Anniversary Trip - Day 6

This was the day that we checked out of our cottage and started driving north.  We looked up a bunch of different things to stop and do on our way towards our next hotel. Our first stop was to eat breakfast.  We ate in Coos Bay and the food was pretty good.  

 We found a really fun little garden area pretty close to North Bend.  It was called The Darlingtonia Wayside. It is just a little trail that goes to the open garden area with bug eating plants.  They were pretty cool to look at.  I am not sure why I didn't take a picture of the actual plant, but I got Tony on the trail to go to the plants.  It'll be a great little stop to take the kiddos.

We then left that area to go find some more fun things to look at.  We stopped at a fun glass shop and looked at all their things.  They had a cool dragon out front.  We didn't buy anything from the shop, but it was interesting to look at.  

After shopping we found a fun place to stop to see these cool water inlet things that splash the water on the rocks as the waves comes in and out.  It was awesome how loud the water was when it crashed on the rocks.

After checking out that place we drove North some more and found another really cool ocean meets rock areas.  We parked our car and was able to walk to many different sites to see the awesomeness. Two were called Devils Churn and Cooks Chasm.  One of the rock formation had a big hole where the water would fill up and shoot out water when the waves came in and then it drained all the water as the waves went back out.  It was really fun to see and we watched that for a long time.  The tide started coming in so we decided to leave the area before we got all wet or stuck.  

Some of the sites we needed to hike to.  Those were not too bad and actually quite beautiful.  It was a little chilly but sunny.  We definitely want to do some of these things with the kids this upcoming summer.  

After all that excitement we drove to our hotel for the night.  We were able to stop by a Costco on our way to our hotel.  That is always fun.  We just ate some dinner there and that worked out good.  The hotel was in a really small college town, but it was a new nice hotel.  It was pretty cold there.  It made us realize that the hikes we had planned on taking the next day were also going to be very cold.  So we decided to cancel our next hotel in Burns and make a reservation closer to home in Boise.

Anniversary Trip - Day 5

 

We started our morning by trying out a new restaurant at the docks.  It was actually really good food.  On the window it said it was the home of the Big Nasty.  So Tony and I decided to share that.  It was a chicken fried steak, biscuits and gravy, and really good hash browns.  Everything was so yummy.  I look forward to going there again in June when we go for our family reunion.

After dinner we went to Seven Devils Beach.  We had never been there before and decided to check it out.  It was a pretty drive down a crazy road but totally worth it.  The beach was beautiful and we pretty much had it to ourselves.  We walked down a ways and then walked back to our cars.  It was a fun beach and I think that we will go there again.

After the beach we drove towards Port Orford.  We stopped and checked out a lighthouse first.  We couldn't park by the lighthouse so we had to park a ways out and then walk down and up a big hill to get to it.  It was a pretty walk and fun to check out the outside of the lighthouse.  We couldn't go in the light house because it was closed because of Covid, but we could walk all around it.  It was a fun thing to check out.

After our lighthouse experience we went to try a restaurant that Boyd recommended for good fish and chips in Port Orford.  When we got there we found out that the restaurant was closed that day.  Major bummer, but we went down to the docks and found a restaurant on the water.  The food was okay, but the company and the atmosphere was great.

After eating lunch we drove back towards Charleston and stopped in Bandon.  We checked out some shops before getting some ice cream from the Facerock Creamery.  The ice cream is really good there and it is really cheap for a good amount of ice cream.

After we went back to the cottages.  Tony and I stopped at a few shops before going back to our cottage.  We then relaxed and before going to the beach to watch the sunset.  It was a cold evening but the sunset was beautiful.  It was the perfect night to watch the sunset all the way down.

Anniversary Trip - Day 4

After we got up we went to breakfast at a yummy diner.  After that we tried to find some dunes that goes into the water, but we didn't find it.  

We then met Julie and Boyd in downtown Coos Bay.  We went to the visitors center and then walked on the boardwalk.  Then we went to lunch at a sandwich shop that I had been wanting to try.  It was really good.

Tony and I checked out a couple different shops before going to the docks to join the Sutherland's in their crabbing adventure.   It was little cold but we had a good time watching them pull pots.

Tony and I then went to check out a hike I had been wanting to do.  When we got there their were signs about a missing person and it was kind of creepy.  Their was one other car there but besides that it was pretty quiet.  

We went on the hike and it was fun.  The trail wasn't well marked so it was hard to know if we were taking the right path at times, but we figured it out and made it back to the car.

The water at the warehouse had a funny smell to it and Julie had mentioned that no other cars were at the cottages, so we decided to go see if they had openings at the cottages for us to stay there by Julie.  They had all the other cottages open but they had a two night minimum.  So we decided to splurge and stay there the next too nights.  After checking us in, Tony and I went and got some dinner at a BBQ place.  

After dinner we got our stuff from the warehouse and got settled in the cottage.  We then went and got some ice cream with Boyd and Julie and then came back to the cottages to eat it.  It was nice hanging out and enjoying our ice cream. 

Anniversary Trip - Day 3

 After seeing the temple we went to check out the Wildlife rehabilitation center that is in Grants Pass.  I wanted to check it out to see if that would be a good place to take the kids.  

They had a good amount of animals there.  Lots of cool birds, but they were really hard to see the birds in their homes because of the shadows from the sun.  We also saw a bear, other animals (I don't remember their names) and two really fun wolves.  They were chasing a chipmunk and it was really entertaining to watch.  We didn't see the fox or otters, but we were told they have those too.  I am not sure it was exciting enough to justify the cost for our whole family but I am sure we will take the kids to see this in a couple years.   

After that we went to a place that I thought was a fun farm that we could walk around, but it was not.  They had a little store that sold weird things and signs that said don't walk around the farm.  So we quickly left that crazy place and started driving towards Coos Bay.

We should've eaten lunch before leaving Grant's Pass because we didn't find any place to eat for hours.  We had plenty of snacks to hold us over.  We decided to go through Bandon so we could get some food and ice cream from Face Rock Creamery.  We had always wanted to try their mac and cheese but never had so we thought this would be the perfect time...of course they were all out.  It was so sad.  So we shared what they called a philly cheese steak sandwich.  We don't need to do that again.  It was real food so that is what we needed.  Then we shared some ice cream, which is what we wanted.  I also got a t-shirt for fun. 

After going to Face Rock Creamery we stopped by the Face Rock on the beach.  It is a beautiful rock formation on the beach in Bandon.  We drove to a little state park and enjoyed the views before getting back in the car and and going back into old town Bandon to walk through some shops.  After shopping we decided to drive to Coos Bay and get all settled in to the Warehouse.  

We got unpacked in the warehouse and then we met up with Julie's family (who had flown in for fall break) up at Cape Argo.  We walked down and watched the sea lions and then watched the sunset from Cape Argo.  It was so beautiful.  After the sun set we then went to Gino's for dinner with the Sutherland's and had a decent meal.  You don't got to Gino's for great food, you go there for the memories.  We did get the pasta and it actually wasn't too bad.  After dinner we stopped at Walmart for a few things and then went back to the warehouse for a good nights sleep.

Anniversary Trip - Day 1 & 2

Tony and I started out our anniversary trip by dropping off the kids at Margie's house.  We got on the road about 9:00 am or so.  We drove to Reno the first day.  We stopped in Battle Mountain for lunch but besides that we drove straight to Reno.  

We checked into our hotel and then went to Costco for gas and to walk around.  We had planned on eating our left over pizza from lunch for dinner but our hotel didn't have a microwave so we had to make other plans.  We weren't super hungry so Tony found a shake place and picked us up a shake and fries to share.  That worked out perfectly.

The next day we were going to drive straight to Medford, but we realized that we were only and hour and half away from Wendy's house.  So we got up grabbed our bagged breakfast (it was pathetic) and started our drive to Wendy's.

We have never been to Wendy's new house.  It was beautiful.  She took us around her neighborhood in her fun golf cart.  Tons of hills and beautiful houses there.  The weather was perfect too.  It was so warm.

After our tour Gabe and Wendy took us out to lunch at a local place.  The food was yummy and company was even better.  After lunch we went back to her house to say good bye to the kids before heading back on the road.

We then drove to Medford through Mt. Shasta.  It was so pretty and a fun drive.  We got into Medford when it was dark so we checked into our hotel and then asked the front desk for ideas for dinner.  She suggested a local steak house.  We figured we would give it a try since we were kid free we could splurge a little.  

This steak house ended up being very expensive.  Luckily I don't eat tons so we just shared a steak.  It was good and a fun experience.  After dinner we went back to the hotel and got some needed rest for our drive tomorrow.  

Before we left Medford the next day, I wanted to go and see the temple.  We had found this temple years ago when we had stayed in Medford but I wanted to go again.  It is a pretty little temple and it seemed to make up for the fact that we didn't make it to church that day.  After we saw the temple we headed to Grant's Pass.

Cabin Weekend!

 We decided to go to the cabin for one more weekend before the weather turns cold.  This time we stayed for two nights.  It was so nice up there.  We did tons of four-wheeling, video game playing, eating yummy food, and spending lots of family time together.  Love it all!