Alex snuck down to the beach early this morning. It's a shame we couldn't have spent a day here at the State Park because I think the girls would have loved it! But, we had a really fun surprise in store for them too...
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| Path to the beach from the campgrounds |
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| Dora was due for an oil change, so us girls hung out in Wal-Mart for 45 minutes while we waited. I was quickly reminded why I don't normally take all 6 with me to the store. 🤪Fun fact- Oregon doesn't have sales tax! |
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| These sweet sisters asked if they could buy BFF necklaces. My heart melted. Yes, yes you can. 💗 |
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| Momma and her ducklings, walking back to the automotive store. |
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| Time for the surprise! A whale watching tour! |
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| Our boat, sitting in the world's smallest harbor. |
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| As the boat was turning around to head out through the bay, we had a good view of the restaurant we ate at last night and the dock where we boarded. |
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| It didn't feel quite as scary while we were out there (Though, Alex will say I brought it up often!), but seeing these pictures of my babies on a boat without life jackets on makes me squeamish!! This is the second boat tour we've taken the girls on that didn't have the kids wear life jackets. 😨 |
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| It didn't take long to spot some gray whales! |
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| It didn't take long for her to fall asleep either. ☺️ |
The whales do not always show their tails. The girls were thrilled to see this one so close and then it showed its tail!
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| Bria saw a sea lion in the harbor and squealed, "Mommy, I see the whale!" 😄 |
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| Still sleeping as we finished the tour. |
We spent the afternoon exploring down the coast and wondering how it has taken us this long to visit Oregon! It's absolutely beautiful!
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| Our next stop was the Yaquina Head Light. |
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| The lighthouse was beautiful, but the real highlight was the black cobble beach below. The rocks are formed from the cliff breaking away and the waves churning them over and over, smoothing them in the process. |
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| When we walked back up to the top, we spied another whale just beyond the cliff on the right. |
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| We continued down the coast and stopped in the Cape Perpetua area at Devil's Churn. |
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| Devil's Churn is a narrow inlet on the coast created from a crack in the volcanic rock that continues to be eroded from the crashing waves. It is much longer than the pictures show. |
Beilyn is always digging. 😊
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| Brynna and I climbed way back to where the inlet ends. It is very narrow on top but it's wider below where the water swooshes in and crashes against the rock walls. It sounds like thunder. |
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| "I can't walk!" in her best whiny voice. 😁 |
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| Less than a mile down the road, we stopped at Thor's well. |
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| She was pouting because she didn't want to wear her sweatshirt. An older man was watching this all play out and warned me, "She's going to be a handful when she grows up." She's a bit of a handful now! 😄 |
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She repositioned those little arms a few times for emphasis.
She thinks she's boss, but we all know how this will end... |
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| Yep, momma got her sweatshirt on her. 😄 |
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| Thor's Well is a hole in the volcanic rock that pulls water in from the bottom and the top. We were there during low tide, which is good to be able to see it up close. The pictures online of high tide are amazing too as the water pours over the top. |
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| The top of Dora is peeking out at the top in the parking lot. ☺️ |
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| Thor's Well is located at Cook's Chasm. |
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| We continued down Highway 101 and stopped for one last view of the coastline before 101 curves inland. |
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| We decided to skip dinner and just grab dessert in Florence. |
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| Each of us chose 10 pieces of salt water taffy. (Unfortunately, it wasn't very good.) |
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| Our evening drive was beautiful, right along the Umpqua River and through the Umpqua National Forest. |
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| We finally arrived at our last park a little before 11pm. The girls were all snoozing. We immediately noticed a difference from the forest we had been driving through to a sparse and dry landscape. It was so dark and empty. Thanks to the full moon though, we were very aware that we were in this wide open space all alone, except for a few deer we saw. We joked that we suddenly felt like we were on another planet. |
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We drove around the west rim and got our first view of Crater Lake. It was eerily beautiful under the full moon light.
Rather than to drive 30 minutes to the campground in the park, we decided to just boondock at the visitor center so we would be close by for the sunrise tomorrow! |
Today was amazing. So many moments of being awestruck by God's creation. I'm already dreaming about when we can return to Oregon. 😊
