Gold Beach

Gold Beach was our first stop along the coast. We stayed for 3 nights, and it ended up being our favorite part of the trip. From blackberries to Myrtle trees, sand bars to sand beaches, we had a great time in Gold Beach.

Remember my photo of the water fall from Union Creek(probably not, but I'll remind you ;). Well, that falls was on the Rogue River, and in Gold Beach we met up with the Rogue once again, because Gold Beach is where the Rogue River meets the ocean. In the estuary where the river meets the ocean, there were always tons of fishing boats at work. And I mean tons, probably hundreds of little fishing boats. We went for a walk so the kids could see all the boats, and we watched these fellas get stuck on a sand bar. Note the guy standing up that is actually NOT in the boat. It was kinda fun to watch them get free.


This is the bridge that crosses the Rogue River just north of town. It's seriously long, and it's really quite majestic to see. I never managed to quite capture it in a photo, but this will give you an idea.


Kylee...such a poser!


We were so excited the first night when we found a huge blackberry patch right outside our front door. It was pretty well picked over, but we grabbed a coffee filter out of the house (I have no idea why I didn't just get a bowl) and quickly had it filled with berries. We were so impressed. Then, the next day we went and took our little walk in the bay, and found more berries. And more berries. And more berries. Seriously, there were more berries than our grocery stores probably stock. It was absolutely insane. And to boot, this little path we were on was not busy or well-known, because the berries were not all picked over. Brett wanted to go back to the house for a bowl and some long pants (blackberry bushes are seriously LETHAL), but I just couldn't stop picking them! Before he could stop me, I had my camera around my neck, and we were filling my camera bag with berries! hahah I know, I'm a freak.

This pic is a comparison of the berries we picked the first night with our find from the bay. Kinda pathetic...


Berries everywhere you look!

Hunting for more...

Also located in the bay, we found this little gem. Well, it wasn't really little. They call her the Mary D. Hume.

Apparently this boat belonged to a wealthy merchant in Gold Beach way back when (can't really remember when). The guy owned the cannery that used to operate right off the path we were walking on. Anyway, he wanted to restore his boat, and they were lifting it out of the water with pulleys and stuff when something broke, and the boat crashed back to the water/ground. It was so badly damaged, they decided it couldn't be saved. Rather than pulling it out of the water and getting rid of it, they left it. And there it sits to this day, rotting away. Really quite cool looking though, and certainly a great tourist attraction.


The rest of these photos are just time spent on the beach. The kids absolutely loved the time on the beach, and never wanted to leave or do anything else. The best beach we found was a place called Meyer's Creek, and it was beautiful as well as deserted. Just our kind of place.

















Brett found everyone sand dollars, and it soon became his mission to find as many as possible. Here, he and the kids are showing them off.






More to come later!

Day 2, the Redwood Forest and Gold Beach

Sunday morning we got out of bed early and hit the road for Northern California. Destination: The Redwood Forest. My family went to both Crater Lake and the Redwood Forest when I was around 10 years old, and I was so excited to see these ginormous trees again. Now, I don't know if it's cause I grew up, or if we were in a different spot, but it just wasn't what I remembered! It was still extremely cool, and the kids and Brett enjoyed it, but it wasn't quite what I was planning on. Anyway...

This redwood had fallen across the road at some point in the past. Rather than remove it, they just cut out the section across the road. It was taller than our car!

Of course, the traditional family photo stretching across a giant redwood! Now I just need to dig out the photo from when Mom and Dad took us.



Aunt Amy should recognize the Tinker Bell coloring book Kylee's got a grip on here...thank goodness for Tinker Bell!






After we'd had our fill of redwood trees (it didn't take long. The air under all those trees is so heavy, it was hard to breathe!) we got back in the car and finished the drive to Gold Beach, our first stop on the coast.

This is the outside of the little "cabin" we stayed in at Gold Beach. Really just a very small single-wide trailer, but it was at the back of a campground, so it was in a nice setting.

The living room (gotta love all the floral prints):

and kitchen:

Oregon Coast Trip: Day 1, Crater Lake and the Rogue River

Well, we made it. After nine days, eight nights, over 2,000 photos, 2,480.7 miles and 8 tanks of gas, we are back from our Oregon trip. We circled nearly the entire state, driving the entire length of the state from south to north along the coast. It was really a great trip, but boy are we glad to be home!!

The first day (technically) was actually last Friday. We left right after Brett came home from work and drove as far as Boise. Our portable dvd player didn't work that whole drive, the kids were grumpy and hungry, and it ended up being the worst drive of the entire trip. But we stayed the night in Boise at a hotel and got up early the next morning to start the trek across Oregon. Destination: Crater Lake.

We drove through the most desolate part of Oregon. It's much like the desert we see here, but even more dry and empty. Towns were few and far between, and we were lucky we brought food cause it would have been a long trip to the nearest fast-food! I think we drove 9 hours that day...it's a little hazy. :-) But boy were we happy when we got to Crater Lake!



We happened to plan our trip for the same weekend they were offering free admission to many national parks, Crater Lake included. That was a nice little bonus. It was actually a little nerve-wracking to view that beautiful lake with the kids...It's a long drop to the bottom! But it was beautiful nonetheless.

Crater Lake is the deepest lake in North America, and it was created by a volcano collapsing in on itself. There are no inlets or outlets to the lake, so the lake is fed entirely by rain and snow. It has the most beautiful, pristine blue color. It's very hard to describe or even imagine. Even the photos don't do it justice, but I certainly tried!



After we were done seeing the lake, (and of course checking out the gift shop!) we headed to the little cabin we had rented for the night at Union Creek. This is a little resort located just south of the lake, and it was beautiful! It was really just a quick stay as we left the next morning, but it ended up being my favorite of all the little "cabins" we stayed in.
The cabin:

The view from the front door:

The view inside the front door, and the family chilling with a movie:

The cabin had a teeny-tiny dining area with a table and 2 chairs.

A teeny-tiny kitchen...

And the smallest stove I've ever seen. You can't really tell how small it is from the photo, but it was so skinny it was hilarious.

Union Creek is located near the Rogue River, and we were able to walk across the highway from our cabin to see some great waterfalls on the river.


Brett found this plant that was growing out of the bottom of a rock, toward the water. It was actually growing upside down. We thought it was cool enough to get a photo.


Kylee and Aedan got really good at finding the information markers on this trip. Kylee even started recognizing when they had maps, and she would ask us to point out where we were on the map.



Near the Rogue River was an information board about something called the Living Stump. Apparently the trees in this area grow together, and their roots combine and, well, grow together. This tree stump is living off the roots of the other trees.

It's really kinda freaky looking. :-)


All in all, it was a great start to our trip, and a great place to recover from the insanely long drive! I'll post more later on the rest of the trip.

Happy Birthday Kylee!

Kylee turned 4 on the 10th, and scored herself a ton of great presents at 3 different parties!! These pics tell most of the story, though I'm cutting it short as I need to get ready to leave in 2 hours! Whoops! Just enjoy these photos of our precious little girl...

Sunday was the first party with the McD clan. We did chicken in a barrel and it was heavenly, as usual. Kylee was extremely spoiled, but she sure had a lot of fun. Thanks to all the family that came to both parties and for the great gifts you bought our girl. She had a wonderful week!

A mouthful of chips

Poor Kylee...waiting patiently for us all to get our poop in a group so she could open her presents.









My little princess is a great poser!

"Kylee, do you wanna be on our team?" Such enthusiasm and energy, Pam and I have decided, is to be coveted!

Grandma "Dermott" watching the siblings spar.


Poor Kelsi, trying to avoid my camera...

Silly girl, you should know me better than that by now! ;-)




Brett and I decided to give Kylee her own bedroom for her birthday. And rather than sticking her in the drab, yellowish-white room we moved out of, we decided to make it all girly and cute and fun. This is the big reveal. She was a little speechless...

The chalkboard was definitely a big hit...

With both of our kids.

We still don't have Kylee's bed in here, but it will be finished after we get home in a week. She loves it in there, and thankfully is so far willing to share her room with her brother, who is equally enthralled!

On Wednesday, we had the McBride side of the family up for dinner and ice cream to celebrate the birthday. Spoiled little girl gets three parties! :-) This is just some of the family chilling before ice cream: Tasha, Kylee, Hallie, and Grandma Kathy.

Opening more gifts...

Princess walkie-talkies!


I love the faces she makes! This is the favorite Barbie movie...



After the gifts were done, my family decided they needed some entertainment (sorely lacking at my house). Fortunately, they made use of a soft baseball, a couple worn out badminton rackets, and the trampoline.




Sean even made use of some scrap wood...