Sunday, June 21, 2015

Home Again Home Again Jiggety Jig

Well, we made it!
Day #6 was a long day of driving and we got a later start than we had wanted but we still made it home before dark which was nice.

Trip Stats:


Total Miles...1893.5
Total Hours in the Car... 39.3
Total Number of Seizures...14
Number of Waterfalls Visited...5
Number of Quilt Stores Andy so Willingly Let me Buzz into...3
Number of Pounds I Gained...5.2 :(...that wasn't supposed to happen!
Number of Times it Rained...0...that wasn't supposed to happen either :(
Number of Times my Phone Died While I was Trying to Take a Picture...countless! (time for a new phone!)

Great memories were made and the kids thought it was an awesome vacation!
I guess that counts as a success :)

Friday, June 19, 2015

Oregon Family Vacation...Day 5

I have thoroughly enjoyed seeing explosions of hydrangeas everywhere in Oregon...and the colors are just amazing!  Why can't we get that in Utah?...well, I know why but I wish it were otherwise.
These beauties were at the gas station we stopped at before we left the Portland area...seriously!...the gas station?!?!


Our first stop for the day was the Vista House along the Columbia River Gorge.

We took turns getting out and sightseeing...partly because we didn't think it would be a very stroller friendly place for Ben and partly because a police officer stopped us on the way in and told us that our car would be broken into while we were away so to make sure we took all of our valuables and belongings with us.  Ha!



Kind of a neat, old building.

Next on the trail was Multnomah Falls.
This is seriously one of my favorite places ever!
I remember loving it as a young girl years ago while vacationing with my family.  
Notice Ben is signing "water" in the picture.  When he saw the waterfall he immediately started showing us the sign.



It looks like Ben is trying to figure out how to escape while Dad is being distracted by the waterfall :)
He really would much rather get out and walk like everyone else but he would end up running everywhere and falling down and getting into trouble so we confine him to his too-small stroller and he deals with it.













Continuing down the gorge we saw Horsetail Falls right off the road and stopped for some pics.  
As we drove away from this spot Andy said to the kids: "Waterfalls are good for your mother's soul" :)  He is absolutely right!  I just love them!

We then visited the Bonneville Locks, Dams, Fish Ladders and Hatchery.

These cuties are called lampreys.

Andy says they have disgustingly magnetic personalities :)

More hydrangeas!



Our last stop for the day was going to be Mt. Hood.
The kids weren't excited about extending our drive another 2 hours but we decided to just go for it and Andy said he would turn around if it got to be too windy(long i)...that's an issue in our family since a good portion of us get car sick.  Within seconds of taking the turnoff, Ben had a seizure...his first one of the day.  We wondered if that was a sign that we shouldn't go.  We pressed on however and when Mt Hood came into view I noticed that the summit was shrouded in clouds.  Andy thought maybe that was a second sign :)  So when we came upon a good shot within the next few minutes, Andy pulled over, I got some pictures and we turned around.  Probably a good thing too since Ben continued to have seizures and we eventually ended up giving him his Diastat.  It was nice for him to be able to rest at the hotel rather than in his carseat.
Still pretty even though we couldn't see the whole thing :)
Tomorrow we head home.  Many hours of driving and most likely uneventful but I will do a wrap up post anyway.

sorry...one more picture.
The first night of the trip we tried to get Ben to sleep with the other boys but it ended up not really working so he slept with us every night.  However, he kept "talking" about sleeping with Josh and Matt.
This last day of the trip he had been given the diastat and he slept for a couple of hours in the evening.  He woke up in time to eat dinner and then climbed into bed with Josh and Matt and promptly fell asleep :)
It was so sweet to see.

Oregon Family Vacation...Day 4

The morning of Day 4 I said farewell to the ocean.
This was the view out our window.  

Andy allowed me to go to another quilt store while he filled up the car...actually, while an attendant filled up the car.  It really kind of bugs him that you can't put gas in your own car in Oregon.
Our trek for the day was inland and up to Portland via Silver Falls Park.

  Once we arrived at the park we had a picnic lunch before hiking to any of the waterfalls.  By the time lunch was over it was apparent to me that my allergies had kicked in.  Josh seemed to be having issues as well.  After we had walked over to the lodge to get a map I sat down and realized that in my current state of misery I would not be able to enjoy a hike.  The other four went ahead to the South Falls while Josh and I hung back in the lodge.

 A couple of minutes later Andy came running back with a bottle of allergy meds he had found at the gift shop down the trail.  During the next 20-30 minutes Josh and I slowly became a little better.  When the others came back Andy told me I should just go down a short ways to the lookout since I was feeling better.
I ended up hiking down to go behind the falls and Josh followed.  We're so glad we did.  It was gorgeous!  (most of the pics below are from Andy's jaunt)






Can you see Abby and Matt on the other side of the falls?





After the South falls we drove down the road a little further and Matt and Andy hurried and hiked to the North Falls while the rest of us relaxed in the car.  Josh and I were feeling the effects of our allergy meds and were soon falling asleep.


Once we were back on the road and I was thoroughly asleep, Andy nudged me and told me to wake up for a minute.  He turned the car around and told me there was something he wanted me to see.  We came upon a field of gorgeous flowers.  Upon further inspection I realized they were poppies...red and pink poppies.  It made me think of The Wizard of Oz :)




I'm glad my husband gets me and knows what things I appreciate.
I wasn't the least bit upset with him for waking me from my slumber.

I promptly fell asleep again until we hit the city of Portland.  With the help of Andy's phone we found the LDS temple.  I love so much that it is nestled in a beautiful forest of tall evergreens!
The grounds were absolutely amazing!

Such a lovely building!

It was late in the evening and I know everyone wanted to just get to the hotel and have some dinner but they humored me and allowed us to go 30 minutes in the opposite direction of our lodgings for the night and find my great, great, great grandpa's gravesite.  

A few weeks ago I received an email from Family Search mapping out several of my direct ancestor's burial spots.  I was surprised to find one in Oregon.  Knowing that we would be traveling there soon I looked into it a little more and found that Jakob Aeschbacher, my third great grandpa on my Grandpa Olsen's side was buried in Hillsboro, 30 minutes out of Portland.
Andy could tell that it kind of meant a lot to me to visit so he was very willing to work it into our schedule.
The kids and I hopped out once we found the cemetery and Matt was the first one to find Grandpa Aeschbacher.  It was kind of a neat moment for me.


Afterward, we drove 45 minutes back to our hotel, deposited our things and then went in search of dinner.  It was a late night but well worth it!