Day 8 - Goonies and Eating Sand

 Eugene, OR

Today started out behind... and we missed the donuts as a result. They were sold out. So a quick run to Dutch Bros covered us for coffee and such, and then we headed to Astoria.

The kids absolutely indulged me in the Goonies tour, and I went full nerd.

First stop: Oregon Film Museum:

(Bullet holes)

Second stop: The Walsh House

Third Stop: Cannon Beach

We then toured the coastline on the 101 stopping to eat all of the cheese in Tillamook:

And then heading to Pacific City to do some sand boarding.

Sand. Everywhere. And I mean everywhere. It was a fight to the shower when we got to our hotel.

Hayden ate it pretty good on his last run, and has been paying for it ever since. To be fair, we all ate it, just not quite as hard as he did. Thankfully, the sand is more forgiving then water (Charlie is much better from her fall).

We made a quick stop in Salem to check out the capital building:

Today's Totals:

370 miles

$183

1 Capital Building

Today's Lessons:

1. Turns out Miles really doesn't like sand.

2. If I have to call the doc's office again on this trip for the kids, they are going to make me come home.

3. TRU by Hilton is a COOL hotel: pool table, board games, 24/7 beer/wine sales. But most importantly, they had laundry services, so I was able to get some laundry done!

4. We might have to spend some more time out of the car than in it. LOTS of driving, I think we are hitting the breaking point for pleasant temperaments. 

We are heading back to the coast, hopefully getting a chance to rent a dune buggy, and making our way down the 101 into California for camping in the Redwood Parks. But, we will see where the day actually takes us!

🎈

Day 7 - Olympic National Park

 Olympic National Park, WA

It was a long day in the car.

We started out earlyish to head to Olympia:

There's literally a road here named Sleater-Kinny. Amazing. 

And then began the Hwy 101 experience. And I even let this kid drive some of it, rediscovering where the "oh shit" handle is on some of the turns.

About 10 minutes into the drive, the road was closed - one lane only. So we sat in traffic for awhile. Perfect time for Hayden to drive haha.

We took the wrong road and ended up checking out Hurricane Ridge:

Then backtracked and headed to Lake Crescent to do the Marymere Falls hike:

Totally worth the 1.5ish miles to get to it!

Then we booked it over to the Hon Rainforest for the Hall of Mosses hike:

We also saw some elk hanging out on the side of the road. I wasn't able to get a pic, because I was driving.

After that short hike, we finished out Olympic NP at Ruby Beach.

Well worth it.

And after sunset we had 3.5 hrs to drive to get to our campsite, where we would just sleep in the car. We didn't make it. We got as far as Aberdeen, got some food, and found a hotel. I think we were pushing 12-13 hrs in the car, plus some hiking, and I was ready to call it a night. 

Today's Totals

$280

395 miles

1 National Park

1 Capital Building

Today's Lessons:

1. Still trying to find that balance between planning ahead and winging it.

2. Pacific sunsets. No words.

3. Washington has made Hayden's top 10 states. Probably mine as well.

4. There are little drive-thru coffee stands everywhere here in the parking lots. Wish Wisconsin had this!

5. Paradise Inn in Forks, WA has a Twilight room...

Today/tomorrow we had planned on camping and exploring the dunes. And as I was trying to determine where to camp tonight, I discovered it is Dunefest. Not sure what Dunefest is, but everything is booked. So... hotel in Eugene it is (I had a freebie(ish)). Should be starting off the day with coffee, donuts, and a Goonies tour! Then lots of time to explore the Oregon coast!

🎈

Day 6 - Seattle

 Seattle, WA

After a lazy morning, a much needed lazy morning, we headed out to explore the city. First stop: the Space Needle.

Miles was not a huge fan of the heights, or the rotating glass floor, but loved the view. I struggled to sit on the glass bench that slides you onto the glass pane...

Next stop: Pike's Place Farmer's Market.

We ate a FANTASTIC seafood lunch at Lowell's, and had a chance to wander around the market before heading to the ferris wheel.

She loves her flowers 🌸

We were so lucky that it cleared up - this morning was cloudy and we weren't sure how the views would be. Turned out to be a wonderful day, and Charlie was feeling much better, which made the day so much easier!

Today's Totals:

0 miles

$721. Wow. I'm not sure what happened there, but there's no way that's in the budget...

Today's Lessons:

1. These kids can eat.

2. Time to do a budget check. I knew we would be spending a lot on this trip, but I'm hoping we can be a little stingy over the next few days before the heavy expenses in San Francisco and San Diego!

3. No matter how old the kids get, I'm still not ok with just wandering around the city with them - especially a city I don't know well. Maybe this will change?

Tomorrow we are heading out earlyish for Olympic National Park - I'm really looking forward to seeing the diverse ecology at this park!

🎈