Home Sweet Home...

14 days and 3,640 kms later, we're home to our own beds, (and toilet seats.)

There is soooo much to say about our trip and I don't want to bore you with long entries, so I'll try to break it down into bitesized pieces, (so I can bore you a little bit at a time, rather than all at once.)

We traveled with our favorite trip buddies, Joel's twin brother Nathan, his wife Patti, and their 3 cuties. It has long been Joel's dream to drive to Oregon. I've sucessfully squashed that dream for 16 years. I couldn't keep up the resistance any longer. I have nothing agaist Oregon... it was the 40 hours in the car I was dreading. In the end Joel's dream was a good one, although Patti and I are very happy that OUR dreams involve airplanes and beaches... warm ones.

Bite #1 - Newport Oregon

Fact: Oregon is windy and cool.
Fact: I was unaware of this apparent common knowledge.
Fact: I had many tank tops that remained in my suitcase the whole 5 days.
Fact: Kids have no sense of temperature and were in the ocean every chance they had.
Fact: Even thought it's too far away, I would totally go there again.

We rented in a great little "nothin' fancy" house across the street from the ocean with a great view. It was an amazing deal, fantastic location and if anyone wants the info I'd be happy to pass it along.

Day one: getting used to the cold and exploring Newport and the beach. Had heard about "Cafe Stephanie", checked it out and fell in love. Went back 4 times over the course of the few days we were there.

Day two: Went for a run with Patti & Joel then went to Florence for quadding on the dunes. I drove a little jeep thing with my neice Kendra, and the boys each had their own quad. In the last few minutes of our dunes adventure Brodie accidentally drove down a cliff of sand and thankfully lived to tell the tale. He was still shaking when he got off the quad at the rental return. That's where I heard about his misadventure and STARTED shaking.

We hit the Sea Lion caves on the way home, which was cold and smelly but interesting. Bought Joel a new wedding ring in the gift shop. Sadly, no, it does not have a sealion on it. $6.99. Yup, big spender and a true romantic, I am.

Day three: Aquarium in Newport... great little place to spend a few hours.

The Kern brothers doing their seal imitation...That evening, we wanted to have a special grown-up dinner out, and left it a little late, so ended up at the only place still open, "Cafe Mundo" which I'd heard was strange but delicious. That's exactly what it was. One of the best meals I'd ever had in the weirdest places I'd ever walked into. Look at the pretty flowers in my seafood curry!

Day four: I did my big long run on the beach... 13 Kilometres... just me and Jesus. I am so proud of myself I can not tell you. I'm a completely dependent runner, so it was a huge personal accomplishment to run for 95 minutes all by myself. It was beautiful and refreshing and I'll never forget it.
We headed to our fav breakfast spot for a major pig out... (Note the size of the cinnamon buns.... i luvs me some big buns)...

and then our friends Magnus & Mindy joined us for the afternoon and evening--they are spending the summer in her home town a few hours away. Who knew you could keep 3 grown men and 5 kids entertained for 6 hours with a couple of kites?

Day five: We drove to Idaho, with a stop in at the Lincoln City outlet shops and did some damage, particularly at the Quicksilver store. If it wasn't for our completely full little civic, we'd have bought more. I think that's just one more reason taking the 2 door civic was a smarter choice than the van.

OK, that was a long entry... more later.