We had such a wonderful time on our Oregon vacation this year. We always do, but there was an element of magic this time which never let up. It was as if all of our happy memories of our own sunny childhood summers were distilled into seven amazing days! The whole experience had such an impact on me that I could hardly wait to get these photos up and to blog about it all, even as I type, there are still piles of laundry that need washing. Chris mentioned this week brought to mind his favourite comic strip and the words "the days are just packed" seemed to resonate so strongly with us for this trip that I thought I would share it. From Bill Watterston's Calvin & Hobbes:
After stopping for a picnic lunch outside of the lighthouse museum, we made for the beach. It was a spectacular day; not even a hint of a cloud in the sky! As we walked out toward the surf, some friendly dogwalkers offered to take our family picture.
I included the photo above to prove Jordy started out with pants.
The situation quickly deteriorated:
It may have been a warm day on the beach, but the ocean waves are still painfully cold! We definitely think J-man got his Nanny's imperviousness to icy-cold water! Cygni, on the other hand didn't want to have anything to do with the waves, she was happy to putter on the sand with her pail and shovel and looking for driftwood and sticks.
Breath-taking
After playing around the beach we headed to the campground to check in and unpack into our highly anticipated yurt. We have to thank Chris' cousin-in-law Michelle for providing us with this amazing opportunity, because while we generally plan to visit family and friends in Oregon annually, we don't normally throw in a beach/camping bit. It was only after other plans displaced this vacation for Michelle and her family that we were able to swoop in and take her reservation for her. And we are SO glad we took the advantage! Call it "Glamping," or not the real-deal if you like, but we absolutely loved it. We aren't sure we can ever go back to tenting it....
Daddy lit us a fire after dinner
The next day we decided to explore nearby Lake Marie. The kids loved tossing stones into the water as usual, but when we suggested a hike around the perimeter, Jordy balked. He whined fit to make just about any normal person go nuts, but we pressed on. We got a couple of disgruntled looks from other hikers/fishermen we passed by, but most everyone else didn't seem to mind and we even got some encouraging words from a fishing couple who had been in our shoes years before. We were able to distract Jordan here and there with interesting trail finds like streams, sticks and plants, and even chatted happily with a fisherman who was kind enough to show us his catch or three beautiful trout. At the end of it all we felt we did the right thing in pushing him to walk with us, because he stopped whining 3/4 of the way on the trail and at the end of the night when we asked him which part of the day was his favourite he said "walking by the lake." You could have pushed Mommy over with a feather after that revelation!
If Jordy was the reluctant hiker, Cygni was Queen of the Trail.
She practically led the way, walking the whole mile on her own steam and she loved it!
Once we regained our bearings and grabbed some dinner in Reedsport, Daddy got the brainwave to head back to our beach and watch the sunset. Brilliant idea, Dad!
We chased our sunset with some marshmallows roasted on a campfire and headed to bed. Later that night was the only "blemish" on an otherwise perfect vacation; Jordy got sick. Mommy woke up to hear her little fellow crying quietly. When I poked my head above the bunk rail, I expected him to need help getting down to go potty, but he asked for some water to drink instead. I obliged him, but when I clambered up to hand him the blue solo cup with a bit of water in it, something in his expression made me think, "Oh gawd, this kid is going to vomit." And two seconds later I had the cup under his chin and he unhappily puked. All I can say is thank goodness I got there when I did because cleaning up that bunk would not be high on my list of fun activities! Daddy got out of bed to lend a helping hand and shortly after, the commotion woke little Cygni. I just kept thinking please don't let this be a complete and utter barf-o-rama...! Fortunately after a couple rounds of heaves, Jordy settled down. And within and hour and a half of the ordeal beginning, everyone bunkered down and went back to bed. And the next day, Jordan was right as rain and back to having a grand time! We still don't know what made him sick but we are happy it was a one-off for one camper. Phew!
The next morning we headed to the lighthouse museum to poke around the displays and to get in on one of the tours to go inside the lighthouse. The kids actually liked the museum and were very well behaved on the tour, Though there was that moment when Jordan wanted to go all the way up into the lighthouse lens, rather than stopping on the third step as our guide Bill suggested. Dad kept him out... barely.
The Umpqua River Lighthouse has an unique red and white first order Fresnel lens,
and we got to poke our heads up inside and have a close look
The view from in front of the lighthouse.
If you click on the picture to enlarge, you can make out the two jetties that come together
in a sort of triangle into the water, our beach is to the left (or south)
Some ducks we saw while waiting for our fish'n'chip lunch at Unger's.
We had picked up a couple of kites while in North Bend
and decided to have a go with them at the beach after our lunch break.
These kites practically flew themselves and the kids we all had a blast!
Chris' perfectly timed photo of a Coast Guard helicopter
practicing some maneuvers during our kite-flying excursion
It was hard to get the kids to pack up the kites, but as this was our last night before heading home, we wanted to get back to the yurt early and do some pre-packing so that our morning wouldn't be so harried. Mommy wanted to hit the road early! A final round of marshmallows after dinner hit the spot. And all the kite flying without any nap that day had Cygni-girl pretty well knackered. She fell asleep watching a DVD while sitting on the bed and stayed asleep til Mommy woke her up to leave the next morning.
This was a trip the Dumaresq Family won't soon forget.
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