Storms, Goonies, Star Wars, and volcanos!

This has been an amazing few weeks.  I'll try my best not to make this one a book and have already decided that I can't even begin to go into where we are now...there is too much to talk about already!  As we sit in a library to use Wi-Fi and get out of a little wet weather, we will do our best to give an update to please.  Also, I am having many problems with the internet in the library loading the pictures so if things are a bit harder to read than usual...blame it on the access!

***Note***  I am finding that Wikipedia is providing some pretty good info on some of the things that I am sharing.  Sometimes I don't like to use it as a main source but since we are in a library and for the sake of time, I may be using it as a main source of info today.***

We left Washington state and headed through some beautiful country.  These were some of the windiest roads we have ever driven on but it was beautiful.  We arrived in Astoria, Oregon where the movie The Goonies (along with a few others to include Free Willy and Kindergarten Cop) was filmed and we were ready to see some sites of this marine town; there was so much to see here. We settled into an amazing camping spot in a huge state park and were very close to a number of things to explore.  We were camping right where the Columbia River dumps into the Pacific Ocean.  So much happens here in this water; there is so much power.  There is an amazing sandbar that is created for as far as 6 miles out that has caused problems for mariners for centuries; the shores were constantly moving until a large rock wall was built.  In fact, this is the last place that Lewis and Clark stopped and the shore that they saw then and the shore that we stood on was over 2 miles apart...moved by the amazing power of the water!  Anyway, we hung out and saw the Peter Iredale, read more here, which was a shipwreck from 1906.  We also saw an old battery from WW II and as the story goes, this is the only place that was bombed stateside during the war.  We are learning so much war history that we never thought we would (again, wait for the next update!).  We also went to Ft Clatsop, the final stop on the Lewis and Clark trail.  This was an amazing journey that we have followed all the way from Illinois.  We stood in a few of the ending spots that they were and saw what their winter fort looked like.  These were some amazing individuals that had a treacherous journey but we gained so much insight from what they learned.  Read more about Ft. Clatsop here.  We also drove on the beach here, I don't know why but Zachary was ecstatic about this.  We also went to try and see the houses that were in the movie The Goonies but someone got weird previously on the people that lived there and they put up a bunch of signs so you can't go up the driveway anymore.  Anyway, we saw the houses from a distance, the museum from the movie, the jail, and the black jeep that the Fratelli bunch drove.  We also went and walked on the beach where the truck race took place and also saw the rocks that the "coin" lined up to lead the kids to the treasure in the movie.  It was a neat part of this trip for us and also something to share with the kids from our childhood.  I was Zachary's age and Kelly was Caleb's age when that movie came out!

One doing a model and the other doing a robot. 

Time for some water slides!

This was the first time that Kamryn was big enough to ride the bigger slides.  She had a blast!

Caleb found an eagle feather and we found out a few choices of what to do with it.  He chose to send to a research center.  This is the feather and a note he sent with it.  He was so proud. 

The Peter Iredale that washed ashore in 1906.

Nice day for a walk on the beach and a climb on a shipwreck. 

Looking out of a WWII lookout.

This is a part of the battery that was the only place that was bombed stateside during the war. 

This is where Lewis and Clark camped at the end of their journey.  It was a harsh winter for them. 

Another badge down. 

This was the sign that was up telling people not to go towards the houses from the Goonies movie.  We respected their privacy. 

The three houses are the ones in the middle.  The white, white, red ones. 

The Jeep and the jail.

Obviously the museum where Mikee's dad was hanging the flag. 

This was the wall that was built about 100 years ago to stop the shore from moving.  It was about 2 miles further out when Lewis and Clark was on the same beach. 

Not too many of these pictures of us! 

These are the rocks that the kids had to line up in the doubloon in the movie. 

The beach that the truck race was on.  Also had some really neat tide pools here. 

Kamryn made a friend at the campground.  This is Harry and Kamryn made him a special picture.  She even made a spot on his Facebook page at Harry's Next Adventure

We left there and headed south.  We wanted to add another food company to our list and we stopped at Tillamook for a tour.  We love their products!  We pulled in and headed in for our self guided tour.  It was neat and we learned quite a few things.  We also had a few samples and each had a special treat on the way out.  After we left there, we headed down the Pacific Coast Highway for Newport, Oregon.  We were told that this was a great marine town (I love old marine towns!) and we wanted to have lunch there.  We arrived and found a place to park and walked to the road along the water.  We found the famous "Mo's" and stopped in to eat.  While we waited for our table, we walked around and saw some very neat sites.  It was time for our meal and we greatly enjoyed it!  It was a day for seafood and we didn't leave hungry.  We had heard that there were some sea lions down on one of the docks and we headed to see them.  They were extremely noisy but a blast to watch.  We stayed there for a while but needed to head out because...well...something that I forgot to mention.  While we were in Astoria, we found out that there were the leftovers of a Typhoon from the other hemisphere coming our way.  Our campsite was about 1 block from the beach and 100 mph winds were coming.  We decided to head inland and this brought us on this route.  Changing gears for a minute...the exact route that we took...the next day had a tornado go through and follow the highway and demolished part of the town.  We prayed for those folks but were thankful that we didn't stay the extra day that we talked about.  We left Newport and headed to Eugene and into the Valley of the Rogue.  This gave us some cover and less wind but we buckled down for a few days and tried to stay dry.  We had more rain these last few weeks than we have had in our entire trip combined!  In the Valley of the Rogue we went to Crater Lake National Park.  This place was quite different than the beaches that we just left days before.  We were in snow from 2-12 inches!  This Lake is an amazing place in that is over 1900 ft deep (one of the deepest lakes in the world), has no inlets, no outlets, and is only filled with rain and snow melt.  Read more here.  We hung out in the Ranger station for a bit and, right before getting another Jr Ranger badge, Caleb found a frog hiding out in there!  He caught it, the ranger called it in (yes, she reported that a frog had entered the indoors), and they released it outside (yes, in the snow.  I still think that is why it came in in the first place!)  We stayed there a few days and Zachary has a cool story where he had a great impact on someone that he gets to share in later days. 

What...??!!

A fresh treat right from the factory!

Visitor center at Crater Lake. 

From beach to snow!

...Kamryn fell asleep after all of the snow play.

Driving in Newport, Oregon. 

Hanging out with the sea lions.

We left there and headed towards the Redwoods.  This is where a part of the Star Wars and Jurassic Park movies have been filmed.  We didn't know what to expect after the storm because there had been some storm damage to the north part of the park but we went to the one of the southern entrances and camped nearby.  This instantly became my favorite National Park.  Kelly kept laughing at me because the only thing I could keep saying was, "Oh Wow!"  We drove on a wet, sloppy road that used to be an old stagecoach road and it was amazing!  We also took a hike and saw "The Big Tree" which is over 300 ft tall and over 21 ft across...and this isn't the biggest!  They won't reveal the locations of the largest trees to alleviate vandalism but we loved seeing the ones that we could.  Some of these trees are over 2,000 years old and they are the tallest living organisms on earth.  Read more here.  We only saw a small portion of this place and definitely want to come back.  We can't wait to see the Sequoia National Park soon either. 

We also saw a WW II site that was built on a hillside, overlooking the ocean that was used as a lookout.  The building were made to look like a home and barn, a working farm, but were fortified, cinder block building with canons and guns and staffed with Active Duty and Civilians to be on the lookout for suspicious activity in the Pacific.  This was a cool detour. 

Funny story...we are reading about Cameron Townsend and the history of Wycliffe Bible translators.  We have been reading this as a family book when we are in the truck and are really enjoying it.  We went to the Trees Of Mystery to see Paul Bunyan and Babe and out of all the people there, we ended up talking with a couple with a little girl who were on furlough from overseas; they were with Wycliffe Bible translators and were in direct support of the mission.  We thought it was pretty cool that we were reading the book and then met them!  We have never met anyone in that mission field and were very grateful to have met them.  We had a great talk and meeting them has really sparked an interest in Zachary for overseas missions.  Please pray for them and their needs and mission and know that we are very grateful for the Lord allowing us to meet them.  Also, while there we got to enjoy some time with Paul Bunyan (49 ft) and Babe (35 ft) of course.  These things are huge!  I've  seen them in movies but they were bigger once we got there and the kids loved crawling on their feet.   

We were stopped at a construction light and Kamryn wanted to see how tall a redwood was.

Words cannot describe these amazing things.

Paul and Babe.

Zachary chillin' with the bear...

...and everyone wanting a piece of the action.

"Eating out" with Paul and Babe.

This is the homestead that was made to look like a farm.

It was really a WWII, fortified, artillery-filled, fully staffed lookout over the Pacific. 

Someone wanted to cut this down and made a dance floor out of it but the locals stopped it and that was the beginning of the National Park. 

We fell like toys. 

Absolutely beautiful.

No complaints about our "yard".

After all of that fun, we dry camped for a few days on Shasta Lake and it was quiet.  Very nice to just sit back and do nothing for a bit.  After that, we headed to Lassen Volcano National Park and they don't have an official campground, but they do let you park in the parking lot.  It was great, but it was a cold night at 6,000 ft with snow.  We had a great time learning about volcanos again and finding out that this is one of the only places in the world where all four types of volcanos exist.  The kids cleaned up on Jr Ranger badges and even got to test the drinking fountain water with one of the Rangers for quality.  We found out that the vestibule stays open at night so people can get water and use the restrooms.  So, we headed in for some warmth and Wi-Fi; that made for a fun memory. 

Diggin' holes, wahckin' sticks, and making bread. 

She said she wanted to work out so she grabbed a log that we had cut...

Our camping spot at Lassen Volcano.  The kids had a little snowball fight.   

Hanging out at the mud pits. 

Cleaning up at Lassen. 

I have to stop there for a number of reasons.  The internet that we are using is anything but desirable and this is taking me much longer than I thought it would.  It's almost time for dinner, so we will have to come back and load the pictures at a different time.  Also, I can't go into our next destination because there is just too much to share but I will leave you with one thing. 

What does the Golden Gate Bridge have to do with the Civil War?  I didn't know either...

Until next time...