Category Archives: Oregon Trip

Okay, so where were we? Ah, yes, Newport, Oregon. Beautiful. Gorgeous. We met up with Terry’s parents there. They drove up from Arizona in their new car. Before you get all shocked that “they drove all that way” it needs to be noted we actually saved them some miles this time. They normally drive ALL THE WAY TO ALASKA. These are some dedicated grandparents here.

First full day in Newport, we decided to check out the Oregon Coast Aquarium. I say this all casually – really it was no choice because Bubba was dying to go to the aquarium. See, the Oregon Coast Aquarium used to be home to Keiko, you know, the whale from Free Willy. Well, it is not anymore since the movie came out eons ago. Now it has a long tunnel in the tank which is separated into sections representing different areas of the ocean, one of which is “open ocean” and has tons of sharks in it. We talked about this and talked about this before our trip and Bubba couldn’t wait.

Here we are going through the tunnel. If you look carefully, you can see in the middle of the walkway is an open area you can look down into the tank. Very cool. We couldn’t get any photos of the shark tank because it was too dark. To say the least, Bubba was disappointed because there were no Great Whites. Note to self: do not hype up anything with a 4 year old. They have imagination enough to blow things out of realistic proportion.

Jellyfish tanks were way cool.

The boys were smitten with the sea otters and watched this one groom itself for quite a while.

Most afternoons were spent on the beach. We were right on the beach, which was so nice. The boys dug holes, threw sand, collected rocks. The adult boys flew a kite almost every time we went to the beach. There was a small incident with some phone lines that will stay on the hush, hush. Needless to say, it was embarrassing.

The next day we visited Yaquina head lighthouse. Terry has a weird thing about people always being in a photo that is why you see his forehead. Lighthouses are all along the coast (seven or eight in central Oregon), but Yaquina head is the tallest. 110 steps to the top.

At the top, we got to see the prism. This glass prism is the exact one they used to magnify the oil flame in the 1800′s and they still use it today to magnify a lightbulb, not a very bright one at that. Amazing piece of work. The whole history behind the lighthouse was fascinating especially how much work the lighthouse keeper’s wife did. She was held to very high standards and was almost as important as the keeper was. Very tough living.

110 steps meant 110 steps down. Not something we thought through before we embarked on this journey with Bubba. He is a “little scared of heights” and there was a brief moment at the top when I looked into his big eyes and wondered how the hell we were going to get him down. A firm squeeze of Mom’s hand and her stern voice saying, “Sometimes we have just got to do it” and we were on our way with very little drama. I have to admit it was pretty scary because the stairs were open grate.

Day after the lighthouse, we went to the Evergreen Aviation Museum. I cannot tell you how impressed by this museum I was. We went through with a 4 year old pace, and I was so sad. Everyone who was there was pretty much a volunteer. They volunteer because they are passionate about aviation and most were veterans who ACTUALLY flew the planes. Incredible. So many stories to hear. If you are in the vicinity of McMinnville, OR you HAVE to check it out.My Grampa flew B-17′s in WWII so this photo is special to me. To think about what he experienced in it and now to look at his great-grandson standing in front of it is a little mind boggling. Time is funny thing.

Note to self: time to knit an all-purpose cardigan that is more flattering than the Eddie Bauer one you bought after having a child.

Who is a ham?

Our last day in Newport was spectacular. Sunshine and warmth. We decided to head down to the tidepools by the lighthouse. I was really jazzed to pick through some sea critters because I am a marine biology junkie. Unfortunately, they were closed. As we looked around we realized why – a seal pup was taking a rest there while the tide was out. Very cool.

Everyone had a really good time on our trip. It was nice to see my brother, nephew, and in-laws. The hardest thing about living in Alaska is being so far from family.

Now if our trip had ended on this day it would have ended perfectly. The next day we drove back up to Seattle (seven hours – what the hell were we thinking?), boarded a plane, and flew for 3.5 hours. Door to door it was a 17 hour day. Yikes. The kids were troopers though ASIDE from the take-off, again. I was too tired to deal with him. So I was the crappy mom. I just sat there next to him, reassured him, and let him cry. I am really, really sorry to everyone who was on that flight, but I had nothing left. No amusing things to tell him. No new toys. Nada. Which in the end, I think is good for Bubba to have to work through on his own, but crappy for those around him.

What? No yarn purchases? No yarn stores to speak of? Tomorrow. I have to photograph it – not much, but what I bought is worth telling.

This was our first family vacation in three years and about two years since I left the state. To say we were excited to go was a bit of an understatement. Our goals were to a) visit an area of the country we might want to live in b) see as many airplanes as is humanly possible and c) play outside with some of our favorite people. All goals were accomplished. Of course, it did not start off well. Apparently, even though he loves airplanes, Bubba does not want to fly in one which is something he made very, very obvious as we headed down the taxiway, as we waited to take off, and as we took off. Thankfully, he mellowed out after take off.

Our first stop was Lacey, WA. My little brother, Chris, lives there with his son. I love my nephew. He is a great kid. You met him last year. The boys had a GREAT time together. They played. They giggled. They stayed up all night. Muskrat was a big of a nuisance in their minds, but he kept up with them. The above picture was taken at the fountain in front of the capital building in Olympia, WA. Olympia (in case you have forgotten your 3rd grade geography) is the capital of Washington, and we discovered is a very charming city. Loved it.

We visited the Seattle Museum of Flight. Points of interest at the Seattle Museum of Flight – Boeing 747 prototype is housed there. It is also home to the 707 Air Force One. Overall the museum is pretty good. They were uber busy with a special Omega Watch Day and lots & lots of aviation big wigs were there. The museum was geared more toward adults and although my brother and Terry could have probably spent all day there the boys lasted about two hours.

Highlight for Bubba at Seattle Air Museum – the F-14 Tomcat. Do not EVEN mention it is no longer flying. He gets quite emotional about it and has some choice 4 year old words for the Navy because they took it out of commission.

Bubba loves his Uncle Chris. Uncle Chris works on airplanes. Uncle Chris used to jump out of airplanes into battlefields and used large army guns. The sun rises and sets upon Uncle Chris and he knows all. It was good to see my brother – he seems happy after a long couple of emotional years.

On Day 5 of our trip we left Lacey, WA and headed toward Newport, OR along the Pacific Coast Hwy. We hooked up with Hwy 101 at Aberdeen, WA (home of the late Kurt Corbain) and drove down. It took us a while and we did not stop & see near as much as we wanted to. Most of what we stopped for was to allow Bubba to throw up. He was very polite about it though – “MOM! I’ve got to throw up.” Patiently waited until we stopped, I got him out of the car (never, ever buy a Buick mini van – their automatic doors are SLOW), and THEN he threw up. About once an hour we went through this whole ordeal. Despite the car sickness, I cannot express how beautiful the coast is. I was awe struck. The picture above is Terry at Haystack rock.

We stopped at Tillamook Dairy. Ah, behold the power of cheese. I wanted to see more cows, but the factory gets their milk from various dairies in the area. Did you know that cows from Tillamook produce more milk that is actually sweeter? Me neither. Something about the salt air and grass. Terry was impressed to see something actually manufactured in the US. Muskrat was really impressed with the pretend cows in the lobby. He was squealing and making tons of moo sounds. This was almost as funny as his reaction when I brought him an ice cream cone. He yelled and waved his arms in 19 month old happiness – people from across the store were pointing and laughing. What can I say? We don’t get out much.

Muskrat says, “Stay tuned until tomorrow when Mom will tell you all about our adventures in Newport, OR with Granma and Grampa Nunn.”

A knitter was found exhausted, buried beneath an avalanche of laundry and mail mumbling something about being almost done with the second sock. Overly needy cat was suspected to be the cause of the avalanche as officials could not pry the purring cat from the knitter.