We did it! We took our kids on a 9 day road trip up the west coast! The pictures below are not in order, but I'll write the order of our trip below.
Lake Tahoe
Our first leg was from home to Lake Tahoe and we stayed on the south side up in the mountains. We got in super late at night, but stayed there for two nights. The lake was gorgeous!! It was so gigantic - I don't know if I would have been brave enough boat on it with it seeming so vast and probably deep with lots of creatures. :)
We took the kids on the gondola ride up to the top and to the Epic Discovery Heavenly Resort where there was ropes courses, rock climbing wall, mountain coasters, tubing, ziplining, gem panning, etc. Carson was a little difficult to entertain up there, but the big kids really enjoyed so much adventure and playing. (Next time - pack a lunch and go super early on the gondola ride)
We hiked down to Emerald Bay and it was absolutely beautiful there. (Next time - pack a lunch and bring swimsuits)
Tahoe roads around the lake get very busy with lots of traffic, but the kids did a good job being patient. It would be fun to go in the middle of the week sometime!
Redwoods
Our next leg was to the Redwoods and we stayed at a hotel for a couple nights (probably the only hotel) in Klamath, CA. I was in absolute tree heaven!!! It was so hard for me to narrow down all the hikes that I really wanted to do! We hiked from the Prairie Creek Visitor Center to Big Tree (next time - hike however far you want around the visitors center, then just drive to Big Tree) - Carson got really uncomfortable in the backpack carrier because he filled his diaper and we left the stuff to change him at the car.
We drove out to Fern Canyon (kind of a long drive for the kiddos) and it was what dreams are made of - so beautiful and green and lush!
We also did a hike at Stout Grove and we went to see the statues of Paul Bunyan and his blue ox at the Trees of Mystery, but didn't go on their trails because the fees were steep.
I absolutely loved the Redwoods and their vastness and beauty and I cannot wait to back again!
Oregon Coast
We drove up the Oregon Coast and stayed in Bandon and then headed up further and stayed in Newport (Nye Beach) for a bit. We saw some beautiful coastlines, outlooks, rocky shores, and lots of trees! We stopped at Face Rock, Seal Rock (probably not worth the money for next time), and Devil's punchbowl (the beach just north of the punchbowl was really fun).
There was a park right by our condo in Newport and the first night they were having a free community dinner there that a local church was sponsoring. There was lots of Christian music, passionate sermons and people from all walks of life. It was actually super fun! Andrew came over and tattled that one of the church kids had called him a butthole (ha ha), but other than that, it was a great evening.
We visited the Oregon Coast aquarium one morning and did some scooter riding and window shopping. I would say one of the highlights of the trip for Brandon and the big kids was crabbing. They got all the supplies they needed (even some mink meat) and threw their cage off of a pier/bridge. They met a lot of other crabbers and even caught some crabs, which they ended up releasing or giving away.
Portland & Boise
The kids started losing a little steam (we were losing steam too!) and we made a couple adjustments to shorten the trip just a little bit. We were initially going to drive up to Cannon Beach and through Tillamook, but decided to get on our way and head straight to Portland. Keep in mind that we LOVE Cannon Beach so it was a hard decision for me to make, but it would have been another day in the car to get there and back and the kids would have liked it but we had already spent a lot of time at the Oregon beaches so we figured that they wouldn't be impressed enough to make it worth it. So we drove through Portland with a quick stop at Voo Doo Donuts and headed to Multnomah Falls. We hiked the one mile trail up to the top of the waterfall. It is a very steep hike and so I was proud of the kids for working so hard. We were all exhausted! We pulled in late to our hotel in Boise and the big kids and I hopped right back in the car to go get a baked potato shaped ice cream! The one near us was all out, so we drove another 10-15 minutes to get to the other one. They were nearly closing, so I called and asked them to make us two and to wait for us if they'd be willing! We got there right at closing and they were super nice. It was a little stressful, but a fun memory with the kids. And yes, it looked just like a baked potato, but tasted delicious.
Some funny memories:
- Kendall absolutely loved KFC and was frustrated that we had never taken her there before.
- The kids admitted to not changing their underwear as often as I would have liked them to.
- Carson got to sleep with at least one of both of us in most places, and he absolutely loved a sleeping buddy!
- We listened to the audiobook "Chicken in the Headlights" and it held the kids attention so well and we loved listening to them chuckle at all the funny parts. It had a feel good ending about how important siblings are - such a great message!
- Carson deciding he needed to wear flip flops since everyone else had them on - only problem was that he was SO slow walking in them and he actually would just insist on wearing Kendall's since he didn't even have a pair! As soon as we got into a big city, we went to a Walmart and found him a pair his size.
- There was one particular lunch stop at an A&W that was slow and taking a long time and I was at my wits end with Carson. Brandon lovingly took him outside to give me a break. I looked out the window a few minutes later and saw Brandon playing band with Carson marching through the parking lot and playing their instruments. What a good daddy! It melted my heart that he was willing to do that in broad daylight with his son right in an A&W parking lot.
BANDON, OR
NEWPORT, OR
TAHOE
REDWOODS / KLAMATH
SEA LION CAVES
OREGON COAST
PORTLAND, OR
MULTNOMAH FALLS
BOISE, ID
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