From Portland we ventured back up into Washington as Adam needed his lotto ticket (dreaming big). We decided to stay at Willapa Hertiage Farm in Long beach. This was a great place for us to stay put for a few days and and gave us time to repair our seals and enjoy the location. I LOVE coastal towns! They have such character, color and uniqueness! I just kept snapping photo after photo of these colorful buildings. The kids pointed out 1 house that looked like it could be Luna Lovegood’s house from Harry Potter. We ended up going to some Antique stores to find treasures. Wow, what a fun throw back in time, and some history lessons all thrown into one.
Long beach is actually classified as a highway. So many vehicles rip up and down the long stretch of sand. We decided to do the same on our bikes. Such a wonderful experience. We had one full day of biking which lead us to see people on the beach with some epic kites. This promted us to go to the Kite Museum the following day and purchase our own kite, which brought many hours of entertainment.
The third morning the rain came and so we decided that it was time to hit the road, down to Cannon Beach. Here we waited out the weather and when there was a break in the downpour we walked the famous beach and saw Haystack Rock. The kids proceeded to get their kites to fly and their shovels to dig. Man, the sand is tiny and gets everywhere. We were happy to stay at a place with a pool and hot tub. We all warmed up, while the rain reappeared. We have been doing some nice hikes along the coastline and have learned/seen many interesting things… Mushrooms can be used as dye for fabrics and yarns. We saw one that is used for a blue color. Salamanders like moist decomposing wood, which the coastline parks are full of. Gibson had the pleasure of handling one so, now Gibson has us looking at second hand stores for a terrarium to put a salamander in. If we can find another one to keep. Not sure I’m a huge fan of this plan, but I do like his enthusiasm.
Cannon beach is very artistic and we were hoping to see some people. glass blowing. Unfortuately, we came at the beginning of the week and the artists only create during the last 4 days of the week. We were recommended to go to Lincoln City. I looked into it and now we have booked glass blowing and glass fusing art sessions. I am so excited!!
Glass blowing was so magical! It is so ‘technique sensitive’. The instructor limited how much of the process you could do yourself, but they did let you to do as much as reasonably possible to allow the product be yours, but still actually turn out. I think by getting to choose my own color and design, and by being able to feel the glass melt on the rod, cut it with the scissors and push it into shape really made me feel like I made my piece. Our teacher, Daniel, was so knowledgable and a really skilled instructor. He said he learned through art college and it took him 4 years before he became proficient at glass blowing. He has been doing it now for 15 years. We watched all of the Netflix series Blown Away, and if you have not seen it yet, you should! Gibson and Wyatt also got to make pieces.
Every reasonable day without downpouring rain we are at the beach. So, it was no surprise that yesterday after glass art we went to the beach. The kids dug holes, chased the waves for hours. The Sunset was epic and I fully realized the beauty of the ocean.
We continued following the coastline down through Oregon until we reached the dunes. Here the boys were pumped to rent a side by side (Talon- 4 seater ATV) and explore the dunes . It was a four seater, so the boys were eager for me to join. Me, not so much. I tried to opt out, but was not successful. I have been finding that when I am not driving, and as I get older, I have more anxiety about other people’s driving. I know, my friends who grew up with me would shake their heads at this. Why? Because I was the speeder and risk taker in our group. If I was a meme, it would be of the Chinese guy from the Hangover movie, saying: ‘Yeah, but did you die?’. Okay, so really I can’t believe it myself, but I don’t like to relinquish the control and I stress out when I’m in a vehicle out of control. In the side by side I was no different. Adam was driving for shock value and hitting the dunes with impressive speed and whipping around corners. We ended up ripping over a hill and had to hit the brakes with some force as we almost hit a drop off. Insert my screaming from the back seat. “I’m out!, take me back!” So they drove me half way back and I ended up walking back while the boys did the full throttle experience! They had a great time to say the least. Nobody died!
To finish out our Oregon circuit, we went to Crater lake before it closed for the season. This is the deepest lake in the USA. It is a non-active volcanic crater at high altitude. We won the lottery with the weather the day we got to hike it. And the water, it was so clear and beautiful. I asked Adam to take pictures of the kids and I sitting on a drift wood log. What I got were pictures of my backside! That’s why all pictures I get of myself are selfies! Adam!!!!!
Here are my nicer photos below.
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