July 26, 2012: Day 1, Newberry National Volcanic Monument

Day one of our Oregon Coast adventure.  What an exciting day.  I never knew much about Newberry Volcano nor the National Volcanic Monument.

My beautiful girls at the largest volcano in the Cascade Range.

The Three Sisters in the distance.

Look, lava!  :)

Journal
Day 1 of our Oregon Coast/Crater Lake trip in in the books! :) We just got settled here in the Beaver Marsh Rest Stop.  We decided to stay here instead of Walmart because it was too early to hang out for the night, and this puts us an hour closer to Crater Lake for tomorrow.
We had a pretty uneventful drive down.  We stopped and had lunch and got gas in Boardman, Oregon.  (After playing “Guess that bridge” with Grandpa).  After a seemingly endless 55mph highway, we got to Newberry National Volcanic Monument.  We were just in time to go in the visitor center and bookstore.  After they closed we enjoyed a picnic dinner in the park.  We also got to go on two short hikes, The Whispering Pines and The Trail of the Molten Lava.  The second trail was really neat with all the different parts of the lava flow along the path to Lava Butte.
I learned so much.  I didn’t know that Newberry is the largest volcano in the Cascade Range!  I also didn’t know that there are two lakes in the caldera and there is a lot of hydrothermal activity around the lakes.
My ankle is still very sore (I twisted it on Tuesday) and swollen, I’m very glad I was able to wrap it to hike.  I’m super sleepy after driving 500 miles and exploring.  Tomorrow is Crater Lake Day!

July 16, 2012: Day 12, Homeward Bound

We drove home today and picked up my brothers kids on the way.  They are going to spend the week here in town with us and Grandma.  We are hoping to take them up to Little Diamond for some fun this weekend, it will depend on if the trailer is out of the shop by then.
No pictures for the day....

Journal
We are home now, after a long day driving home.  We can't wait for our next adventure, just need to get the fridge fixed :).

July 15, 2012: Day 11, Paradise Camp

Our camp site

Playing in the kid pool.

 Campfire

 Poozie and Inchy.

Fun hiking in the campground. 

Journal
Today we had a nice relaxing day at camp.  After a slow start we had "Salmon Eggs" for breakfast (That is what the girls thought we were saying instead of Spam and Eggs, it was pretty funny!).  The girls played with Poozie the little caterpillar we found here the other day.  It rained in the night and early morning, so we were worried she would have been too wet in her little cage, but she climbed on the back of her lunch leaf and stayed dry.  While playing outside the girls found an inchworm to be Poozie's friend.  They named it Inchy.
After it dried out a bit we went to a walk around the little lake.  It was a really short walk and not nearly as nice as the nature trail at Little Diamond.  We stopped at the little store and all got Slush Puppy's or "slushy dogs" as the girls called them.  We went back to camp and avoided the slugs on the way.  Later when we decided to go swimming, it started to pour, lucky for us we had just started to walk over tot he pool so we ran back and took the truck.  The pool here is very nice.  They have a large family pool (closed while we were here), a big adult pool (~90), a small 6 and under pool (~70) and a neat hot tub (100+)
The girls enjoyed playing in the little pool and we all had fun in the big pool.  The girls even brought along their new toys that grandma got them. They are a lot of fun.  Selena got a mommy orca with three babies, and Abby got a large mermaid mom with baby, starfish, and sea horse.
After we were swimmed out we got to take showers and get all cleaned up for the drive home tomorrow.  At camp we had Rice A Roni (the San Francisco treat!) followed by a final campfire with the color flame packet.  It didn't work very well (last time we used all three in one fire, but wanted to save some for our next trip).

July 14, 2012: Day 10, Mt. St. Helens

 We had such a fun time going up to Mt. St. Helens.  It was much less traumatic for the girls than last time, when we went to the first visitor center and watched the movie, the girls were scared to go up the mountain because they thought it was going to erupt while we were there. 

At the visitor center.  The girls did their Junior Geologist booklets and got their badges. 

At the Johnston Ridge Visitor Center they also did the Junior Ranger program and got badges.

We played peek-a-boo with the mountain all day.  First it was clear then it clouded up, then it cleared a bit...  You never can tell what it will look like!

Journal

Today we slept in till nearly 10am!  Man it felt good!  I think part of it is that we are camping in dense woods and it is dark in the trailer.  We had a yummy breakfast of potatoes and eggs and sausage before getting ready to go to Mt. St. Helens.  

When we set off for the mountain, we plugged into the GPS to take us to the visitor center.  Instead of that, it took us on a mountain road that dead ended many miles in.  After our 30 minute+ "scenic route" we got on the right highway and made it to the visitor center.  We got there just in time to hear a Ranger talk about the 1980 eruption and get our Junior Geologist workbooks.  We also watched a movie about the mountain.  After working very hard, the girls got their badges and some fun souvenirs too.  As we drove up the mountain we stopped a a few viewpoints and got some great pictures.  Again we got there just in time, 2 minutes to movie time {Johnston Ridge}.  After the movie (which is amazing) it was time to do more Junior Ranger activities and we went to a ranger talk about how the mountain has changed since the big 1980 eruption (mostly the building of the lava dome and steam eruptions).  We had a bit of a problem with Abby's attitude, she wanted to play games on Grandma's phone and I said no, and she threw a HUGE fit.  Screaming and throwing herself down.  It was terrible and she is lucky the truck was parked so far away, because I had my hands full and couldn't carry her all the way back. 

After she calmed down, we were able to complete the Jr. Ranger program as best they could, got their badges as the center was closing, and go for a short hike.  I forgot to mention that by the time we got to the top, clouds had moved in so it was spotty viewing of the crater.  We were glad we had stopped along the way and got good pictures.  On our drive back we stopped at a road side sign that looked prime for a geocache, and sure enough, we found one.  We also drove through Lewis and Clark State Park to check it out.  We got back to camp about 830 and had dinner then a fire to roast marshmallows and have s'mores.  They were delicious!

July 13, 2012: Day 9, Westport Light State Park

Checking out of Grayland Beach State Park Campground.  

It was so much fun here, we will definitely come back!

The Gray's Harbor Lighthouse at Westport Light State Park.  

Walking along the beach, right before the wave tried to eat Abby :)

After the wave knocked Abby down...   

Sleep masks are amazing things :)

A couple of mermaids followed us to the next campground!

Journal
FRIDAY THE THIRTEENTH!
We had a great day today.  After breaking camp we drove to the lighthouse and climbed to the top!  There are 138 steps to the top, and the girls did great!  It is always fun to learn how things have changed, like seeing the old bulb and lens and the new bulb that replaced it.  After the lighthouse we went to the beach again and found more sand dollars.  While we were walking along the shore, a wave tried to eat Abby!  Not really but that is the made up story we told.  The girls were walking along and a wave splashed over Abby's feet, when the next wave came in, it surprised her and she fell down in the water.  She was VERY upset.  We headed back to the truck and trailer because she wouldn't calm down.  Along the way she ended up taking off the wet clothes and got back just wearing panties.  At least they were Ariel ones, so they matched the activity.  We had a picnic lunch in the trailer and then were off to our new camp.  We had left a garbage bag in the back of the truck, and when we got back the birds had made quite a mess with it.
Once at the new camp we had a great time swimming in the neat pools.  The big pool was really warm, so even though it was almost dark, we were nice and toasty.

July 12, 2012: Day 8, Westport

                          

The new observation tower  and the vintage observation tower at the end of town.  In the vintage picture, I’m in the front in the red pants, my brother is to the right, Uncle Jerry and Cousin Jake are behind me, and Great Grandpa is in the back.

  

The view from the top, 2012 and ~1986.  Next time we go I’ll have to try to get a closer angle :)

     

We walked out to the tip of the harbor and watched some boats coming in for the day.  One of our favorite stores in town, The Basket Shop.

     

After being good while shopping (kind of) the girls got 75 cent ice cream cones.   and posing for a traditional picture from town.

  

Sand dollar! Princess sand castle fun!

Journal
Today we spent most of the day in one of my favorite places.  Westport!  We used to come here when I was a kid and I still love exploring the little shops and docks.  There is a new observation tower at the end of town and we all hiked to the top.  As we walked to the end of the people walk to the entrance of the harbor, a boat came around and we all waved at the people.  After shopping we grabbed a fish and chips and chowder from the One Eyed Crab and had a picnic at the Westport Light State Park.  The food was delicious!  We walked out to the surf and collected some sand dollars.  After dinner we walked to the beach and played in the sand.  There wasn't enough wind to fly the kite.  We did find some sandcastles that had been abandoned and the princesses moved right in!   They also made princess pie :).  We stayed at the beach till sunset, but there were too many clouds to see it.
Our camp is really nice.  We are really close to the beach and have quite a bit of privacy.  There are small trees that Selena can climb by herself and Abby even tries.  There are small dune trails to explore and it will be nice to visit again when the girls are bigger.
We have a busy day scheduled for tomorrow.  We are going to try to tour the lighthouse and hunt for more sand dollars before leaving the beach.  We will head for Mt. St. Helens and the Paradise Campground.  I haven’t been to Mt. St. Helens since we spent the day after Grandpa’s funeral.  I hope that next time we get this way, we have time to explore Ape Cave and the southern portion of the park.

July 11, 2012: Day 7, Grayland Beach State Park

 

Collecting rocks at Kalaloch Beach.

Getting their Olympic National Park Junior Ranger badges.

 

Camp at Grayland Beach State Park.  Just a short walk to the beach!  The first picture is taken from the dune trail out of our site.  30 seconds to the sand, and 2 minutes to the surf!

  

Having fun!

  

Drove the truck out and on the beach.  The girls had a lot of fun and we flew the kite for a bit too.

   

Dinner!

Journal
Today started off by getting camp all picked up to move along on our journey.  After we were all loaded up we hiked down to the beach from camp to collect some flat rocks for some craft projects.  Once we left camp we stopped at the Kalaloch Lodge Visitor Center and the girls turned in the Junior Ranger books and took their ranger oath.  It was pretty exciting for them.
After a short drive, we set up camp at Grayland Beach State Park.  Our campsite is in the sand dunes within walking distance to the beach.  After lunch we drove out on the beach to play for a bit.   We splashed in the surf and dug a play area for the princesses.  Selena even made Princess soup!  I taught Grandma how to fly our kite and we had a fun time with that.  Then we came back to our site and the girls played outside for a long time.  After our yummy dinner of spaghetti and red potatoes, the girls got to have a bath and shower in our little tub.  Once they put on their “sleep masks” they were out.  Tomorrow we are headed to Westport and back to the beach.