I Left My Heart In San Francisco

Since moving to the Pacific Northwest, it's been on My Bucket List to go to San Francisco. Much to our delight, Pa was approved to attend a conference there just last week, and we got to tag along for the ride. I already had a file several papers thick on things to do in San Francisco, so I was well on my way to creating an itinerary for our week-long stay. There are a few things in the city we missed, but we covered as many bases as we could while we were there. 

San Francisco is indeed a very charming city. It has a similar feel to the Pacific Northwest, but it also has these fun add-ons like the Golden Gate Bridge (HELLO, THE GOLDEN GATE BRIDGE), cable cars, the crookedest street, Alcatraz, and the list goes on and on. Add to that a whole bucket full of interesting history, and the city is a TREAT to visit. No surprise, then, that everywhere we went, we bumped into people from all over the world. 

I uploaded 118 pictures to my Facebook account, complete with captions and such, so I'll just refer you to there if you haven't seen the album already.

Needless to say, we all loved San Francisco and feel so fortunate that we got to spend so much time there. Yay for marking an item off the bucket list!

Sheep Elk

We took a different route home from the coast that we took on the way there. I had no idea that Little Miss GPS was going to be taking us on Nehalem Highway, which I assume is the tribal word for "carsick."

Fortunately, I was in the driver's seat and was mostly immune to the hour of twists, turns, starts, and stops. Unfortunately, no one else was. Fortunately, the only thing spilling from the backseat was ANGER, and lots of it. Never were we all so glad to see a straight road back into town as we were on that day.

Shortly before the hills and the curves came to an end, I came across a yellow road sign that said, "ELK," and lo and behold, around the next (twist and turn) we saw this:

I remarked to another gal who had stopped by the road that we were quite lucky that the elk knew to rest just where the sign said to rest. And then she mumbled something about "wildlife preserve," or some such nonsense, and moved on. Huh.

Anyway, I stopped the van at the cries of mercy coming from everyone, thinking a little stillness and fresh air would help out. It did, sorta, but then of course we had to head out on the highway again. Poor Ziggy climbed out of his seat at the Elk Stop and laid down on the floor of the van, begging and begging to ride there for the rest of the way home. It was so pitiful but like a dutiful, law-abiding, safety-conscious mom, I made him sit back in his seat and endure.

Meanwhile, the Suz and Pa were having a rousing conversation about the elk. She insisted they were sheep; Pa insisted they were elk. Sheep, elk, sheep, elk, sheep, elk. Finally the Suz shouted out, "SHEEP ELK!" and we just left it at that.

I assure you, no one in our family ever wants to see that patch of Sheep Elk again.

Astoria Bridge

From Seaside, we headed north up the Oregon coast. On the way, we passed through the town of Astoria, which is right at the top of the state. In order to get into Washington, you have to cross the Columbia River via this:

That's the Astoria-Megler Bridge. Looks harmless enough, right? Well, how about looking at the FOUR-MILE BRIDGE like this (click to enlarge):

Or perhaps from the view out the front of the van (click to enlarge):

Or maybe out the left side of the van (please do not click to enlarge):

Someone sitting in the passenger seat of the van was having too good of a time with the bridge and heights and "did you feel something shake?!" and the driver was none too happy to reach the end of that bridge and let the adrenalin level get back to normal. Campers timed the drive across the bridge and it was over a full five minutes. FIVE MINUTES! And as my good fortune would have it, we got to cross it again on the way back through. Whoopee!

Kee-Kees On Vacation

Here are the boys and their "kee-kees" (Webkinz kitties). They make up such funny dialogues between their cats and it's one of their favorite things to do.

That night at the hotel, we watched Toy Story 3, which the boys had seen but I had not. The main point of that movie, if you haven't seen it, is that the boy has grown up and out of playing with his childhood toys. And so now when I watch my boys with their cats--I realize that all too soon they'll be put on a shelf in place of more "grown-up" pursuits. Sob, sob, and make time stop, just this once, okay thank you very much.

Game At The Beach

It isn't often that all three of our kids are involved in the same game together. Generally it's the two boys hamming it up while the girl Velcros herself to my legs. But when they do conjure up something that includes all three, it does my Mama Heart good.

While at the beach in Seaside, both boys were carrying a big stick and using it for all sorts of boyish things. Somewhere along the line, Campers got the idea that Ziggy should run and make dots, Campers would follow and connect them, and the Suz would straddle the line and run. They kept this up for a long, long stretch of the sand.

Such funny, imaginative kids.

Seaside - The Beach

Surprisingly, the Oregon coast is a rather pleasant place to visit in mid-March. Sure, you've got your occasional rainfall, which might or might not happen every other thirty minutes. And you've got required winter attire, but still. The wind was calm when we were there and the sand was solid enough that we could walk on it with minimal effort. We are all about exerting the least amount of energy possible, you know.

There's not much to say about these pictures except, "Hey, here we are at the coast. See its many moods."

Enjoy.




You can see the full album (and bigger pictures) here.

Seaside - The Town

Pa and I felt the need to Get Out Of Dodge, and I felt the need to cram a little school in with the kids. Enter: a weekend trip to the Oregon coast.

The beach is always a soul-filling place to go, and as for school--we're ramping right up to Lewis and Clark, and goodness sakes, this region of Oregon is loaded with bits and pieces of history. So, last-minute plans were made and we shoved out the door.

Seaside is one of the more touristy towns on the Oregon coast, but that's not always a bad thing. Sometimes I crave peace and quiet; sometimes I like a little something to do. And in March, when it rains, having something to do besides play in the sand is a good thing.

Here's all the non-beach things we did while in Seaside for a day.

Got 75-cent Tillamook ice cream cones:

Played at the arcade:

And picked out some chocolates to eat while watching the sunset on the coast.

While we were buying the chocolates, a mom with a baby in a stroller stood in line behind us, and I thought, "How quickly my kids have grown." Truly. It seems like just yesterday we were packing cheerios and baby food and diapers and strollers and portable cribs and had to plan our whole schedule around feedings and naps. Now we have three kids who can walk up to a candy counter and place their orders. Huh. Whoda thought.

Crack In The Ground

(From July 2010.)

One of the more interesting things we saw while in the desert of central Oregon was "Crack in the Ground," a volcanic fissure roughly 70 feet deep and nearly two miles long.

We walked through a good portion of it, which required quite a bit of climbing, but all three kids were eager and willing. I won't say anything about the adults.

It was truly just a big, open, crack in the ground. Who knew? 

And here are the boys showing their rock-climbing prowess, and likely giving out yet another joke including the word, "crack." Good times.

Table Rock At Sunset

(From July 2010.)

Part of our trip to central Oregon included a wild ride, and I mean, an incredibly frightening ride uphill on a steep mountain on an unpaved road to the top of Table Rock.

See? Genuinely frightened.

Our friend was driving the truck and made sure to give us the "full 4x4 experience" of a mountain adventure. But he assured us that seeing sunset at the top of the rock was worth the ride up there. It also required layers and layers of clothes, seeing as we were up in altitude all the while being in the windy desert already.

We stayed right til sunset and then made the (also frightening) trip back down.

But I assure you that the excitement of the journey has made for some legendary stories to be told and told again.

High Desert Accommodations

(Backtracking a bit to July 2010, when we went to central Oregon to the desert.)

Our friends own this A-frame smack dab in the middle of Nowhere, Oregon.

They invited us to stay in their trailer which sits pretty close to their "house." It had a very nice hammock just outside the door:

The kids had at least five acres of...desert to play in.

Complete with sagebrush and sand:

Deschutes River

You may not know this, or believe this, but the eastern two-thirds (rough math) of Oregon is desert. Desert! "High desert," officially, which I take to mean, "desert high up in the air." Not all floating around, mind you. Elevation-wise.

So some friends of ours, who also happened to be our neighbors at the last house, own some land and a small house out in the high desert and invited us for a get-together during the July 4th weekend. Along the way, we stopped at a rest stop so the adults kids could stretch their legs and go potty.

This is part of the long Deschutes River, with the beginnings of the desert in the background.

And this is a little four-year-old who was told to sit, sit still, sit right here on this rock and do not move.

(Notice: rocks in hand.)

And this is Campers, throwing stones, which also happened to look a lot like boulders. Because if there's one thing I've learned about boys, it's that they won't throw a small rock when a gargantuan one is nearby.

And for your viewing pleasure, this is what the desert looks like, but only around the river.

More to come.

Seattle: Part 10

Oh, the International Fountain.

This gem sits right in the midst of the "World's Fair," and fortunately for us, it was 83 gazillion degrees while we were in Seattle.

So, an over-the-top style fountain was just what the Heat Doctor ordered.

Best I could tell from old pictures, this fountain used to have a decorative pool where the people now sit or play.

Not only does the fountain shoot high high, super high into the air--it also plays music that's choreographed with the water show.

I know!

Very cool. In more ways than one.

And now that you've looked at three pictures of the same fountain, I'll give you a little dose of this:

Part 10 of 10.

The end! Believe it or not!

Seattle: Part 9

One of the buildings left over from the World's Fair in Seattle has been transformed into a science center. And since our family has some unwritten rule that we track down and conquer every. single. one. of these museums, we made this part of our Running Ragged In Seattle trip.

I took that afternoon "off," which means I sat in a dark hotel room not moving a muscle so that the Suz could get some sleep.

So the commentary on the following pictures is going to be next to nothing, or howshallwesayit, NIL.

Part 9 of 10.

Seattle: Part 8

Oh. I guess had more to tell you about the Space Needle.

Suz also enjoyed this particular outing. Course, she couldn't really look over the edge, so she was clueless about the whole "heights" thing.

As you might imagine, the elevator ride (up and down) was a real trip for her as well--and she shared all that excitement with everyone else in the small, cramped box that was flying up 40 million stories. Or something like that.

You see this smile on my face? It was because I WAS SAFE ON THE GROUND.

And here's a bonus shot just for the "cute" page--see, he's not always scowling for the camera.

Part 8 of 10.

Seattle: Part 7

So...the Space Needle. It's kinda tall.

Which is good for viewing the city of Seattle, and good for feeding a fear of heights:

He was sitting as far away from the edge as possible, of course. Right next to me.

Meanwhile, the more adventuresome enjoyed the sights:

And once we were done with the tour, it felt just about right for a group shot of the kids:

Which will promptly go in the scrapbook under the page heading, "Revenge."

Part 7 of 10.

Seattle: Part 6

We dedicated this trip to Seattle as the "touristy trappy trip." We wanted to make sure that we saw most of the biggies just to say we saw them.

The biggest of the biggies is, of course, the Space Needle. I mean, no movie scene depicting Seattle can go without a picture of this leftover remnant from the World's Fair of the 60s.

But even though the Space Needle hasn't changed much over the years, the entry fee sure has!

I think we paid $16 a person to go up an elevator. Oh, and down the elevator, too. So I guess when you calculate that in--well, sixteen dollars STILL SEEMS LIKE FOURTEEN TOO MANY.

Moving on.

We were in Seattle during July 4th weekend, so we were one of the 18 million people standing in line waiting for a turn. But we eventually moved forward (really?!)...

...and got a chance to stand in another line on the inside of the building, crowd in an elevator, bust to the top so we could feel like this:

Oh, Campers and I were the worst of us all. (Really?!) It was a hot day and neither one of us has a fondness for heights, heights, and did I mention--heights?

Meanwhile, the Suz made sure to enjoy the Space Needle from a very special spot...the floor:

More to come on the Space Needle.

Post 6 of 10.

Seattle: Part 5

Does it feel like this trip to Seattle lasted about two months? Yes? And you're wondering why it's taking so long to tell the story? Yes?

Well. It was just one weekend. Couple months ago, now.

We happened to be walking through the Seattle Center when I looked over to see this:

Unprompted geekness, folks. I laughed so hard and for so long that we drew attention to ourselves with all the commotion. Sorry, Campers. Add it to the therapy bill. (But HE was the one to yank his shorts up that high! HIS fault!)

And in news pertaining to the youngest child in the family...

I've noticed that with multiple kids, the third kid operates on the schedule of the older two. Oh, I remember the days that The Whole World Would Stop so that Baby Campers could take a nap. The Suz? We dragged her all over the city with barely a break to breathe. Fortunately, she's energetic enough to keep up with us all. But still. We did manage to wear her out (and ourselves at the same time).

Part 5 of 10.

Seattle: Part 4

On our exhausting walk back from the (closed) fish market, we went past the aquarium. Where the boys got a chance to do this:

(And that was it.)

Then we hiked our happy selves back to the monorail station, which just happened to be at a mall. That's what I like to call "City Planning," right there.

I was so worn out and hungry that some ice cream was in order.

And McDonald's had vanilla ice cream cones dipped in chocolate. And I suppose that's all lame and doesn't fall in the category of "living locally," but hey. It was awesome.

Just ask the kids.

Part 4 of 10.