Last summer, I got the harebrained idea to take my goofballs on a 5 day road trip to Idaho and back, you know for kicks & giggles and it was kind successful. It was a lot of work, but we had fun; we made memories and it planted a seed in my noggin that maybe old school summer road trips may actually work for us. We weren't home long last summer before I started planning what 2020 (and even 2021!) could look like. COVID had me on pins and needles not knowing if we would actually be able to do it this year, but we did! We added two extra days and Gramma was a last minute addition we powered through 7 days, several national wonders, visits with long time friends, and lots of ice cream. Summer Road Trip 2020 is on the books and marked as another success.
DAY 1: Tacoma, WA to Portland, OR to Crater Lake
Car packed. Tank full. Cooler iced. Backpacks filled with travel surprises. Here we go!
My dear college friend, Risa, met us in Portland for lunch and an ice cream stop. I treasure this nearly 25 year friendship and love that my kids know exactly who Ms Risa is.
Today was an unexpectedly long day (guess who forgot to factor in stops in the total travel time for the day...oops), but we made it to our cabin outside of Crater Lake National Park about 45 min after Isaac declared: "I. Want. Car. In. Lake. Now. Please!" Someone was reading the visual schedule on the roof of the van VERY literally. 🤣
DAY 2: Crater Lake, OR to Crescent City, CA
I also was nine years old when my family took a road trip to Crater Lake and somewhere there is a photo of me sitting on this very rock wall in front of Wizard Island...also not looking too excited about being asked to smile on command on a hot day 😜
Road-tripping at it's finest...
DAY 3: Redwood National Park
We found a way to get 750 feet above sea level among these great giants. Again, the kids surprised me with how much they enjoyed this adventure. Gramma & I weren't taking our eyes off the tram floor, but the kids said it was a great ride up!
Exploring the California coast line around Battery Point Lighthouse:
DAY 4: Crescent City, CA to Florence, OR
This entire section of the Oregon Coast is new to me and it did not disappoint---beautiful!
SO many sticks to play with! This boy was in his element!
If anyone is in the South Coast and wants this view while eating some STELLAR fish & chips...The Crazy Norwegian in Port Orford is where you need to be!
A stop at the Sea Lion caves. I wasn't sure Mila was going to be up for this, but turns out she is quite the seal lion aficionado! She already had a name and back story for a seal we 'met' at the marine hospital in CA and she was thrilled to see where LUCY lived (in a cave via a conveniently placed elevator 200 feet below a gift shop) AND that Lucy's friends MEGAN and STEVE were also present for our arrival. ?!?! I honestly didn't know I should have brought hostess gifts...
Isaac really just needed to hug a sea lion and he was good...
Devil's Punch Bowl completely empty! I've never seen it like this before.
Lincoln City, Oregon. This is the beach I grew up at. LOTS of sandy hot dogs and s'mores were consumed on the banks of the little D river in the early 80s.
We could not have asked for better weather!
Some long time friends from church moved to the North Coast 2 years ago and it was a pleasure to meet up with them and their beautiful children. Sadly, the camera stayed tucked away so we could enjoy the conversation and delicious crepes by the sea.
SeaStar Gelato. We live for SeaStar Gelato and on more than one occasion I've threatened to drive the 3 hours to Seaside just for a scoop of SeaStar Gelato. Twice in three days we came here. TOTALLY worth any damage it added to the quarantine-15.
DAY 7: Seaside to home 💖
DAY 5: Florence, OR to Seaside, OR
The kids truly are great travelers. My rule was only one movie per day and only after we'd been in the car more than three hours. Look out the window! Count cows. Tell stories. Listen to music. Play with toys. There were no screens for the Children of Israel walking through the Egyptian desert or on the Oregon Trail, I'm pretty darn sure you can make it 3 hours. Most days we 'compromised' by listening to the Broadway production soundtrack of FROZEN for 2.75 hours at a time. Well played children, well played.
DAY 6: Seaside
Major wins in the swimming pool--Mila has figured out coordinating the breast stroke with kicking and how to even throw in some bubble blowing at the same time. Not too shabby for a kiddo who had never been in a pool prior to 18 months ago. I suspect she'll be out of her swim vest 'soon'. And Isaac swam independently approx 10 yards without dying! He has all the major skills down except the not dying part due to low core strength. But we shed the swim vest for a few moments and he got so excited that he was actually swimming that he got the giggles AND all the water in his mouth but he spit and sputtered all the way to the wall to a chorus of cheers!! (He proceeded to sit on the side of the pool for the next 10 minutes and refuse to get back in. You could see it in his eyes..."I just defeated death, MOM. I'm not tempting the fates again; I'm not stupid!")
Our one gray day, but no rain so hallelujah! Mila got to use her brand new FROZEN beach toys and Isaac chased ALL the birds.
We snuck in a trip to the pool and aquarium before heading out.
I honestly did NOT think Mila would have anything to do with holding dead fish and feeding it to live animals in front of her, but turns out she recognized LUCY, who apparently commutes to Seaside for, you know...work at the aquarium! Who knew?!
She kept yelling "Lucy! Lucy! I see you!"
So much fun to bookend our trip with my friend Risa. She randomly had scheduled the same weekend in Seaside as we did.
We finished up our 7 day adventure through the Washington half of Hwy 101 that I've never seen...again, beautiful! Ocean, marshland, mountains and trees. I am so thankful to live in such a beautiful part of the country.
Official Summer Road Trip stats: 7 days, 3 states, 1184 miles, 28 hours & 23 minutes of drive time. Only had to coast down one mountain in neutral when we nearly ran out of gas in the middle of nowhere but no one was accidentally or intentionally left on the side of the road at any time = road trip success.
All the pictures make it look delightful if not easy, but the reality is traveling with two kiddos and their extra chromosomes is not easy. What my mom captured in the photo below speaks volumes: Isaac had decided he was DONE walking, but we still needed to make it back to the hotel and because I'm sporting a torn tendon in my right arm, the only option was carrying his 65 pounds on my shoulders. Mila was having a rough day and was, at the moment of this picture, between meltdowns. She had consented to holding my hand while I talked quietly with her about what was happening next while balancing her brother on my neck. My singular goal was just getting them back to the hotel room as quickly as possible. While neither of them particularly need routine, they do need structure and that is often hard to define if not provide while on a week long road trip of heat, hotels and unfamiliar food. Rationally, there would be every reason to say "Nope. Not doing this again. Not worth the headache"...or in this case, back spasms. And I have seriously asked myself if I am pushing us, them, me too far. Is this life I've chosen for us too big? I've decided...no, it's definitely worth it. Yes, it's hard, so are a lot of things, but we are doing it: traveling, exploring, expanding our horizons, learning how to be flexible when things feel overwhelming, and ultimately when Jesus asks us to do things, its rarely convenient, comfortable or fits our picture of an ideal experience. This is excellent practice for the very things God has asked us to do; being a single momma or having extra chromosomes aren't going to limit us from taking road trips or fulfilling Christ's call in our lives (I'm pretty sure Mila is feeling a call to minister to sea lions...you know, for Jesus *wink*). So here is to Summer Road Trip 2021...I am already working out the details.
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