Oregon, part one

Last weekend the kids and I went down to Oregon to meet my new nephew and see him get blessed. Since our time in the PNW is short, I decided to leave a few days earlier and take the scenic route to Eugene along the Oregon coast. Garreth was not able to come home this weekend, so it was a true test of single motherhood for me. And let me tell you, it was exhausting, but also a little empowering. There were definitely some very stressful moments (and I came home from vacation needing a vacation), but we had a good time and I'm glad we went. And what a beautiful place! We will definitely be going back.

We left after school on Thursday and drove to the Washington/Oregon border and spent the night. (Hotels alone with four kids? Yeah, not so fun.) The next morning we began our journey down the coast. Since Grace is a huge Sacajawea fan, it was only appropriate that our first stop was the Lewis and Clark National Historical Park, where we got to walk around Fort Clatsop, a replica of where the explorers spent a long winter.

In the visitor's center, we met Lexie the Newfoundland dog, which is the same breed as Clark's dog who was on the expedition.

We stopped for a photo with Sacajawea herself,

then explored the fort.

After a little more driving, we stopped in Seaside. I had heard that it was usually pretty crowded and touristy so I just meant to drive downtown and check it out, but we saw a parking spot right next to the beach and decided to stop.

Lewis, Clark, and the Ratchford children.

It was amazing that four kids who live two minutes from the ocean could get so excited about a beach. I guess when you live on a bay with rocky shores, sand and waves are a huge novelty!

We continued on the drive until we got hungry and came across the world's most picturesque picnic spot, Ecola State Park. This place is definitely one of the prettiest places I've ever been.