Our trip to Oregon was so beautiful. When Matt and I were planning the trip we had an A list, B list and C list of things to see. Our A list included seeing the National Park and picking berries. Our B list included seeing the Oregon Coast. Driving up the Oregon coast also helped us make our way to Washington State. We didn’t make it to our C list. It was nice to know that we would not have run out of things to do.
How did you Prepare for the Trip?
We booked our flights, rental car and then hotels in that order. We got our rental car from Costco. It was by far the best deal. Then we picked different destinations to go to. We relied heavily on google maps to time out driving distances and such. Matt downloaded Maps from Google Maps on his phone prior to our trip. This was a really great idea because we were in a lot of remote places that did not have cell phone reception.
We had a little white binder with our itinerary for the trip. Aside from where we lodge, we had addresses for our stops, and we also had several food stops pre-planned. Time at the grocery store was built into our itinerary. We purchased water, Gatorade, snacks, and lunch/breakfast food. In our itinerary, we made notes on which hotels had breakfast in the morning or not. Typically we try to bring food or eat at the hotel for breakfast and lunch and then go out for dinner. We also snuck in a few fun places to eat for treats. So not to forget I wrote a grocery list ahead of time for food and for things like bug spray. Some of our food stops were eliminated to save time. We also looked at which hotels we could do laundry at.
Day 1 of Our Trip to Oregon
Right off the plane we headed out to go berry picking. We went to Colombia Farms U-Pick. It was so nice that they had a little wagon to pull berries and children around on their farm. We picked 12 pints of berries. It took us several days to eat them all. We picked the usual blackberries, raspberries, and blueberries. I was thrilled that we could pick some not as common berries like marionberries, boysenberries, and blackcaps. We left with berry stained hands, full tummy’s and happy faces.
After the U-pick we went to Multnomah Falls. I can see why Multnomah Falls is such a popular tourist destination. The waterfall is the tallest in Oregon, it’s right outside of Portland and right off the freeway. We found wild berries there, the kids were able to splash in the water and it was great pit stop. We grabbed dinner at some food-carts, went to the grocery store and headed to our hotel in Eugene.
Day 2 of Our Trip to Oregon.
We headed over to Crater Lake National Park. This took all day especially since we were not staying especially close to the National Park. On the way to Crater Lake we were able to see Salt Creek Falls.
Day 3 of Our Trip to Oregon.
As I am thinking about everything we did on our last day in Oregon I am exhausted. We were able to cover so much because Matt was willing to drive late each evening. It also helped that we were still jet-lagged and we were able to wake up early each day. We got Voodoo Donuts on the way to the Oregon Coast.
Our first stop was at Thor’s Well. Actually we found bathrooms first by a hiking trail just north of Thor’s Well then we back tracked. The best time to see Thor’s Well was tide dependent. In order to see the water gushing out of the hole (about 20 feet deep), we had to be there as close to high tide as possible. We were not planning to stay so long but the rocks were so much fun to climb on and listening to the waves crash into the water was mesmerizing.
Next we went to the Sea Lion Caves. We kept debating if we should go here because it’s a private organization not a non-profit or a zoo. We went and they don’t disturb the Sea Lions and they are in their natural habitat so I guess it’s good. Even though we have been to San Diego and saw Sea Lion’s up close we have never seen them swimming in the ocean like this. It was cool to have an aerial view of them swimming and also to see the inside of their home the cave. We had peanut butter sandwiches in the parking lot and then continued on our way up the Oregon Coast.
As we went up the coast, there were signs everywhere about Tsunami warnings. I kept thinking if there was actually going to be a tsunami how would get away fast enough? We saw the Heceta Head lighthouse but did not stop except to snap some photos.
Another stop on the Oregon Coast was at Nevor Shellfish Farm. The kids and I kindly watched my husband enjoy his raw oysters. Matt had to learn how to shuck his own Oysters (thanks Youtube). In the distance, I saw people bending over in a muddy area. I was guessing they were collecting their own oysters.
Then we hopped back in the car and headed to Tillamock Creamery. There were a ton of people there. There was an hour wait to get ice cream (we did wait and savored our ice cream once we got it). I asked the employees if it was so busy due to a holiday weekend. They said no it’s busy like that everyday in the summer and sometimes with even longer lines. We were able to see the inside of the building and do the self guided tour on how to make cheese. We picked up some cheese curds and had our dairy fill for the day.
Our day wasn’t over yet and we headed to Cannon Beach to see Haystack Rock. The days are longer in the summer so that allowed us to do so many things. It was a little nippy on the beach but with running around we were able to enjoy it. People walked along the coast, played soccer or volleyball in the sand and snuggled up to the fires. It was a delightful evening.
Oh but wait we had yet another stop before we made it to our hotel. Matt said he has always wanted to see the Astoria Column and so we went their next. It closed at 10pm and we made it to Astoria just before it closed. After the column we made our way into Washington and our hotel for the evening.
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