Oregon Vacation 4 of 4

Saturday was another fabulous day in Oregon. We headed just over an hour west to the coast. Our first stop was Cape Mears Lighthouse. From the parking lot you walk down this little trail to the lighthouse.

Here is Jason looking out at the ocean view.Unfortunately a few months ago someone shot at the lighthouse and damaged it. Because of the criminal investigation we couldn't go to the top, but the guides still told us all about it. The views around the lighthouse were absolutely beautiful! Afterwards we drove a few minutes over to Oceanside Beach. Jason was terrified of the water and didn't want to get very close, so he lead the way back to the car. Next we headed over to the Tillamook Cheese Factory and Creamery. We watched them making cheese, tried a bunch of samples, and ate delicious sandwiches and ice cream.The kids fell asleep in the car and we headed about 45 minutes north along the coastal highway. The views were just lovely all along the way. We stopped up at Cannon Beach. That large rock below is called "Haystack Rock".Parker and Brad wasted no time and began to build a sand castle. Jason was not pleased when we arrived, but after a few minutes he calmed down and happily played in the sand.

I started to fly a kite, but wasn't holding it tight and the wind blew it away. It blew probably half a mile away and got caught on a building. We could see it on the horizon the rest of the time, but it was irretrievable.

Brad took Parker out to play in the water.

Parker loved grabbing the sand and throwing it into the ocean. He did it for at least five minutes and surely could have kept at it for longer.

This was Jason's first time to the ocean. I let him stand in the water, but he was definitely not a fan.

I brought him back away from the water and he enjoyed playing again.

After a while the boys came back to play.

Here are Brad and Parker with their feet buried in the sand.

Our last stop was Ecola State Park just north of Cannon Beach. Parker thought the binoculars my aunt had lent us were just about the coolest things ever!

Here's the view without us in it. Isn't it gorgeous?

You can take a short trail out to a lookout point. Here is one of the views:

When you look out to see you can see Tillamook Rock Lighthouse in the distance. Lighthouses were built every 30 miles along the Oregon Coast.

Here we are at the lookout.

We had such a fun vacation! On Sunday morning we woke up to a good breakfast and then headed to the airport. We flew standby and unfortunately we weren't going to make a flight home. Brad really didn't want to miss more work, so we rented a car and drove home. It took us about 12 hours, but the kids were great! Even though it was unplanned, it made me feel like driving places in the future will work out. Anyway, enjoy the pictures from our fun trip!