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Depoe Bay to Portland

May 25, 2026May 25, 2026 / rugreen4u4632 / Leave a comment

We went for a run Sunday morning. It was not our best personal records since I kept stopping to take pictures, but Depoe Bay was stunning. It was high tide so we randomly stumbled on to this spouting horn, cliff. Brants cormerant (bird) and 5+ of whale spouts.

This led us to stop by the OPRD Whale Watching Center before leaving Depoe Bay. They had binoculars set up for everyone to use and a video feed. We saw whale tails and spouts;)

https://www.google.com/search?kgmid=%2Fm%2F02qhxj8&hl=en-US&q=OPRD%20Whale%20Watching%20Center&shem=rimspwouoe&shndl=30&source=sh%2Fx%2Floc%2Fosrp%2Fm1%2F4&kgs=86c634a710ce8257

Grey whales are the only bottom feeders. They scoop up mud and eat the krill, eating as much as 1.2 tons of food per day.

After our educational whale stop we took a pit stop in Bob Straub State Park for some giant sand dunes and beach time.

Next we stopped at Tillamook and my second ice cream in 2 days. I’ve reached my quota for the summer;)

We got to Portland late afternoon and stopped at the Scotch Church Winery that had music.

As you can see Mt Hood was out when we got to Portland. We ended the day with some fabulous sushi at Bluefin Tuna and sushi on Broadway.

Today has been a travel day. Our flight this morning was delayed so we all scrabbled to get on an earlier flight to Charlotte. George and I got to CLT with a 3 hr layover but Sadira and James didn’t get the same flight and had a 5 hr layover. Then they delayed our flight. So, we rented this bad ass ride for 100 bucks to get home in 2hrs.

Calling this trip a great success. Signing off

Brookings to Coos Bay

May 23, 2026May 23, 2026 / rugreen4u4632 / Leave a comment

We started the day right by going on a low tide run and serving up a big breakfast. So far I have failed to mention the Brookings rental has Pac-Man. Check out is 10 o-early-o-clock and the pac man high score had not been beaten. Right before 10 and before my bags were neatly packed, George started a two man game. I got closer than any other game but eventually killed myself on my bonus life because the house keeper was waiting outside. Sadly, I ended up leaving my toiletries and had to circle back after dropping everyone at the first hike (Cape Ferelo) but sign me up for the Mouth of the Pistol River Beach access. It was amazing.

Next stop was otter point, but we didn’t see any otters, seas lions or seals. Just cool trails

After traveling and hiking we decided to hit 7 Devils Brewery – Where The Oregon Coast Meets The Tap https://share.google/0z8F8emmd4lBkK2By

We had dinner there and called it a night.

Admin completion

May 20, 2026May 20, 2026 / rugreen4u4632 / Leave a comment

We signed Fiona’s and Ashe’s paper work for their new Portland apartment early on Sunday morning and got busy having fun.

Picture from the new Portlandians on their front stoop.

After the admin work was finalized we leapt into fun mode. We started towards Mount Hood, but had to stop and wait for some clouds to pass. We stopped again at mcmenamins for a picnic lunch and arm wrestling before heading to the Timberline Lodge.

The timberline Lodge was built during the great depression and is a testament to American history. It’s an awesome hotel that is open to the public from our history when we all worked together to lift Americans up. It contrasts so much to the gaudy gold decor ballroom that the molester in chief is going to build and make us pay for and I’ll never get a chance to step foot in (don’t get me started). It is also where the shining was filmed. It’s beautiful with a rich history and unique craftsmanship and has an amazing view.

After the lodge we stopped by the international rose test garden. It was founded in 1917 as a safe haven for roses from wwi. It now showcases over 600 varieties of roses and has views of Mt Hood. Sign me up

John Day Painted Fossil Beds

July 10, 2021July 11, 2021 / rugreen4u4632 / Leave a comment

Left Tumalo Falls heading east towards the Clyde Holiday campground. Hit the John Day Fossil Beds on the way. Really enjoyed the painted hills, but since it was 100 degrees, we waited to go to Sheep Rock for an early morning hike.

The Austin girls will be happy to note that we did make it inside to see the visitor center video, but we had to do it in shifts since we had Ringo. This shows our dedication to both Ringo and the movie. And as George observed probably because one of us can’t have more facts than the other person…

We got a nice camp spot with great connectivity so George got a few hours of shady work. I tested the ac which works fantastic!

Heres the inside of the T@g. It’s much bigger than it looks on the video. The bed appears to be a king.

Newberry National Volcanic Monument

July 9, 2021July 10, 2021 / rugreen4u4632 / 3 Comments

When we got to the first information sign at the Big obsidian flow there were three boys (age ~ 5-6) pointing at the volcano and making explosion noises. I totally agree, Volcanos are cool!

Newberry is a shield volcano that basically did the same thing as crater lake, exploded then fell in on itself. It had two lakes instead of one with a huge obsidian lava field.

We also took the 4×4 to the rim edge. The view from the top was even cooler. The Ridge can be seen, as well as a cinder cone (2 actually). 2 lakes (East and Paulina), and the lava flow. We had lunch right there on the truck bed.

We stopped at Pauline falls on the way to the Lava Cast Forest. These are hard to see in the pictures. Think slow lava building a wall around a tree and leaving a Hollow trunk mold. I jumped in one for size.

Then we stopped by 2 other breweries for samples. 10 Barrel and Sunriver.

10 Barrel has a set sampler… So we got 16 Oz samples.

Back at the campground we saw this weird camping dump truck. Where do you need that sort of equipment? My t@g was embarrassed for him.

Detroit Lake, Cascades

July 7, 2021July 7, 2021 / rugreen4u4632 / Leave a comment

We had false start in the Willamette wine country. We made an effort but at 25 bucks a tasting,I wasn’t up for the effort and moved on…

Lovely evening. We took several walks about the lake. Played several songs at the campground and Ringo was a dog.

Ringo jumping waves. This was pretty funny. I missed the initial spasm which was funnier.

Mt. Hood!

July 4, 2021July 5, 2021 / rugreen4u4632 / 2 Comments

What a glorious day. We started at trillium lake where we had to pay a day use fee to have a picnic, but we got to see how Portlanders beach. It’s funny. Their coasts are cloudy so they beach at the lakes at the base of Mt. Hood. I think there were 200 floatation devices out there.

After the nature walks, we headed up to the Timberland Lodge to take in the historic building. So funny story: Helen Abbott (one of Sadira’s friends) was describing a family vacay. We asked were she went? What she remembers: apparently the Abbott family visits museums on vacay. So we asked the Austin girls, what do we do on Vacation? That isn’t their experience; they both agreed that the old farts drag them in to old historic buildings alot… Especially old breweries. Here’s one

On the way home we passed Panama point and got a few shots of the Columbia Valley with Mt. Hood.

Ecola State Park

July 2, 2021July 2, 2021 / rugreen4u4632 / Leave a comment

Drove by a Mcmenamins on the way to Ft. Stephens. Since it served bfast we decided to grab a breakfast the next morning on our way to Ecola Beach. Yummy!

After breakfast, we rolled on down the road to Ecola State Park which was amazing. They’ve filmed 4 movies there (point break, goonies, twilight, kindergarten cop)

Then, yeah we did… We drove the truck on the beach at Del Ray. First, we had an appetizer (Chips and Salsa) watched a Ford get stuck and then worked up the courage to follow the rest of the four wheel trucks on the beach.

All in all it was another fantastic day on the OR coast. Glad we didn’t go to Utah and hike the narrows…

Relax day to Fort Stephens

July 1, 2021July 1, 2021 / rugreen4u4632 / Leave a comment

Very little to report. Started the day reading and relaxing and even some laundry while George worked. No pictures of that but it was a lovely part of my day.

We broke camp and traveled from Nehalem Bay up the coast to Ft. Stephens state park.

We went for a walk at Ft Stephens and literally ran away from a sworm of mosquitoes. Bikes are recommended so you can outrun them.

The fort is pretty cool. When we pulled up, all we could hear was screaming and laughing. Joy is such a lovely sound. Turns out there were about 30 to 40 kids at a camp playing capture the flag in the fort. How fun would that be? They wouldn’t let us play… I think they were afraid of our skills. #iAintScared