Oregon Coast

With Summer winding down and the temps rising, we decided to beat the heat with a trip to the coast. Four days in Waldport was just what we needed to cool down. We got a late start on the road and planned to drive as far as we could, then pull over and set up camp.

I love driving in the early evening. Everything seems to be quieting down. The scenery was beautiful.

I'm actually surprised Arron drove past Sisters Oregon before pulling over to sleep. Like pros the boys set up a tent, threw in some bags and we were sawing logs in no time. (all except Jon)

Good Morning!

By the way Laiken looks you'd never know just how close to Hwy 20 we pitched our tent. (maybe it wasn't the snoring the kept Jon up, but the semi traffic?) Just a short winding jaunt to breakfast, then the beach!

Ahhh, that's what we drove all night to see!

There was a lot of frisbee tossing and beach combing going on. I think my favorite was just chillaxing in a beach chair with a book, and my camera.

I think Arron found 16 cents.

We had a nice relaxing first day. We watched the Olympics on T.V. and Laiken made us rice krispie treats after dinner. Our little beach house was so fun!
I had to throw in this picture of Laiken rockin' the pearls and leather...not to mention the leopard yoga pants and turquoise flip-flops...how does she do it?

We were all pretty stocked for the all-day fishing charter. I was sure we were going to bring back loads of Rockfish, maybe we'd even get lucky and catch a Salmon!

It was a great day.

Jon pulled the first one in.

He was also the first to have to throw one back. Whatever this blurry blob is, it was no longer in season. Bummer.

After Laiken caught several Starfish, she finally pulled up a "keeper"

We didn't catch as many fish as we would have hoped. Honestly, Laiken was the hero of the day with a grand total =1! But....

we were not going home empty handed!

We caught our limit of crab! 60

Nothin' left to do but eat these little monsters!

What tastes good with crab?...more crab, and butter, maybe fries.

No one is walking away hungry from this table!

So we ate and ate and ate, all the while watching the Olympics. It was bliss.

We explored Newport the next day.

At Pirates Plunder there was much to see.

We couldn't have asked for better weather. Sunny, every day! What?

We couldn't keep Arron away from the waters edge for long, we wound up back at the docks.

I know he's thinking...if I can't catch a fish, by dang, I'll buy one!

Needless to say, we ate fresh Albacore Tuna that night. Arron cooked it up on the grill.

We strongly believe in making your own luck!

I'm so glad we did this trip.

Backpacking in the Sawtooth Wilderness

Eric and Amy drove down from Vancouver to hike with us in the Sawtooths. I think our last big hike with them was Loon Lake and that was before Lili was born.

The goats got a trial run on this hike. They will be great packing partners, they stayed right by us and only stopped to browse when we stopped. This meadow was pure heaven for them.

The first day was probably the hardest day of the hike, most of it was uphill.

 I was very impressed by how well Lili and Zayah did. They can hike five miles in a day...no problem! I loved how they kept calling Laiken a "Rockstar"

The scenery was beautiful. We made several stops just to enjoy the views.

It rained on and off every day of the hike. Each night we had some pretty intense thunder and lightening. The sound of the wind blowing through the trees sounded like waves on the ocean. The rain was coming down so hard at one point I thought a wave was going to drown us all.

This was our camp site near Alpine lake.

Lad and Skye were going to sleep in their hammocks under a tarp,

but they got washed out and had to join us,

our three man tent quickly became a five man. (plus two dogs)

Don and Suzanne met up with us on the second day while we were playing in the lake.

The sun came out long enough for some swimming.

Olive was so funny! When she "doggie paddled" her paws came

 way up over her head and out of the water.

Artex, is Eric and Amy's dog, he wasn't too keen on the water either.

Alpine Lake was so clear and refreshing.

A great place for a snack.

So then we were off to Sawtooth Lake.

 It was a short enough distance from our camp that we could

 make it there and back without our packs.

Doesn't the mountain backdrop in this photo look fake?

It hailed on us while we hiked back down to Alpine Lake.

At least Skye was prepared for the wet.

The best part about hiking, is there are no distractions.

You can give all your attention to the ones you love.

We stopped for some time on the way back down,

 had lunch and talked with  the other hikers on the trail.

We got several comments on Olive because she was carrying a dog

pack. She had to pack in her and Maggies food.

Of course, we also had to answer many questions about the goats.

Are they tame? - yes.

Why do you bring them backpacking? - they can pack 1/4 of their weight.

Do you have to bring food for them? - no.

Do they stay close to you? - yes
Do you milk them? - they are male dairy goats.

Can I pet them? - sure.

 The goats were a blast to watch.

 Even when they are just sitting there we got a

kick out of watching them chew their cud.

They are so sure footed and love to climb.

Sometimes I think Maggie wishes she was a goat.

Elwood wasn't always too sure about crossing water.

Skye got tired of him trying to make up his mind.

I hope before too long they will be too big to pick up like this.

Maybe on our next backpacking trip we can put packs on them.

We had a wonderful trip!
I love that the Shore family likes to hike and

camp together.I can't wait till our next trip.

We'd like to backpack Seven Devils before it gets cold.