August 2021

 

August 2021

August 3 Kory and I began our roadtrip to the Oregon coast. We headed over through Boise and had a smooth trip, eating junk food and listening to the first Harry Potter on audio book. Unfortunately, we reached Portland around rush hour, so it was a little tense getting through there, but we made it. We were so focused on traffic that we didn’t get gas and then realized there weren’t many gas stations between Portland and the coast. We slid into Seaside on fumes and immediately filled up. Then, we found our cute little Airbnb cottage a little outside of Seaside in a town called Gearhart. It’s a nice, quiet little town. Our Airbnb was located behind a flower shop, so it was surrounded by beautiful flowers and really quiet…not a lot of traffic and other guests like in a hotel. 

We unpacked and then headed down to the beach at Seaside. We ate some clam chowder in bread bowls at Mo’s, and then walked down by the water, hoping to see some sunset. It was really cloudy, so we didn’t see much sun. We drove back to our place and vegged for awhile before going to bed.

August 4, we woke up fairly early and went down to the beach at Gearhart for a morning walk. It was super foggy/cloudy/misty, so we couldn’t really even see the water, other than the very edge on the beach. We had a nice walk and then went back and got showered and ready. We headed up to Astoria and ate breakfast at the PignPancake, which was kind of like IHOP. We went to Fort Stevens and checked out the wreckage of the Peter Iredale. It’s a shipwreck from the early 1900s that is easily accessible on the beach and kind of interesting to poke around. 

From there, we went to Fort Clatsop and learned a bit about Lewis and Clark and walked around the replica of their fort there. From there, we drove down to Tillamook and had some cheese and ice cream at the creamery. It was packed and it took a few hours to wait through all of the lines. 

We drove around and looked at some different views in Tillamook and then headed home and took a nap. We went down to the Gearhart beach around sunset and sat for awhile and walked, but it was too cloudy to see much of a sunset. We weren’t hungry so we just vegged and watched some Vera.

On August 5, we got up and went golfing at the public golf course near where we are staying. Well, Kory golfed and I walked along. I’m not good enough to handle a course that hard. We just did nine holes, but Kory golfed great. He said the climate and maintenance of the course made the greens amazing to putt on. We could see the sea grass and hear the roar of the ocean from the course. On a clearer day, we’d have been able to see the water. 

After golf, we went to Walmart for a few things. Then we drove down to Cannon Beach. There is a lot of pedestrian traffic etc, but it’s such a cute town. We walked down to the beach to see Haystack Rock. It was a very misty day, so we sat for quite awhile and waited for the mist to clear so we could get a few pictures. Mostly we just enjoyed sitting in the sand, relaxing and listening to the ocean and the seagulls. After, we had delicious fish and chips at the Wayfarer Restaurant right there by the beach. 

We came back and took a nap, then went to Seaside. We walked up and down Broadway, checking out all the shops and restaurants. We ended up getting some more cobbler at Mo’s and eating it at the turnaround and looking out at the beach, which was still quite cloudy. We went home and watched some more Vera.

On August 6, we got up and headed down the coast to Newport to the Oregon Coast Aquarium. We thought it would be a good day for that because it was rainy in Seaside. It was quite a long drive, but we enjoyed it. The weather cleared up a bit and we listened to the audio book for Harry Potter. We toured the aquarium and then drove out to the Yaquina Head Lighthouse, which was very picturesque. We headed back up the coast and stopped at a couple of turnouts near Depoe Bay, hoping to see some whales. It was rainy and cloudy again, so we couldn’t see much. 

We headed back to Seaside and saw blue sky!! We sat down on the promenade and enjoyed the view for awhile, bought some souvenirs, then ate at Dooger’s Grill. Kory had scallops and I had a crab sandwich. We got some ice cream and walked down to the water and enjoyed the beautiful sunshine. We went back to our place and napped, then went down to the little quiet beach in Gearhart for a couple of hours. Kory read and I walked along the beach, then we sat and enjoyed a sunset! It was beautiful. Also, as a little added bonus, just as we got out of the sea grass at the top of the hill leading down the to beach, we saw two whales spouting! They did it for about ten minutes right there off the coast. It was a cool sight. Later, when we walked back to our car, there was a whole herd of elk down in the little section of sea grass behind the dunes at the beach. It looked cool.

On August 7^th, we checked out and headed back toward Idaho. We decided to stop and take a look at Mt. Hood, so we went up to Timberline Ski Resort and bought a chair lift ticket. It’s amazing how far up the mountain you can go. I was feeling a little scared of the height, but I white-knuckled it. It was quite windy on top, but there were a bunch of people skiing on the little scraps of snow that have lasted through the summer. We headed back down to the main road through beautiful valleys where there are tons of orchards and fruit stands. We ate at a great sandwich shop in Hood River and had some fresh made apple cider and frozen lemonade too. We ended up staying the night in Hermiston because it’s about halfway home. When we were driving to the hotel, we noticed seats lining the road and found out it was the kick-off parade for the county fair. When we got to our room, we realized that we had a fantastic view of the parade route from our window. So, at 7:00, we just opened our blinds and enjoyed a little small-town parade for about an hour. We had a great time! After that we watched some Olympics and then went to bed.

On August 8^th, we checked out and drove the rest of the way home. We continued listening to the Harry Potter audio books throughout the trip and we finished books one and two. Very entertaining way to pass the time. We always feel so refreshed after getting away for awhile!

On August 11, Chloe started the process of getting her braces off! On the 13^th, we had some fun babysitting Ryker and Aiden. On the 14^th, we took the younger kids up to Victor to see Grandpa and ride around on the 4-wheelers. That night we visited Austin and Leah in their new house in Shelley. We spent a lot of time peeling wallpaper off in the piano room to get it ready to paint.

On August 16^th, Phoebe started her Cosmetology program at Austin Kade. It has been very intensive and hands-on and she is loving it! On August 20^th, Kory and I had dinner with Austin’s family and went for a fun walk with the kids.

On August 25^th, Morgan headed back to school. She started 7^th grade at Eagle Rock Middle School. Chloe got her braces off in time for her first day on the 26^th. She is a sophomore at Idaho Falls High School and Caleb is a senior at Skyline High School. Kory is teaching seminary at Skyline and Isaac is teaching part-time seminary at Shelley High School. On the 28^th, we took the three girls to a Chukars game and had a lot of fun.