Earlier this month we had about a week and a half that we were able to do some much needed play... it really started off 4th of July weekend when our buddy John Holman came in to town for a visit and we took off to the cabin for the weekend. For some reason none of us took any pics, how lame! But we did have a really good time on the boat and just hanging out, and of course watching fireworks.
Then that Monday sometime in the afternoon we headed out on the road towards the coast... no real plans, just an idea of a few places we wanted to hit up.
Monday night we ended the day in Boardman, OR where I-84 meets up with the Columbia river. It was a little late, and we were desperate for a place to pitch our tents, so we found an RV park that had a little patch of grass for us to stay the night. I was a little nervous to find out how Anberlin would react to sleeping in the tent, but it turns out she absolutely LOVES it! As soon as we would get into the tent for the night she would go nuts... jumping and screaming and crawling over everything! It was so funny to watch... but Greg and I would have to ignore her until she would finally crash on the floor between us. And she slept really well... I don't know if I slept quite as well considering she kept taking over my pillow, but it was fun.
Our first stop on Tuesday was Multnomah Falls, OR... if you haven't been you should sometime. They are right off the freeway and they are beautiful. I remember going there as a kid and hiking the trails... unfortunately this trip didn't really allow for that.
After Multnomah we stopped in Portland for a bit. Got a bite to eat, got a little lost, and then headed on out to TILLAMOOK! Yay for cheese!
After Tillamook we finally got to the beach! It was a little beach just outside of Tillamook called Cape Mears. It was nice, a little windy, but its always like that on the coast of the NW. Anberlin loved the water, surprise, surprise! She would scream if we even turned her away from it!
Another surprise, she loved digging in the sand and then eating it!
After we got Anberlin all cleaned up from the beach we headed out to find a camping spot for the night. We found it really annoying how there would be road signs for camping and we would get there and it would be an RV park... some of which would not even allow tents...VERY lame! But we finally found a place, Nehalem Bay state park in OR. Yeah, we got thr last camping spot which was a handicap spot... right next to all of the trails leading to the bathroom and right accross from a really abnoxious group that had christmas light hung up and every other luxury you can think of... don't ask me how that is considered camping. Then in the middle of the night I heard a racoon that got into some of the food we laft out...whoops. Oh well, it only got away with a granola bar and I put everything away after that.
So Wednesday we got up and headed up the coast and our first stop was Canon Beach. You could probably say that half this trip was dedicated to the Goonies. And Canon Beach is where some of that precious film was filmed!
A little look out after on the way up to Seaside, which as far as I know is not in Goonies, but it is a nice place to stop and we were able to pick up a nice large bag of saltwater taffy.
After Seaside we kept on going to Astoria, and as you can see we found the Goonies house...YAY! 
After Astoria we headed over the super cool Astoria bridge and crossed into WASHINGTON! Whoohoo for home! First thing we did there was drive on long beach...apparently it is the longest beach in the world, or so they claim... I am not sure on the true facts, but it is approximately 25 miles of beach, and that is a whole lot!
After Long beach, we drove around for a while trying to fins the town of Holman, since that is our buddy's last name. Come to find out the place no longer really exists... apparently it has now been absorbed by Ilwaco, WA. Then, after giving up on Holman we decided "Hey we are only an hour and a half from my parents house... lets go!" We had initially only planned on going into WA just to find Holman... BUT John had never been to Washington, and we decided we had plenty of time to make our way to Seattle as well! So we drove to my house and stayed the night there and Anberlin got to play with some of her cousins and it was good to see my fam.
Then on Thursday we got kind of a late start but we made our way up north a bit... and made sure to stop at the shrine of Jimi Hendrix. It was kind of funny seeing the kinds of people there... when we got there, there was a group of people sitting around drinking beer and talking mostly nonsense because they were half drunk. My favorite part about that was the fact that the girl who seemed to be in charge made sure that nobody brought a beer can back into her car... but hey who cares if she left driving half drunk?! Awesome. And we also liked the fact that there were lipstick marks all over Jimi's face. Double awesome.
Finally Seattle! Our first stop was the space needle of course!
Then we headed over next to the Key Arena where there is one magnificent faountain that tons of kids were playing in... so I took Anberlin over to cool off a bit.
The next stop was Pike Place Market... good times... followed by the pier and feeding french fries to the seagulls... and ourselves.
And since we got a late start that day we were going to need a place to stay. So Greg called up his old buddy Joe Morgan to see if we could drop in for a little visit. He said yes. And we were able to visit with him and stay the night there. Joe also just happens to live right down the street from Gas Works park. So we walked down there hung out for a bit. It was a very nice evening with a nice view of the city and there were lots of somewhat crazy people there as well:)
Greg and Joe. Reunited!
Friday was our final day... sad... but we were able to make one last stop... Snoqualmie Falls. They are pretty cool. Then we headed home... stopping in Yakima to eat... I don't think I would ever want to live in Yakima... its pretty ugly there.
Then we made it home safe and sound :)
p.s. I am sorry for all the links that my posts are ending up with... they aren't meant to be there... I am not putting them there... and I don't know how to get rid of them!!!
Then that Monday sometime in the afternoon we headed out on the road towards the coast... no real plans, just an idea of a few places we wanted to hit up.
Monday night we ended the day in Boardman, OR where I-84 meets up with the Columbia river. It was a little late, and we were desperate for a place to pitch our tents, so we found an RV park that had a little patch of grass for us to stay the night. I was a little nervous to find out how Anberlin would react to sleeping in the tent, but it turns out she absolutely LOVES it! As soon as we would get into the tent for the night she would go nuts... jumping and screaming and crawling over everything! It was so funny to watch... but Greg and I would have to ignore her until she would finally crash on the floor between us. And she slept really well... I don't know if I slept quite as well considering she kept taking over my pillow, but it was fun.
Our first stop on Tuesday was Multnomah Falls, OR... if you haven't been you should sometime. They are right off the freeway and they are beautiful. I remember going there as a kid and hiking the trails... unfortunately this trip didn't really allow for that.
After Multnomah we stopped in Portland for a bit. Got a bite to eat, got a little lost, and then headed on out to TILLAMOOK! Yay for cheese!
After Tillamook we finally got to the beach! It was a little beach just outside of Tillamook called Cape Mears. It was nice, a little windy, but its always like that on the coast of the NW. Anberlin loved the water, surprise, surprise! She would scream if we even turned her away from it!
Another surprise, she loved digging in the sand and then eating it!
After we got Anberlin all cleaned up from the beach we headed out to find a camping spot for the night. We found it really annoying how there would be road signs for camping and we would get there and it would be an RV park... some of which would not even allow tents...VERY lame! But we finally found a place, Nehalem Bay state park in OR. Yeah, we got thr last camping spot which was a handicap spot... right next to all of the trails leading to the bathroom and right accross from a really abnoxious group that had christmas light hung up and every other luxury you can think of... don't ask me how that is considered camping. Then in the middle of the night I heard a racoon that got into some of the food we laft out...whoops. Oh well, it only got away with a granola bar and I put everything away after that. So Wednesday we got up and headed up the coast and our first stop was Canon Beach. You could probably say that half this trip was dedicated to the Goonies. And Canon Beach is where some of that precious film was filmed!
A little look out after on the way up to Seaside, which as far as I know is not in Goonies, but it is a nice place to stop and we were able to pick up a nice large bag of saltwater taffy.
After Seaside we kept on going to Astoria, and as you can see we found the Goonies house...YAY! 
After Astoria we headed over the super cool Astoria bridge and crossed into WASHINGTON! Whoohoo for home! First thing we did there was drive on long beach...apparently it is the longest beach in the world, or so they claim... I am not sure on the true facts, but it is approximately 25 miles of beach, and that is a whole lot!
After Long beach, we drove around for a while trying to fins the town of Holman, since that is our buddy's last name. Come to find out the place no longer really exists... apparently it has now been absorbed by Ilwaco, WA. Then, after giving up on Holman we decided "Hey we are only an hour and a half from my parents house... lets go!" We had initially only planned on going into WA just to find Holman... BUT John had never been to Washington, and we decided we had plenty of time to make our way to Seattle as well! So we drove to my house and stayed the night there and Anberlin got to play with some of her cousins and it was good to see my fam.Then on Thursday we got kind of a late start but we made our way up north a bit... and made sure to stop at the shrine of Jimi Hendrix. It was kind of funny seeing the kinds of people there... when we got there, there was a group of people sitting around drinking beer and talking mostly nonsense because they were half drunk. My favorite part about that was the fact that the girl who seemed to be in charge made sure that nobody brought a beer can back into her car... but hey who cares if she left driving half drunk?! Awesome. And we also liked the fact that there were lipstick marks all over Jimi's face. Double awesome.
Finally Seattle! Our first stop was the space needle of course!
Then we headed over next to the Key Arena where there is one magnificent faountain that tons of kids were playing in... so I took Anberlin over to cool off a bit.
The next stop was Pike Place Market... good times... followed by the pier and feeding french fries to the seagulls... and ourselves.
And since we got a late start that day we were going to need a place to stay. So Greg called up his old buddy Joe Morgan to see if we could drop in for a little visit. He said yes. And we were able to visit with him and stay the night there. Joe also just happens to live right down the street from Gas Works park. So we walked down there hung out for a bit. It was a very nice evening with a nice view of the city and there were lots of somewhat crazy people there as well:)
Greg and Joe. Reunited!
Friday was our final day... sad... but we were able to make one last stop... Snoqualmie Falls. They are pretty cool. Then we headed home... stopping in Yakima to eat... I don't think I would ever want to live in Yakima... its pretty ugly there.
Then we made it home safe and sound :)p.s. I am sorry for all the links that my posts are ending up with... they aren't meant to be there... I am not putting them there... and I don't know how to get rid of them!!!
