Anaheim....

We got to Anaheim on July 2nd, early in the afternoon, Matt really enjoyed taking I-5 straight through L.A. with the trailer. We had dinner with a friend of mine from High School and Kerttu and her friend Gerli arrived shortly after midnight on the 3rd. We were up and out by 9:30 to head to Disney and not back to the camper until about 10 p.m., a long day, but a lot of fun. The park was super crowded but with 4 adults we were able to split up the kids for a couple of hours so they all got to do what they wanted to do the most. Stephanie met 3 princesses, Andrew did the Finding Nemo Submarine ride, and James went on the Matterhorn and the cars. On the 4th we mostly just hung out at the pool, it was a nice change from the rush, rush of the day before.....On the 5th we drove to Las Vegas, we had dinner with Matt's cousin Don (forgot my camera, kicking myself!) while Kerttu & Gerli explored Vegas.


Finally through the gates at Disney, they did NOT want to pose for their Birthday picture - they just wanted to get to the rides!

Stephanie and Aurora (Sleeping Beauty) her favorite Princess

James & his Pirates of the Caribbeann Mickey hat - can you tell it was the END of the day?

Andrew posing with Birthday ears

"Home sweet home" on the 4th of July...

Stephanie with birthday ears

Family shot on the way in the park - Kerttu is back left, and Gerli back center....

Michelle

Crater Lake & California

Finally, I made it to Crater Lake! I have lived in Oregon 3 times now, and it is the first time I've been there, and it was our last stop in Oregon. Matt was there when he was 8. It was beautiful. We apparently chose our time wisely, it was sunny and warm all 3 days we were there. We also did a little hiking but when your pacer is a 3 year old, it's not very fast! We saw the "disappearing river" the Rogue River dissappers into a lava tube for a short distance, and 2 nearby waterfalls. While I was off doing laundry, James took a pretty serious header off his bike, bruised his tummy and ribs and scrapped up his elbow pretty bad, left a little blood near another campsite, but he was brave and back on his bike before I got back, where he proudly showed me his booboos and led me to the scene of the accident. A fun 3 days, another day or 2 would have been great too though, I can see why it is a popular place to go! We also really like the campground, small, clean, quiet -


The Lake

Us at the lake - even the dog!

The boys LOVED Wizard Island, there is a boat that will take you there, but logistics just weren't right this trip.

Andrew eating lunch at the Avenue of Boulders

And James doing the same - my solid proof that dressing twins alike does not impair their sense of individuality....

Stephanie loved all the flowers

And finally, one of the waterfalls we hiked to.

Since, Crater Lake we have visited Orland and Fresno, California. The campgrounds had pools - that's about the extent of our visit! Today we head for Anaheim and a visit with a H.S. friend of mine, then of course, our big birthday bash with Mickey Mouse on the 3rd.

Have a great and safe 4th of July weekend!

Heceta Beach, OR (Florence)

Well, technically we should be about a quarter of the way to Crater Lake by now - but nooooooo, remember the blinker/brake light problem? Well, it's back, but the solution that worked isn't working this time.....Matt's been to Ford and Les Scwaub, noone there to help. And apparently no service departmens are open ANYWHERE.....so Matt is trouble shooting on his own ... he has figured out that power isn't going from the fuses in the front to the plug in the back of the truck - so I'm going to see what/who I can find online that might be able to help. Hopefully my next blog wil be from Crater Lake..

Theses were both taken at the beach that is walking distance from the Campground - it's a really nice campground, big shrubs on each side of the sites to keep the wind down, it has been VERY windy!

These are when we went to see the Heceta Head lighthouse, a nice little morning trip, we had a picnic there as well.

Saying goodbye to Astoria, and Lincolon City...

Obviously, the biggest news leaving Astoria was Matt's Change of Command and Retirement - that will be added at some point this summer - probably mostly with links so you can pick and choose what you want to look at.

We moved to the Astoria KOA on Saturday, June 20th. Spent a couple of days finishing up all that unfinished business that just won't finish up itself and said good bye to friends. Many made it to Matt's retirement party, some we saw over the weekend, and some, we sadly, missed seeing again. At least in Astoria - hopefully down the road that will change.

In Astoria, we were in a different section of the KOA than we or my parents have been in before, we really liked it, trees, slightly wider spaces....a good spot for sure.

Leaving Astoria, was smooth it took us a little longer to pack up than normal....we have ALOT of stuff crammed in this camper..... And, we left Astoria on a beautiful sunny day - a great way for a last look :) We made sure our first couple of days were short, only 100 miles to Lincoln City .... The KOA there is the smallest KOA I've ever seen, there is no pool, but the kids clearly loved the playground! Next stop - Heceta Beach......
James climbing "our" tree at the Warrenton KOA

Playing with water with friends Brooke & Anderson (it was somewhere around 60)

Bonfire Thursday night at Sunset beach

Stephanie and her "beau" Hunter saying goodbye (he's only 4 months older than she is!)

And - the wedding May 30, at Pt. Retreat in Alaska - looks beautiful doesn't it???? It was actually improving when the ceremony started it was sprinkling. Temps were 50 and it was windy -

Newport, OR Loyalty Days

Alright - need to remember that pictures go in reverse order.....We did another camping trip down in Newport for Loyalty Days - remembered alot of stuff about the camper we had forgotten, so it was a good trip. We played on the beach by the river and watched the parade - that's pretty much it just a relaxing family weekend! the first 2 were actually on the way home, the first is the calm side of Devil's Cauldron - it has another name that I can 't remember, but you can see Matt and the boys out on the rocks if you look closely. The boys were very careful especially on the Cauldron side, but I was far too nervous to take any pictures there.
Sunny day the lighthouse in the background is Heceta Head

It was raining in Newport (I know - what a surprise!) so we spent our time waiting for the parade in the back of the truck - actually, we watched the last half hour of the parade from the back of the truck as well - it was a 2 hour parade and it turned cold and windy, but we still had a good time

Here's where we're going .....

Arrive Depart Location

June 21 June 23 KOA - Astoria/Warrenton

June 23 June 24 Lincoln City, OR

June 24 June 25 Heceta Beach, OR

June 27 June 30 Crater Lake, OR

June 30 July 1 Orland, CA

July 1 July 2 Fresno, CA

July 2 July 5 Anaheim, CA

July 5 July 6 Las Vegas

July 6 July 8 Williams, AZ (Grand Canyon)

July 8 July 9 Benson, AZ

July 9 July 10 Las Cruces, NM

July 10 July 13 Carlsbad, NM

July 13 July 14 Ozana, TX

July 14 July 15 Fredericksburg, TX

July 15 July 17 San Antonio, TX

July 17 July 18 Lake Charles, LA

July 18 July 20 New Orleans

July 20 July 21 Destin, FL

July 21 July 27 Orlando, FL

July 27 July 29 Savannah, GA

July 29 July 30 Fayetteville, NC

July 30..................................................Yorktown, VA

we did our test camp back in Newport -will try and get some pictures posted from that. My brother and one of my best friends got married in May, so I spent 10 days in Alaska I hadn't planned on, and managed to get myself the teensiest bit behind......

Getting ready to go back.....

Well, it's been a while hasn't it? I really thought we would do more camping while we were here, but we haven't. We've done some travelling - but not much camping. Here are some pictures from our lone camping trip - in November the fall after we arrived. It's amazing how much the kids have changed and grown! We spent a weekend in Newport, OR. The campsite was actually about 20 miles further down the road in Waldport. We climbed down the hill to the river, went to the Newport Aquarium, Undersea Gardens, The CatHouse (the coolest store EVER) and the original Rogue...... We wound up leaving Saturday night instead of Sunday morning, there was a high wind warning and we (very wisely) decided to go home early.

Calm before the storm - this was the view from our campsite - not bad eh?

At the UnderSea Gardens - how little they were! Stephanie was 16 months old and the boys had barely started Kindergarten....



This was at the SeaLion Caves - we stopped by to say "hi" on our way down to Newport.

This was at the Newport Aquarium....gonna have to pull the stroller out of retirement for the trip back.... Andrew's too small sweatshirt has been passed onto Stephanie, on whom, of course, it is too big.

Alrighty then! We ARE back - will post again after our trial run camping trip the first weekend of May........Then - again in June, sometime, when we start our trek back to the East Coast!