Oregonian Vacation, Day 2

Day two was both tasty and beautiful.

First we wandered the streets of Seaside to have a look around. I knew I wanted to pay a visit to a certain candy store I'd fallen in love with the last time I was in the area.


They have 170 flavors of taffy. The kids and I carefully concocted a big bag of it. Ryan only lasted a minute in there since he can't stand the smell of candy. He waited outside on a chair while the rest of us became entranced by the magical array of salt water taffy.

I love the floor.

And I thought this picture on the wall was cute...

I can relate to this. I've worked for candy pretty much my whole life. If I was given back all the money I've ever spent on candy, I'd be a rich woman. This sign was hanging next to the wheel of prizes that I neglected to take a picture of. Oliver spun the wheel and won a small bag of taffy. The rest of us weren't so lucky.


After that we drove to the Tillamook cheese factory.

I don't know what I'd do without cheese.

Look at all that cheddary goodness.


We took advantage of the cheese samples and eventually enjoyed ice cream cones. Then we bought a pack of squeaky cheese for the road (though we didn't actually give any to the road).

Our next destination was Cape Lookout, which is a scenic walking path that my stepdad recommended to us. It's about a 5 mile round-trip excursion. The inclines were very gradual, so it was not difficult.

The only problem was the mud.


Much of the trail was a big mess. We hadn't anticipated this, but we somehow muddled through. We tried to walk along the edges that were a bit drier, but some spots were just completely squishy.

At one point Oliver biffed it. Dirty kid.




I love that these tree roots look like stairs.

These were good for traction. I almost bit the mud a couple of times due to slick areas requiring creative footwork. I pretty much did a triple lutz at one point in a desperate attempt to keep from falling. It worked. =)


I loved this neato tree.


Here's one of the views we came upon.









Cora and Jane look so small.



Such fantastic views!

Between all the mud and gunk we savored so many wonderful sights. The walk kind of paralleled my life. Or anyone's life. Sometimes you just have to keep pushing through the crap to get to the good parts.







Yet another cool tree.






Yup, I also liked this tree. I thought the smattering of moss and greenery looked cool. The tree itself was immense. I should have had someone pose next to it for perspective. You'll just have to trust me that it was really big.

I'm guessing it took us about an hour to make it to the ending point.

Here we are. It was breathtaking up there.

When we made it back to the car our feet were soiled beyond belief. We had to un-shoe and line them up on flattened grocery bags in the back of the car. Some of us had spare footwear to put on. On the drive back to the hotel we stopped at Subway to quickly tame our hunger. We ate in the car. When we got back to our room I think we turned on the TV and watched the Disney Channel. We did quite a bit of that during our resting phases.

Stay (or get) tuned for Day 3 . . . Coming whenever.

Oregonian Family Vacation, Day 1

We took a trip to the Oregon Coast June 18-23. We had originally wanted to go during spring break, but it didn't work out. The weather was better in June than it was the end of March anyway. =)

We borrowed Jackie's Garmin for the week, which turned out to be very handy. We left Boise by about 9:00 that Monday morning.

Once we reached the thick of Oregon we enjoyed some beautiful roadside scenery. I'd forgotten how lush and green and "treeful" it is. The last time I traveled that way was in 1999 on a choir tour.

We stopped at Multnomah Falls on our way to Seaside.

Cora's camera is apparently programmed to stamp the date on all the photos. Annoying. We'll figure out how to stop that. For now it'll serve as a way to remind us whose camera took which pictures.




This cavernous tree looked so cool.


I'm not sure what we're waiting for here.


We wanted to walk all the way up, but part of the path had collapsed and been blocked off. We were nearly to the top, so we were kind of bummed that we couldn't finish. But not as bummed as we would have been if the trail crumbled during our ascent. So we took an alternate hiking route that took us past other waterfalls. It was lovely.



I totally loved this spot.


I think we are blurry because the flash was turned off. Kind of an eerie effect.




See the water. See it fall.



We were all famished by the time we made our way back down the trail. So we hopped back in the car and let the GPS help us decide where to eat dinner.


We settled on Elmer's. They had enormous hanging baskets. I'd never seen them that size! They looked even more impressive in person.

Everyone enthusiastically ate all their food. Then we piled back in the Pacifica and continued on to the Pacific Ocean.

We'd booked a hotel room in Seaside. The interior reminded me a lot of the decade in which I was born. =)
I knew what to expect, and it was fine. I wanted a room with an oceanfront view, and that's what we got. All the nicer places were already full for the days we needed by the time I got around to searching. But like I said, it was juuuuust fine.

I have to mention a funny thing I read when I was searching hotel reviews. Some person wrote that their family had arrived late at night, and the desk clerk had stayed up waiting for them, to make sure they got there okay and were comfortable. Ha! I bet they felt so special. =)


After we dumped our belongings in the hotel room, we skedaddled to the beach.

The kids hadn't seen the ocean before.


Here they are, meeting it for the first time.







Do you think they liked it?








What a gorgeous introduction to the Oregon Coast.

Robert Carroll McCaleb, 1917- 2012

My grandpa passed away last night. He was 95. What a long time to live. But what a full life he had. His wonderful wife, my grandma, preceded him in death by ten years. I don't know how people "find" each other in heaven, but I believe they are together now. They with their son, my dad. And their daughter who died as a newborn. And everyone else they knew and loved who left this earth before them. I would love to have a real glimpse of what heavenly reunions are like. Think of all the great-great uncles and aunties you might get to meet. I hope they let you greet the people you actually know first. ;)

Here's a picture of my grandfather, aka Bob.



Wasn't he a handsome young fellow?

My uncle Gary posted this picture on Facebook and included these words:
"Seventy years later, this trooper went home to his Lord. Dad slipped away about 9:30 p.m. Wednesday night; the weathered shell of what he once was released him to be who he truly is in Christ. More to say in due time, but no dad could have been a finer man or better mentor than this man who taught me duty, honor, God, and country through word spoken, deed done, and blood shed. Rest in Peace, dad."
Well said, Gary.


I didn't know him as well as I could have. My grandparents lived in Arizona, so I only got to see them maybe once a year. I always thought he was a cute old man with an unmistakably good heart. He was artistic. Serious and hard-working. Forever telling war stories. Devoted, generous, and strong.

Erin, Gavin, Megan and I will be at his graveside service in Arizona the end of next week. It may be the last time any of us has reason to go to Arizona. =( My whole life, all the visits there have been to see my dad and grandparents. And now they have all moved on to the other side.
I miss them.

Grandpa will be missed. The grandpa I knew as a child has been "gone" for the last several years. His memory had mostly deteriorated, and he could no longer carry on a coherent conversation. It probably didn't help that his hearing was next to none. It's sad not knowing when we'll get to see him again, but it's a comfort to know that he is now free from the physical and mental limitations that he had been experiencing. He must feel so energized and, for lack of a better word, alive.

Farewell, Grandpa McCaleb . . . 'til we meet again.

Artsy fartsy

So, my brother's wife is quite artistic. I'm always in awe of the things she creates.

She painted their living room wall to look like this...

It's all paint. No decals. I think it's adorable!


This is the opposite wall. I like the little birds. ("Put a bird on it!")


A few weeks ago, I went to a mother/daughter activity at the church with Cora and Jane. On the agenda was a gal demonstrating cake decorating techniques. It was a fun and informative evening. Everyone got to practice decorating their own cupcakes using wads of fondant the leaders had made and divvied out. Truthfully, I felt lost without any sprinkles. =)

I thought Jane's creation was so cute.

She used a fondant cutter to make the flower, then methodically formed and added all the dots.


She (and I) were pleased with her handiwork. And isn't she cute?

In semi-related news, Ryan's mom is now teaching summer art classes to the girls every Wednesday afternoon. I'm eager to see what they learn. Shirley is such a talented artist. She does beautiful work. Ryan got that gene from her, and now Jane seems to have picked it up from them. It's pretty fascinating how heredity works.
I'm not just basing Jane's artistic abilities on how this cupcake turned out. I've posted some of her drawings here before, and she's always busy drawing more. I will take some pics soon of her more recent masterpieces.

In totally unrelated news, I finally broke down and bought the big tub of mini cinnamon rolls at Costco the other day. Don't tell me you haven't noticed them. Each time I've been there they've called to me, but until this week I'd passed them by, talking myself out of taking them home to live in my belly.
If anyone knows me, they know I love little things. I don't get why people think bigger is necessarily better. Somehow the smaller it is, the better it tastes. The flavor is more concentrated. I've tasted a huge cinnamon roll before, and it was dry. There was too much roll for the cinnamon and icing. So, not only are mini things cuter, they are yummier. In my honest opinion.
Anyway, two days later all the soft cinnamony rolls are gone. The whole fam was crazy about them. Cora and Jane told me to get them again next time. Ryan told me I shouldn't (because he couldn't stop snacking on them). My voice of reason (if any reason remains) and my taste buds are currently debating the issue. Maybe Costco simply won't have them next time.