The Oregon Coast Trip 2009

This was one of the most memorable vacations we have experienced together as a family.  We were fortunate enough to find many great spots, and stay there for several nights each.

Our first few nights were at Fort Stevens, a huge campground with lots of bike friendly paths for the kids, that head straight to the beach.

The weather was warm and sunny, and we had a great time.

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Alli is rarely shy for the camera, and has such a photogenic aura about her... here she hams it up at the Lewis and Clark Fort, wearing some of the traditional garb... great excursion btw, definitely recommend it for the entire family.

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Sadly, one of the low points of the trip was Cannon Beach.  It was cold and overcast, there was lots of garbage and dead seabirds on the beach, and it just didn't live up to the memories that I had from my younger days. 

We stayed long enough for a quick jaunt down to the beach and to get some yummy treats, and then hit the road for the next destination.

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The next destination was somewhat of a crapshoot.  All the other campgrounds in the area were full, and this one is way off the beaten path.  Additionally, I hadn't been there in over 20 years, during a roadtrip when I was in college, and wasn't sure we could find it.  As luck would have it, our adventure took us out the windy, dead end road, and it was very much like I remembered it.  It's a great place right on the river, with lots of cool areas to play, swim, raft, fish, hike, etc. (I owe Jim and Sheila Wimberly props for turning me on to this gem... decades ago they told me about this great spot, and it remains one of the best!)

The kids spent most of the time in, on or around the water.

And some of the rock formations in the river are really interesting...

As always, Louise hooks us up with delicious camping food... and I pretend to be chef.  Here we have a little flank steak, broccoli, and cold vitamin r!

The river is teaming with wildlife... it is literally crawling with salamanders and the kids, a little freaked out at first, grew to love the little guys.  At one time Ben had 20 of the critters in his hand.  They don't bite, just quietly crawl around, and cause no trouble.  The crawdaddies on the other hand, provided much more swimming drama!  ;)

The bug below, flew into our campground and tried to "kill" Louise!  I came to her rescue and fought off the crazed bug!  Look at the size of that stinger!  Later, Uncle Keith educated us on the harmless, and unfortunately now dead, Smoky Horntail... not dangerous at all.  Well next time we'll know.

This place has great camping spots, with lots of privacy, trees, riverside view, wildlife, etc... our favorite camping destination of the trip!

We ended the last night with one of our favorite games... Ticket to Ride!

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After the riverside play, we headed south toward Florence... and thoroughly enjoyed various spots on the way... sea lion caves, haunted lighthouse, sand dunes, etc.

The 2nd most photographed location in the US... according to the Oregon Tourism Industry.

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After Florence, we headed further south to a little known campground called Cape Blanco.  This was another stellar location to camp... peaceful, scenic, and relaxing!  Very few people even at the campground... in the middle of August! This location has some of the most beautiful beach sections I've ever seen associated with a sanctioned campground... and wildlife galore... ealges, hawks, deer, rabbits, chipmunks, etc... and even wild turkeys!  And to top it off, at night time we were blessed with shooting stars!

Ben and I enjoyed found some great trees for climbing!

... and with Ben's recent fascination with all things living outdoors, this place provided a plethora of plants, animals, and scat to identify in his book.
 

There was also another cool lighthouse to checkout here.

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This trip had all the things that make up a wonderful family vacation... fun times, relaxing times, exciting times, peaceful times... we all look forward to our next trip like this!