Speth Trip Day 6: The Gorge and Home

Today was the final day for the Speths to experience "our way of life" here in Oregon.  They packed up and drove out to The Gorge with JD driving separately.  They got to see Shepherd's Dell, Bridal Veil, Wakeena, Multnomah, and Horsetail Falls.  When they were all done exploring, Speth's continued east on 1-84 and JD came home and took a nice nap. It has been fun, but also crazy the past couple weeks.

Speth Trip Day 5: Astoria, Seaside, Ecola

Final Full Day in Oregon=Coast

This day included the Astoria Column complete with flying an airplane off the top of the column.  Ft Stevens State Park, seeing the ship wreck and photo bombing Miranda's mad tumbling skills.  Seaside, seeing a 2 week old baby harbor seal and playing in the touch pool.  Ecola State Park, tide pooling and hanging out on Indian Beach.  We had a really good dinner at La Fogata, a Mexican place near us that has foot long gigantic burritos.  It was a lot of fun having the Speth's here and having the chance to show them around Oregon and let them see part of the reason why we love it here so much. 

 

Speth Trip Day 4: Downtown Portland

The day started off with JD, Jeff, JaNae, Sye, and Jake going to the Portland Temple while Miranda slept in.  They got to go down town to see the sites.  Some stops included: Waterfront Park, Powell's Book Store, Pioneer Square, and VooDoo Donuts (a first time attendance for JD-I don't eat donuts so the only ones he has had are ones I have brought to him from coworkers that I didn't eat) they are a very famous donut shop with rather unusual names and toppings.  Portland has what becomes almost a month long celebration for the Rose Festival, and one of the first things that happens is the Pioneer Square flower art.  They put a design on display for about 2 1/2 weeks at which point all the flowers that were used in the art are sold.  After the downtown adventures I was able to meet up with the fam and we went to Washington Square Mall to eat dinner, but a stop at the Lego store was a must the picture on this post was what I saw when I walked into the store: three grown little boys looking at a box of Legos.  Miranda got to go see a Timbers game with her friend Joe who is playing on one of the reserve teams for the Timbers.  We ate at the Cheesecake Factory and it was delicious.  It was another busy but fun day.

  

Speth Trip Day 3: Silver Falls

While I love Silver Falls and would have loved to go there with the family today, it was time for me to get back to work, and to be honest our little guy probably would not have been a very good friend to bring along on the 8.7 mile loop that takes you past 10 gorgeous waterfalls.  So JD got to go with everyone to experience the amazing Silver Falls State Park.  This is a place that is difficult to describe so it just goes more along the lines of if you come to see us, you must go there because while the pictures are nice and look cool, it is even more incredible in person.

Speth Trip Day 2: Cape Outlook to Cannon

Happy Memorial Day!

This year it was a wet one.  While it was cold and wet, I do have to say I'm fairly certain that it is a good thing, what could have been a nightmareish busy day on the 101 turned out to be empty, parking was a breeze, there was not a single person in line at the Tillamook Cheese Factory, and we were able to see a lot more coast than we were expecting.  We started in Tillamook and Cape Outlook-where they found full size, unbroken sand dollars and we got to see 'new' waterfalls because of all the rain, we got to go up to the lens of Cape Meares Lighthouse as well.  Other fun sites along the way was a stop at the empty Tillamook Jerky Outlet and Mo's-famous clam chowder, also famous for long lines which were non existent today.  We walked on Cannon Beach before heading back home for another round of games.  It was a good day and while sun would have been nice, it would have made doing everything we did a lot harder.  I'm officially worn out and thinking that working while the Speth's do the rest of the things we have planned is probably a good thing with how drained I feel after a week of playing.

Speth Trip Day 1: Church, Roses, Hoyt, & Pittock

The Speth's are here!  It was so fun meeting them at church, though it was weird saying most of a bench when we are used to just two of us.  We had a quick lunch and then headed up to the International Rose Test Garden, Pittock Mansion, and Hoyt Arboretum.

After our adventure we went back to our apartment and cooked the Papa Murphy's pizza we bought after getting home yesterday and played games.  We are all (almost all) now versed in Bohnanza, also known as the 'bean game'. 

Coast Trip Day 5: Medford to Home

We went to the beautiful Medford Temple today.  It was a very neat experience for us where prayers were answered and a lot of stress was relieved by the time we got home from this temple visit.  It is a longer story that I will post a bit later.  After the temple we ate at Jaspers Café and oh my goodness talk about a delicious burger!  I got the teri-pine burger and JD ordered Kangaroo.  They were both really good and their customer service was amazing.  We will definitely have to go back if I can make it back down here in a month.  We drove home after lunch and while it did feel good to be home we are still busy getting ready for JD's family to be here tomorrow, we are excited to see them but I have a feeling JD is going to be worn out by the time these two weeks are over.

Coast Trip Day 4: Crescent City & Redwoods to Ashland

We had a pretty amazing day today.  We started at Ocean World, it is a quirky little aquarium that has been built into an old boat.  They have a lot of different animals to touch and resident harbor seals and sea lions.  When we were in the hull of the boat looking at the seals swimming around I started feeling not right, I got dizzy, ringing in the ears, a bit of tunnel vision, and I felt like I wasn't getting enough air.  I sat down while the guy was talking about something-who knows what and prayed that I wouldn't pass out in the hull of the boat aquarium.  We made it out of the hull and I still wasn't feeling very well so I leaned against a table while JD got to pet some Leopard Sharks, I was able to do the same after a few minutes but still felt queasy.  We got a little sea lion/seal show and then we were done at the aquarium and I was feeling better.  The only thing I can guess was I had locked by knees and cut of circulation because it was weird. 

 

After the aquarium we went to the North Coast Marine Mammal Center.  This is a place that they take sick, injured, or abandoned marine mammals for rehab.  We got to see an elephant seal, 5 baby harbor seals, and a few sea lions during feeding time.  The volunteer worker was super nice and told us a lot about the animals and why he was doing things the way he was.  We loved watching him shove fish down the baby harbor seals-they are just like little puppies only fat, wet, and floppity.  One of the seals they had was actually kidnapped by a kindergartner from the beach, they were on a field trip and he put it in his back pack.  When the parents got home they found a baby seal in their bath tub. 

We went to Jedediah Smith State Park/Redwoods National Park on our way up to Medford/Ashland. This place is amazing.  It is kind of hard to put how tall the trees are into perspective while walking amongst them until you take a minute to look through pictures and realize we looked like little ants wandering around these gigantic trees.  In Sequoia the large, massive trees are not quite as common and are spaced out a bit compared with an entire grove of varying aged trees.  We loved hiking around them and enjoyed the 'old grove' where the older bigger trees were located. 

After the Redwoods we drove up to Medford and dropped our stuff off at the hotel.  We went to eat in Ashland and walked around the town.  It is the location of Southern Oregon University and the Oregon Shakespearean Festival.  The main street is decorated all cute Shakespearean style with names like the Windsor or pubs like the Dragon.  There is also a beautiful park down town the boarders the river, we loved walking through Lithia looking at the rhododendrons. The last stop of a busy day was stopping for icecream with our friends Chris and Haylie Weston.  Haylie went through pharmacy technician training with JD and I and also graduated from Pacific University a few years ago as a pharmacist.  It was fun to see them for a bit and we are excited to see their new baby when he comes.

Coast Trip Day 3: Coos Bay to Crescent City

The sun came out today! We loved driving down the coast from Coos Bay.  We stopped at Cape Arago and saw a ton of sea lions basking in the sun and playing in the water. Arizona Beach is unique because it has black sand, you have to cross a small river to get to it so I had to go solo and take a picture since JD didn't want to take his shoes off (I always wear flip flops when at the ocean). We also make several stops in Samuel H Boardman State Park that included Arch Rock.  We relaxed on Harris Beach State Park for a bit before crossing the border into California.  I love the Redwood Highway, while they are not old growth trees, it is still fun to drive on a highway lined with younger Redwoods.  We went straight to the National/State Park Visitor Center to get some maps for our Redwood adventure and then followed with going to Battery Point Lighthouse.  I had been watching the tide and knew we needed to get over there quick, the lighthouse is only accessible when the tide is out, but we were more interested in the tidepooling by the lighthouse.  We saw crabs, hermit crabs, star fish, and other fun things.  I wish I were has talented as JD at balancing and hopping around rocks.  I had to go very slow and even then I wasn't super stable.  After dinner we went to Crescent Beach and watched surfers (yes we are now in California) and the sun set.  It was super pretty and the weather was great.

Coast Trip Day 2: Lincoln to Coos Bay

It was a rather rainy day for us, but the sun would occasionally peak it's head out and the weather didn't do anything to change our plans.  We got to see the waves crashing into the ocean wall at Depoe Bay, Sea Lions coming in to rest on the rocks in the sea lion caves, JD found his first agate on Agate Beach, we saw some lighthouses, and had fun enjoying the coast line.  Below is a clip of a 'spouting horn' a formation in the rock that when crashing water is funneled through it is forced up through small openings in the rock, the more water and pressure, the higher the spout.

Coast Trip Day 1: Lincoln City

After a rather long day of getting a 3 hour glucose test, work, and driving, we got to Lincoln City to start our trip.  I love Lincoln City, my family would spend hours crabbing in the bay and enjoy hiking and eating at Mo's.  While we didn't crab, we did go to the D River Beach.  The D River is the shortest river in the world (at high tide).  The water is slightly warmer than the ocean so it is fun to stand in the water there.  It had been raining all day so we were thrilled to enjoy a break in bad weather as soon as we had finished unloading our car and were headed to the beach.

We're having a baby!

Pharmacy Benefit Conference

JD and I attended a Pharmacy Benefits Conference Tuesday and Wednesday.  I was going for work and JD was nice enough to attend with me as a pharmacy student (yay for free student admission).  I was super excited to see the inside of The Governor Hotel.  I have admired this building in the past as I have walked between Powell's Book Store and the train stop and the interior did not disappoint either.  The ceilings were either hand painted or wood carved.  There were original tiles from 1909 when the building was built and so much character.  I loved it.  We also enjoyed 'fancy' food for two days including salmon (that cost $30/plate downstairs).  In the end we also both received continuing education and won a drawing.  JD got a $50 gift card to Deschutes Brewery that has a promising menu for dinner and I won a $100 gift card to Amazon.com, after asking for something without alcohol when I originally won a fancy bottle of wine.  While I am sure it wasn't JD's preference to spend the first two days of freedom from school at a conference on pharmacy benefits, it was fun spending time with him while I worked.

Bridal Veil

We had a great time going to Bridal Veil Falls in the Gorge this weekend.  It was so stinkin pretty.  We go places on occasion where I can't help but step back in awe that places like this exist and appreciate what the Creator has provided for us to enjoy and feel His love for us.  Being in Oregon, I have that experience often and am grateful for the opportunity to enjoy the varying things we have been able to see from the forests to the oceanfront.  It was definitely a memorable way to spend Mother's Day after church and skyping/talking with our mom's.