Reliving Jon's Childhood on the Oregon Coast

Jon has officially retired from military service; his last day as a member of the Army Reserves was on Tuesday, 02/22/22.

Congratulations, Jon!

This means a lot of things, of course, but what is most immediate to our family is that now he no longer has to train for 2-3 weeks in the summer. So, what to do with this bonus time together as a family? Take a vacation!

We knew we wanted to visit family in the Northwest, and we hoped we could combine it with a visit to some dear friends in California, but we weren't initially sure what to do to connect those dots. But then Jon realized that we could relive all of his childhood trips on the Oregon Coast, it was full-steam ahead on the planning.

As detail-oriented as I am, Jon is our family travel agent, and figured out a great itinerary. After a too-short visit to California, we boarded a plane headed to Eugene, Oregon. A quick note about our amazing travelers first. The kids did awesome on the airplane(s)...even though on one flight, the airline algorithms tried to seat Erik all by himself in row 31 behind the girls who were placed in row 30. Jon and I really wanted to stay in row 19, where our tickets were located, but we straightened it all out and had calm, uneventful travels. Being able to order hot chocolate certainly helped; I even was able to close my eyes for a bit, which was a treat in and of itself!

After arriving in Oregon, we rented a car and headed for the coast. Erik only threw up once, which was actually kind of a win considering the roads were a bit twisty and hilly. For our first night, we sprung for a hotel right on the beach in Florence, so as soon as we dropped off our stuff in the room, we (literally) ran straight for the ocean. The joy on the kids' faces as they splashed in the water and felt the sand between their toes was magical.

 

We played in the waves and the sand for a bit and then checked out the hotel pool (the ocean is too cold for swimming). We somehow managed to get all three kids into one bed, but the fact that everyone was exhausted from travel and play certainly helped with that. As expected, the smallest one took up the most room, but everyone got a decent rest regardless.

Vacation looks different once the kids go to bed

It was imperative that we take another beach walk in the morning before continuing our travels north, so we tromped around in the sand for a while before heading into town for a delicious--and expensive!--breakfast. It was at this point that Jon and I remembered that we weren't in the Mid-South/Midwest anymore and resigned ourselves to a diet of ramen and macaroni and cheese once we returned to Memphis.

Our next destination was Newport, but we had some stops to make along the way. First up were the Sea Lion Caves. We joked that sea lions smell like popcorn because for some quirky reason, the gift shop/entrance to the caves had a popcorn machine. I wish they did actually smell like that, however, because sea lions are stinky! And loud.

Sea lions outside the cave

Sea lions inside the cave

Sea lions in their natural habitat

We continued up the coast, checking out various landmarks along the way, including some Jon had never seen before. Drawn in by the cars parked along the side of the highway, we ventured down to an impressive sinkhole named Thor's Well. According to the interwebs, it is a sea cave that collapsed that appears to swallow the seawater and then shoot it out again. This is not to be confused with the Spouting Horn nearby that features impressive sprays of water with each large wave. Very, very cool. It was extremely serendipitous that we stumbled upon this area during low tide so that we could (safely) get close enough for a great view.

Our homebase for the next several days was Newport. After the necessary exploring of the Air BnB right on the bay, we set out to do some window shopping and find dinner. We were expecting to find more touristy shops full of trinkets, but we stumbled into a couple fancy art gallery-esque stores, and I am happy--and relieved--to report that we didn't break anything. Dinner that night was at a Rogue Brewery taproom where there was something for everyone (I'm looking at you, root beer float).

View of the bay from our AirBnB

Before we left on our trip, Jon had shown the kids some videos of things to do on the coast, specifically Newport. Lena saw something about a science center and from then on was adamant that we go, especially because they had a Lego "salami" (tsunami) wave simulator. The "Lego salami" (she quickly figured out that it was actually "tsunami" but we continued to call it that for the rest of the trip) did not disappoint, nor did the octopus and other exhibits at the Hatfield Marine Visitor Center. We went looking for lighthouses and clam chowder next and were successful in both endeavors.

Octopus at Hatfield Marine Visitor Center

Yaquina Head Lighthouse

Our coast tour continued to Depoe Bay where we got to see some whales--and harbor seals--from the Whale Watching Center. We also managed to find some saltwater taffy, which was actually better than Jon and I remembered. Next stop was kite flying on the beach in Lincoln City where Jon learned that when the kids say they want to fly kites, they really just want to launch them and let him fly them while they do something else. That something else involved getting alternately soaking wet and covered in sand. The fact that they were not wearing swimsuits did not slow them down in the least. We returned to our Air BnB for a dinner of salmon purchased right off the dock.

Kite flying in Lincoln City

Crossing the D River, aka the "shortest river in the world"

Northwest cherries!

We packed up the next morning en route to Astoria. Along the way, we made the obligatory stop at the Tillamook Creamery to see how cheese is made and packaged...and eat ice cream, of course. So good! I'm not exaggerating when I say that was our most expensive gift shop stop of the entire trip.

Mmmm...Tillamook ice cream

Further north, we stopped at Cannon Beach to see the iconic Haystack Rock and "fly kites." Erik was thrilled to get more "sand time," and the girls played "tsunami" in the water.

Haystack Rock selfie fail

Our next destination was the touristy town of Seaside. Before even making it into the town proper, we stopped to ride go-karts, which was so much fun. Elsa wasn't quite old enough to drive herself, so she graciously offered to wait and watch while Jon and I took a spin with the littles. I left my phone thinking she would take some pictures and videos...but it turns out she filmed the whole thing on a video chat with her friend back home!

We do have some go-kart pictures after all

We then had to make a quick stop on the main drag--to find more saltwater taffy, of course, but also to visit the End of the Trail Lewis and Clark Commemorative Statue. History lesson complete, we continued on to Astoria.

Wouldn't you know, once we arrived there, we managed to find another brewery. What are the odds? We couldn't convince the kids to partake in any Goonies fan activities--they think the movie looks too scary--so we headed to our Air BnB for the night. It was actually someone's basement, but it was quite comfortable and had a sauna, so we tried to get the kids in bed quickly so we could enjoy it.

We capped off our vacation before visiting family with breakfast at Pig 'N Pancake, a local Denny's/Shoney's/Perkins-type restaurant. Not only was it quite tasty, but we may or may not have left with a pair of officially licensed socks and juice glasses.

We entered into the next stage of our trip full of fun memories from the Oregon Coast. I think we did Jon's childhood justice.