder was delicious. This was the only time that we actually ate out on our vacation (other than the KFC in Boise and a stop at a McDonalds on the way to Portland) and it was everything I wanted it to be!
We went back to our camp in the afternoon to let Austin take a nap. While he napped, Shantel read her book and Lydia and I headed down to the beach in our swimsuits. This was one of the highlights of the whole trip for me. Lydia and I spent about an hour (or maybe longer) playing in the water. The tide was really low and so there was a huge section of wet beach. For the whole time Lydia and I would get our hands "dirty" by rubbing them in the wet sand and then run to the ocean to wash them off. We would run into the Ocean until the waves got up to Lydia's knees while she washed her hands and then run as far away as possible when the waves came. We would run 50 or 100 feet to and from the water each time. The water was freezing, but we loved every second running up and down the beach. Eventually Lydia found some little low spots that had sitting water where the tide had gone down and this water was much warmer since it had been sitting in the sun. She would lay down on her tummy and do "belly flops" in each of the little puddles. I loved just being able to play with Lydia with no distractions or anything else to think about.
Austin woke up from his nap and Shantel came down with the kite we had bought to fly it on the beach. I wish I had a picture of her, because she did all the work building the kite and flying it with Austin and it was so cute. He loved watching the kite flying high in the air. The pictures from below are flying the kite the next day, which was super fun as well. Pretty soon, Lydia was getting cold and I ran her up to the camp and then over to the showers to get clean and warm. She thought the showers were so great.
Shantel: David was too nice to write about this... but it was SO windy that first night when I was trying to put the kite together, and somewhere between fighting the wind and running up and down the beach with the kite and the kids, and wrapping Lydia in my coat when she decided that she was too cold to play anymore - I lost my phone. David took the kids and helped Lydia shower and I spent the next hour walking around the beach looking for my phone before the tide came in. I had given up completely and was walking back to the campsite, knowing in my heart that the water had come in and my phone was now at the bottom of the sea, swimming with the fish. I saw that David was walking with the kids to come down to check on me. He asked if I had found it, which I hadn't - when a family walking a bit behind me came up and said "Were you looking for this?" and held out my phone. I can't even express what a tender mercy this was. I had been feeling so embarrassed and frustrated. I had cracked my screen the day before we left for Boise, and had already called and ordered a replacement phone according to the protection plan that we were on. However, they made it clear that I had to send back the phone or pay the full price. I'm sure it would have worked out, but it probably would have been expensive and certainly frustrating. I can't believe that the family walking behind me just happened to find it (I'm pretty sure they were walking around the beach with a metal detector), just happened to be walking back to camp right behind me, and just happened to hear me talking about loosing it. It was such an answer to my prayers! I still feel embarrassed that this even happened, and pretty much stopped taking my phone to the beach after that.
On Friday morning we went to Devils' Punchbowl State Park to see a cool area where there water comes into a cave type area, that you can look at from above. When were were there, the kids really wanted to head down to the beach, so we went down and it was one of the best things we did all trip. We quickly realized that Lydia wanted to really play and would need her swimsuit and I went to get it so she could change. She and Shantel ran through the water and in the waves and loved it. Austin had been wearing shoes at the beach up until this point. We when first took off his shoes and he stepped on the sand, he did not like it. I think it must have felt too pokey for him. It took a few minutes to warm up before he started to slowly move to the water. At first he would get on the sand that was wet. Then he would just barely let the water touch his feet and finally by the end he was trying to run into the waves with Lydia. Shantel and Lydia also climbed around on some nearby rocks. We all loved it. At the end we each took turns standing in this special spot between two rock towers and racing to the ocean. Shantel and I each took turns racing with Lydia and the very best part was watching Lydia and Austin get their backs right up against the cliff wall and then racing as fast as they could to the ocean. We also loved this spot because it was not as windy because it was kind of a protected little cove and we thought it was a really nice place to spend a while.
You can see here, Lydia found a couple of spots with sitting water and did some more of her "belly flops."
After the beach we headed to Depoe Bay. One of the things on the top of Shantel's want list was to get on a boat out in the ocean. Depoe Bay is known for their whale watching tours. We were able to find a tour for only $40 for all of us (for one hour). We explored the shopping along Depoe Bay and then headed to the boat for our tour. The thing we really wanted was just to get on the boat in the ocean, we weren't so much it in for the whale watching. However, it turned out the boat ride was great, and we actually really liked the while watching. We ended up seeing the whales up close quite a few times (like within 20-30 feet away) and we were able to get a really good look. It was fun and interesting, and we loved being on a boat out in the water. We have pictures, but they don't really do it justice, so I have not posted them, but it was pretty cool. Lydia and Austin enjoyed walking around the boat and looking for the whales.
After our boat tour we went to the Sea Lions Caves about an hour south of Newport. The caves have an elevator that takes you 200 feet down into the mountain where you can view the sea lions inside of the cave. Then there is also a view point to some rocks off the coast where there are tons of sea lions as well. Nearby is the Hecta Head lighthouse that I wish we had time to stop and see.
We headed back to camp and knew that Lydia really would want to go play in the beach one last time. I wish we could have all gone down together, but it was getting late and we knew Austin would be happier to get to sleep (and it might help him and Lydia go to sleep faster since they had been a bit silly the night before). So I put Austin to bed and Shantel and I went down to the beach one last time to play in the waves. The tide was coming in after a while they noticed that the waves were actually throwing crabs up onto the beach. The crabs would then try and scurry back to the ocean before the birds came and got them.
Shantel: This is a time that I really do wish I had a camera. I saw the most beautiful purple clam shell that was as large as my extended hand (fingertip to fingertip). I couldn't believe what was happening as the tide was coming in and wave after wave was picking up and throwing these incredibly large crabs, (again, about the size of my extended hand) onto the beach. The crabs would scuttle sideways back down into the water, unless they wave had tipped them over onto their back, then they just wiggled around hoping for a giant wave to come and wash them to safety before the birds circling nearby got to them. We saw a couple of girls grabbing the upsidedown crabs and throwing them back into the ocean and I thought that they were good samaritans out to save as many crabs from the birds as possible, until I asked them about it and they said they were only throwing the females back. Apparently, they wanted to cook and eat crab for dinner! (And it's only legal to catch the males.) It was so funny for me, and SO interesting to watch the whole thing. I really wish that David had been down there with us, but by the time we got back - the sun had completely set. The ocean is so incredible and powerful and even just typing this all out makes me want to go back, right now!
The next morning we packed up to start our trip home. While we got everything packed, Lydia worked on building her fort (with the help of a movie playing in the car to keep her and Austin distracted) and she was ready to go as well.
The trip home
To this point most of our long driving had been done late at night or with Lori in the car, so the next two days would be the longest driving days for the kids. This meant it was the first time that Lydia really took advantage of the tv in the car. We bought her a new Paw Patrol DVD with several episodes and she loved watching on the way home. You'll also see her paw patrol blanket, paw patrol bag, and she spent a lot of time playing with her paw patrol pups. (This is obviously her favorite thing right now.)
On Saturday we went back through Vancouver, WA and stopped to visit Shantel's good friends from High School, Aaron and Judy Sorenson.
We also stopped at Multnomah Falls to check out the waterfalls. It was incredibly busy because it was the weekend before the 4th of July and it was a very popular place to be. It was beautiful and a nice stop right off the road.
Shantel: I wore my favorite sun hat here, because... well it was sunny and hot. However, when we sat down to eat some applesauce cups and look at the waterfall, I set it on a step behind me... and left it. I didn't realize until we were well down the road and couldn't turn around to come back. I'm SO sad. In all honesty, I was just as upset about my $10 sun hat as I was about my $300 smart phone. I found that hat at the Orem Summerfest several years ago and I love everything about it. I still feel sick inside about losing it. I'm trying to be a big girl about it, because I know that it's my own fault and that it's not that big of a deal. But I am really sad! I even called the visitors center after the weekend to see if it had been turned in and if I could pay to have them mail it back to me, but they said they never had a hat like that turned in. *sigh*
Just a few miles down the road was the fish hatchery at Bonneville Dam where we saw thousands a fish being bred.
We made it back to Boise very late Saturday night (around midnight) and stayed with the Knowles again. We went to church on Sunday, and then had a 4th of July BBQ lunch as well. After lunch we went to visit the Boise temple and then got back on the road and headed home.
We were so incredibly lucky to be able to go on such a great vacation. We had so much fun and really enjoyed having time together to laugh and play. The trip to Oregon, although kind of spontaneous was exactly what we needed. The only thing that we would have changed was having just a little more time to spend at the beach and explore the campground. It just seems like there is never enough time when you're on vacation... You just want it to last forever! We recognize that we are so blessed to be able to have taken so much time off of work and to be able to spend so much time together. (And we did the whole thing for about the same price as it would have been to go to Disneyland for two days - go us!)
Oregon - don't forget us. We'll be back. We want to see your shipwrecks and eat at your Burgerville restaurant, we're sad we missed both those things!
