Terry was able to come home from work a little early on Wednesday and get the trailer hooked up to the truck. As soon as I was off at 3:00, we jumped in the truck and were able to hit the road and head south to Umpqua Lighthouse State Park. I had mapped it out and the quickest way there was on I-5 thru Portland. We prayed the traffic in Portland wouldn’t be too bad and we got lucky. We hit Portland right around 5:30 and only had a little slow down leaving the city.
We stopped south of Portland and had dinner at Elmer’s and filled up on gas. We had another slow-down around Salem as people weren’t sure how to drive in the fog. Our ride was uneventful and we arrived at the campground a little before 11:00. My parents, aunt and uncle and cousin had all arrived earlier in the day. Terry and I unhooked the trailer and did some minor unpacking before heading to bed.
On Thursday, Thanksgiving morning, Terry and I both woke up a little before 6:00. We decided to take a walk before everyone else woke up. We first walked thru the campground and then continued to the lighthouse and then down the road until we reached the road that would lead into Winchester Bay. By the time, we got back, my parents were up and my dad had breakfast going. I sat and chatted with my parents in their RV while my dad made his specialty breakfast burritos.
After breakfast, Terry and I both took quick showers. Then, we grabbed the dogs and took a walk around Lake Marie with my parents, Trinity, Debbie and Greg. There was a nice trail around that lake that was about 1.25 miles long. It was a nice walk, but a little challenging to keep the dogs from getting tangled. Terry and I spent the afternoon setting up camp and hanging out at with the family.
For Thanksgiving dinner, Barbara made turkey, ham and stuffing. My mom made mashed potatoes and cheesy broccoli spinach casserole. My grandma made pumpkin pie and a banana pudding dessert while I brought sliced veggies that started the meal off. We all were able to eat in Barbara and Earl’s fifth wheel, which was nice. Dinner was great and it was nice that we were able to all eat together and as always, we had way too much food. After dinner, Terry and I headed to bed. Neither of us slept well on Wednesday night, so we went to bed early in hopes of getting a good night’s rest.
On Friday, Terry and I were able to sleep in until about 7:30. Since it was my morning to make breakfast, we didn’t get a chance to take a morning walk. I took a quick shower and then headed over to tell my parents good morning. I started some beef and black bean chili in the morning in the slow cooker to have with our dinner and then started on breakfast.
For breakfast, I made sausage, eggs and blueberry pancakes. It must have been a hit as it all got eaten except for 3 plain pancakes. I am glad there wasn’t a lot left-over or I would have eaten a lot more. Terry helped do the breakfast dishes as we started to make plans for the day.
Most of us decided to head up to Florence for the day to look at some of the shops. On the way, we dropped Greg off to do some riding on a bike trail just outside of town. Terry, Trinity and my dad stayed back at camp and enjoyed the day around camp and took a bike ride into Winchester Bay.
Florence was nice. We got lucky with the weather and were able to go into some cute small shops. There were a couple places I could have looked longer in, but with seven people, I tried to go with the flow. Greg caught up to us for lunch. My mom, Debbie, Greg, grandma, Ed and I had lunch at Mo’s. It was my first time there and pretty good. I just had a bowl of clam chowder and some of my grandma’s onion rings. After lunch, we stopped by another couple stores before heading back to camp. It was about 30 minutes back to camp and we arrived just as fog started to come in.
Terry and I sat around the fire a little and discussed our day. He had stopped by the Lighthouse Gift Shop and got me a shot glass to add to my collection. For dinner, we barbequed hamburgers, hot dogs, and had my chili. It was yummy. After dinner, we had some dessert and played Apples to Apples before heading to bed. The game was fun and it was nice that everyone was able to play it together.
On Saturday morning, Terry and I were both up fairly early and decided to walk into Winchester Bay. He wanted to get something at the hardware store and I found a place to get a latte. On the way back up the hill we stopped and watched a couple Coast Guard ships playing in the waves in the jetty. The waves were huge and it looked like the boats were having fun.
Coast Guard boat in the jetty
Once we got back to camp, we talked with my parents until it was time for breakfast. It was Barbara’s turn for breakfast and she made biscuits and gravy with eggs. After we were done eating, we decided to take a bike ride into town. Terry, Greg, Debbie, Trinity, Mom, Dad and I rode our bikes into and around Winchester Bay while Earl, Barbara, grandma and Ed followed us in the truck. We went by a few of the stores and looked around. I was hoping to get some fresh crab, but commercial crab season didn’t start until Monday; I was two days early.
The ride back up the hill was tough, but I amazingly made it. Once back at camp, I made Terry and myself a turkey sandwich for lunch. After lunch, my mom and I took a nice walk around the lake. It was peaceful with just the two of us. We were amazed at all the different mushrooms that were in the area.
When we got back, we decided to go down to the dunes. I drove Trinity and Terry down in the Jeep with the dogs and mom, dad, grandma, Ed and Earl rode down in his truck. We let the dogs frolic on the beach a little while dad gave people rides in the Jeep on the dunes. We even managed to get Ed in the Jeep for a ride that he seemed to enjoy. On the way back, dad and Terry rode with me in the Jeep and we took a quick detour thru the dunes as we headed towards our campsite. The hardest part for me was trying to steer with Zeus on my lap. Poor Zipi looked like he was going to be scared to death during the trip. 
Zack and Zinnia ready for the ride back
When we got back to camp, we hung out until dinner was ready. Terry and I started to pack up our gear since we wanted to leave fairly early on Sunday morning. We exchanged some Christmas presents and slowly started putting things away. For dinner, we had Mexican night. I made chili verde, my mom made tacos, Barbara brought enchiladas and beans and Debbie made queso and pork tacos. It was all yummy and definitely hit the spot. After dinner, we roasted some s’mores and played Apples to Apples again per Trinity’s request. We said some goodbyes before heading to bed as Greg, Debbie and Trinity were hoping to hit the road around 5:00 on Sunday.
Terry was the fire maker all weekend
Terry and I got up around 7:00 on Sunday morning. We only had some minor packing to complete before we were ready to go. We ended up leaving the campground a little after 8:00 and followed my parent’s up to Florence where we stopped for breakfast at a small café. The food was great and it was nice having a final meal with my parents, grandma and Ed. Terry and I decided that we wanted to drive the coast home as the sun was out and we thought it would be more enjoyable than taking the interstate. My parents left and headed to Eugene to visit my dad’s dad before heading home.
Terry and I took our time getting home. We stopped for some pictures at Heceta Head Lighthouse and for ice cream in Tillamook. I enjoyed driving thru the small towns and hope we have time to visit them again in the future. There were a lot of places I could see spending more time enjoying. We made it to Astoria around 4:00 and stopped for dinner at a little pizza place. After eating, we headed east since the sun was setting. We hit some traffic on I-5, but still made it home around 7:20. It was a nice trip and I am glad that we were able to spend the holiday with family. We are already planning our next family trip to Cour D’Alene, Idaho, in June. I can’t wait!
Heceta Head Lighthouse
Tillamook Cheese Factory
Our view of Mt St Helens from Oregon about to cross the bridge to Washington
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