During Spring Break, we took the girls (Alex & Hannah) to the Oregon Coast so they could dip their toes in the Pacific Ocean. When they found out how COLD the water was, that was all they wanted to dip into the ocean. We spent three nights, 4 days there, staying in a 2-bedroom cottage only one block from the beach. Our cottage had a fully-equipped kitchen (even a pizza cutter!) and a small living room with a fireplace (we had a fire every night). It was nice being able to have breakfast at 'home' before leaving each morning.
I didn't take the girls to see the world's largest ball of string but I had planned to show them the country's largest Sitka Spruce. However, the Oregon Coast was hit by a major wind storm last December and that Sitka Spruce became much smaller when the top half snapped off! They are still cleaning up the damage from that storm. We did visit Ecola State Park - nice views from there (photo of Hannah enjoying one of them) and trails in every direction (but Alex decided to 'bushwack' it & hike through the grass). 
We had fun (I did, anyway) wandering around the coast. We had a great Oregon mud hike (2.5 miles of muddy trail) to Cape Lookout. We looked out, but didn't see any whales. We visited the Tillamook Creamery for ice cream & 'squeaky' cheese. It's amazing how quickly those girls can find the free samples! We spent part of a day in Astoria (never did find the 'Goon-docks') and drove over the bridge into Washington - it's over 3 miles long!
The girls were introduced to my fascination for driving on back country roads & visiting old country stores. On the way TO the coast, we took a detour to Corbett, visited the Vista House on Crown Point overlooking the Columbia Gorge, and stopped at the Corbett Country Store (with creaky wooden floors!) for ice cream. On the way BACK from the coast, I went back to Astoria just so we could take a different road to Portland - we found a couple of elk herds in wildlife refuges along tha
t road. What a treat! As we drove back through the Gorge, we stopped at Multnomah Falls - hiked to the top for the view over the edge of the falls. Afterwards, we had the excitement of a flat tire as we drove through The Dalles. At highway speeds, you just can't stop fast enough to keep from ruining a tire. We had to unload most of the trunk to get to the spare - I was glad to find out that Volkswagen uses a FULL size tire for a spare - had to make a trip to Les Schwab after the trip for a new tire though.
t road. What a treat! As we drove back through the Gorge, we stopped at Multnomah Falls - hiked to the top for the view over the edge of the falls. Afterwards, we had the excitement of a flat tire as we drove through The Dalles. At highway speeds, you just can't stop fast enough to keep from ruining a tire. We had to unload most of the trunk to get to the spare - I was glad to find out that Volkswagen uses a FULL size tire for a spare - had to make a trip to Les Schwab after the trip for a new tire though. Our next adventure with the girls is a camping trip on Memorial Day weekend - to visit Ape Cave & Mount St. Helens!
