Long Awaited Vacation Pics! · posted May 7, 01:05 AM
Before we left we threw a little surprise Birthday party for Jeremiah with our neighbors. He had an angel food cake and some creme brulee and a bonsai tree.
One of the first things we did was drive through a Redwood in Legget CA. This was the Chandelier Tree. We barely squeezed through and had to fold our mirrors in.
We checked out the fallen tree right next to the drive through tree.
Elk viewing. We explained to Brendin that some people like to use Elk horns as trophies. So he then told Aunt Tami that we saw some Elk and they were selling trophies.
The (very green) Smith River in the Jedediah Smith Redwood Forest.
Welcome to the state with the lamest sign….
There were lots of small shops selling wood gifts, this was a Burl wood art gallery and we found the Burly Gate and the boys found a Burly swing.
We then drove to Salem, OR to stay with my Aunt Tami. She used to live in SLC so Davin was really excited to see her! She took us to the Eoli Winery for the best brunch in the WORLD for Jeremiah’s Birthday!
The next day we headed North to Washington
We crossed the border and bought some Starbucks since WA is where it started. Jeremiah’s XL cup of coffee cup sprung a leak in the bottom of the cup and spilled all over the car…and his pants.
We took a detour on our way to Seattle and saw Mt St Helen’s and went to the base of Mt Rainier but couldn’t see it because it was so foggy/cloudy. But we did at least get to play in some snow.
The Seattle skyline
Downtown Seattle by a totem pole.
Eating at a restaurant on the pier.
Pike’s Market Hill Climb
This is Rachel the Pig, seriously!
Some guy catching a fish at that famous fish throwing market in Pike’s Market.
Chinatown in the International District in Seattle
The storm that we got to drive through..imagine that it rained in Seattle!
The next day we headed North some more! And we made it through the border and into Canada.
The Vancouver skyline, we didn’t really do much in Vancouver as Jeremiah was anxious to get to Whistler.
The drive up to Whistler was one of the most beautiful drives I’ve ever seen.
And here is Whistler!
The boys slept the whole way from Vancouver to Whistler.
The view from our hotel room, which was beautiful! Our room had a nice big flat panel TV, fireplace, kitchen & jacuzzi tub. We also went swimming in the outdoor heated pool which was the best pool ever!!
Hmmmm….how did the gum get IN your hair Davin?
Playing with some sweet Wikki Stix that the restaurant in the Whistler Village gave to the boys.
At a Canadian Brewery in Whistler.
Playing in some Canadian snow
The boys got a nice treat, some Gourmet Hot Chocolate!
More wikki stix!
The hot chocolate apparently put Brendin to sleep because he slept like this on the table for about 15 minutes.
A really neat playground in the Whistler Village made of wood.
The drive back to Vancouver…
Vancouver Bridge
We got lost and found a nice Welcome to Canada sign!
At the border there was a neat little zen garden type place that we took some pictures in.
Welcome to America!
Since it was cloudy the whole time we were in Seattle before we stopped at the Space Needle on our drive back. Boy was Davin glad we finally got to go. And we were glad that we FINALLY got to see Mt Rainier! It is BIG and beautiful.
No time to stop, but there’s the Capitol in Olympia.
We stayed the night on the river in Clatskanie on the border of WA & OR.
Next stop Astoria. Which had roads JUST like lead. We went to the tower but they were repairing the stairs in it so we didn’t get to walk up. But the view was nice from on top of the hill.
The bridge over to Washinton. We drove over it to get to a lighthouse on the SW tip of WA.
And old Army base we found S of Astoria.
So I didn’t really think I needed to head the barricaded road and I went around..I really wanted to see the shipwreck!
Then Jeremiah told me that they put the barricades there for a reason….but we still made it!
And there it is! Davin thought it was pretty sweet and said it must have been a pirate ship!
Time for an ice cream break!
We drove all this way in anticipation of the Kloochy Giant, the largest Sitka Spruce tree, almost 200 years old and over 200ft tall….only to find that in December record breaking winds took old Kloochy down. It was hit by lightning 50 some years ago and weakened the tree and that is where the tree broke. There is about 70ft of it still standing. It was still a grand site to see!
The Cape Meares Lighthouse, the shortest lighthouse in OR.
The really pretty lenses of the Cape Meares LH.
We bought a seagull kite and flew it on the beach in Lincoln City, the seagulls are the dots in the picture!
Jeremiah found a whoopie pie and was in heaven…until he realized he shouldn’t have ate it for breakfast!
Yaquina Head Lighthouse
Yaquina Bay Lighthouse
We found a glass blowing gallery and got to watch a guy make a glass float. The boys were captivated!
Cape Blanco Lighthouse
A waterfall in the Sea Lion caves
The Sea Lion Caves were very cool. There were about 200 Sea Lions in the cave that day, we took an elevator a few hundred feet underground and got to watch the sea lions and they don’t even know you are there.
The Umpqua Lighthouse
A house…IN a tree.
A monster truck we found.
Battery Point Lighthouse in Crescent City, CA
And back to good ‘ol California. The Golden Gate Bridge..Where we didn’t have $5 cash (which there are no signs that say you need this) you get a $25 violation in the mail on top of the $5 fee. Nice.
