Roadtrip to the Northwest

This post is SO delayed, but I’d already started it a few weeks ago so I had to finish it – it has been delaying many other things from being posted that have happened since then!!

We had such a fun trip up to Portland and the Oregon coast in August. The drive is long. There is no other way to say it. But we decided to split the drive up into 3 days and enjoy the scenery along the way.

Things started out pretty chipper.

However by the end, it wasn’t quite so pretty.

Our accommodations along the way at times left a little to be desired.

But what they lacked in shower height, they certainly made up for in décor.

This half wagon wheel jutting out of the wall appeared to serve absolutely no purpose, except to make our trip just that much more enjoyable!

We saw a lot of beautiful vineyards, got car sick from the winding road and stopped in Mendocino for breakfast and a photo op.

Our unsuccessful attempt at a beautiful, oceanside family portrait.

At one of our lovely motels, Byron picked up a pamphlet on a place called “Trees of Mystery” which was on our way up the coast. He became a little obsessed about molding our plans around a visit to this place. I was appropriately skeptical. I mean, “Trees of Mystery?” In order to accommodate a visit to this place, we stayed in a crazy, horror movie type motel, in a town where no restaurants were open, and delayed our arrival in Portland. I went along with it, knowing full well that as soon as we had seen this “Trees of Mystery”, we would be horribly disappointed and I would, once again, be proven right.

Two words: Worth it!!

How can you go wrong, when you are welcomed by a huge Paul Bunyan and Babe the Blue Ox??

And to put it into perspective…

I will not bore you with the ONE HUNDRED AND SIX pictures that I took at “Trees of Mystery”. Just know that I now think trees are totally amazing. Okay, maybe a few pictures couldn’t hurt…

Harrison getting his first ride on a sky gondola.

View from the top

Just know that it is awesome, Byron was right. And definitely go, if you’re ever going to be passing through Klamath, California.

We also had a TON of fun spending a week at the beach house on the Oregon Coast:

We were so glad Grandma and Grandpa Williams and Aunt Sheri could come too!!

We loved visiting the Tillamook Cheese Factory.

Harrison is holding his souvenir from the trip, a little cow named Tillie from Tillamook.

And we just couldn’t resist letting him try a little Tillamook ice cream. From the looks of it, we created a monster!!!

And we absolutely LOVED crabbing!!

(I guess it is pretty obvious from these pictures that Harrison’s open-mouth smile is clearly a genetic trait passed down on the Harrison side, versus the Williams’.)

It was really fun just spending time at the Oregon coast. Harrison loved the beach and the ocean, just like his dad.