Depoe Bay

We had the privilege of hosting Adam's grandparent's, Tom and Betty last weekend. They came to see us and Uncle Jim & Aunt Martha. We all met in Depoe Bay, OR for an Indian style salmon bake. The fish was amazing, so fresh and cooked to perfection.

Jim, Martha, Angela, Tom, & Betty. Adam is behind the camera.

Adam, Angela, and Betty.

We all have stickers on our jackets because we saw whale's in the bay before the salmon bake, if you spot a whale then the ranger comes around and gives you a sticker that says I saw whale's at Depoe Bay.

This is how they cooked our salmon, it was baked with alder wood over this fire. Really very impressive the set up they had there.

After the salmon bake the buses went to the casino or the outlet mall. We chose the casino at Jim's suggestion, the ocean is right behind the casino. We walked along the beach and the boys skipped rocks, we also attempted to fly the kite again but there was not enough wind.

The next day we went to Van Couver, WA where Jim and Martha live. They had us all over for dinner and the boys all golfed in the rain. We had a really nice time with all of our family out here.

Thanks for coming to visit us!

Lincoln City

Last Thursday Adam's parents arrived in Oregon to see us. We spent the first night in our one bedroom apartment, then we packed up and headed to the coast for some beach time. Our first stop on the way was the David Hill Winery. It was a beautiful property and they have some nice wine.

This is the house they do the tastings in.

We also made a stop in Tillamook for some cheese and ice cream on our way to the beach.


We arrived at our condo in Lincoln City in time for book reading........
........and the sunset. It was so nice to feel the ocean breeze and sit on our deck.
Sunset
Sunset

Sunset

We just could not stay inside, the sunsets were amazing.
We finally came in to warm up by the fire and read some more.
We had a really nice picnic at the beach.

Adam and Steve played football on the beach. They also went to a place called The Pines and watched the Iowa / Iowa State game and ate breakfast.

They flew a kite, but not this day. Deb and I were shopping the day they got the kite in the air.
Adam attempting to get the kite in the air.
Steve went looking for good skipping rocks.
He started making art in the sand.This is his rock flower.

We just laid on the beach.
The big view of our little beach.
The boys played cribbage every night.
I am not sure who won the worls series.


On our way back to Hillsboro we took Steve and Deb to our favorite eatery, the Pelican Brewery for some clam chowder and fish and chips.

We also wacthed some free entertainment while we were there, too bad our camera was in the CR-V. There were 3 trucks / SUV's that got stuck in the sand on the beach. Glad it was not us

The four of us at an overlook of the ocean on the left and a bay on the right. We had a really nice time with Adam's parents, it was great to get back to the ocean again before we head back to South Carolina.
Sarah and Brad we missed you guys!

Crater Lake

We went to Crater Lake the weekend before last, words cannot describe the beauty we saw while we were there and these pictures do not do it justice. Crater Lake started out as a volcano called Mount Mazama, about 7,700 years ago Mazama erupted and collapsed into itself. Later eruptions formed Wizard Island which is in the lake. Crater Lake is five miles wide and ringed by cliffs almost 2,000 feet high it is 1,943 feet deep which makes it the deepest lake in the US and one of the deepest in the world.

This is a view of Wizard Island.

Crater Lake, look how blue the water is. All the water is rain and melted snow.

Wizard Island from another view.

We found a great little turn off and read books while looking at the lake.

Sunset at a little place we had dinner.

We hiked down to the lake edge and Adam joined the polar bear club, again. It was so cold I only put my feet in.

That is a boat off to the right of us, they have tours around the lake. They load 50 people on a boat and go around the lake for two hours, we almost did it, we are glad we did not once we saw the people get off the boat.

A view from the hike we took to get down to the water.

We stayed at a bed and breakfast called Crystal Wood Lodge. It was out in the middle of no where and Liz, the owner, took great care of us. Liz will take care of your dog while you are gone during the day and Lilly had great fun. Liz has 22 huskies on the property and she finished the Iditarod in Alaska this year. We really enjoyed getting to know Liz. If you are going to Crater Lake you should stay at her B&B. http://www.crystalwoodlodge.com/

Whidbey Island

For the long holiday weekend we met some friends from Iowa who are spread out on the west coast. Deric and Jennavieve live in California, Adam and I are in Oregon, and Jenny, Eric and Justin live in Washington.


We met in Seattle and went to Whidbey Island. We rented a place called the "Happy House" and had a blast catching up with old friends!



Jennavieve, Angela, and Justin in the kitchen.

Deric and Adam eating pizza and drinking beer, just like old times at ISU.

Justin, Jenny, and Eric in the living room.

Our view from the deck.

View from the deck.

The hot tub!

Another view from the deck at sunset.

The deck, which we spent a lot of time on.

The first morning Deric and Justin made breakfast. French toast, eggs, and bacon!

Jennavieve in her Kayak gear.

Eric gearing up for Kayaking.

Suited and ready to paddle!

I think mine is still wet from the last person.
Deric and Jenny, brother and sister, they don't look anything alike. Right?!

Out on the open water.

Adam and I taking a break from paddling. My arms got tired!

Eric and Jenny.

Our guide took these shots for us. Luckily we did not tip any of our Kayaks because he said he would not help us if we did. :) He was kidding though, I think?

Jennavieve, Angela, Jenny, Deric, Adam, and Eric.

The Deception Pass bridge.

It is huge! Really kinda scary if you look down, but amazing at the same time.

The men folk are roasting the ladies marshmallows for s,mores on our last night.

Deric and Jennavieve, Jenny and Eric, and Justin -

It was so nice to spend the weekend with you, it felt just like family!

'til next time..........................

We had a really great time at the "Happy House" If you don't use http://www.vrbo.com/ for your vacations you should. This was another great find for good money.