Road Trip 2015 Recap

We had a fabulous vacation.

Bonneville Salt Flats, Utah

Reno, NV LDS Temple

Lake Tahoe

Lake Tahoe

 We took the very long road to Oregon. We headed south to drive all the way around the stunning Lake Tahoe. It was beautiful but sure added time to the drive.

Driving over Donner Pass, CA - debating which family member we would eat if we got stuck there.

We took I-80 to Sacramento and then I-5 to Redding. From Redding we headed toward the coast on Hwy 299. It was the longest canyon ever! But the views were gorgeous (wish we had stopped to take pictures) and we drove through Big Foot country. We didn't see him.

We arrived at the beach house just before midnight on Monday. The kids were up at 6:30 am the next morning and ready to hit the beach. We played on the beach all day. We built a sand castle. Searched for cool pieces of drift wood, shells and rocks and got very wet.

Lilly doing her best to help Molly be less scared of the ocean. Such a great big sister.

Renting a house right on the beach was the absolute best way to vacation.

When we got tired of playing on the beach, we took a siesta at the house and then went back for more!

Oregon was experiencing a heat wave. That worked to our advantage.

The kids spent two fun days on the beach playing in the water.

The most fun ever.

Pure joy!

Stayed on the beach until the sun set both nights.

Amberly and I woke early to walk the beach to the tidal pools.

I was absolutely fascinated by Redwood National Park. We took the short hike to Stout Grove where we saw these amazing giant trees. It was otherworldly and truly remarkable.

Even our big family couldn't hug this tree.

Taking some selfies to prove I was there.

Day 3 was cool and foggy. We spent time on the rocks looking for sea creatures in the tidal pools.

Saying goodbye to our beach on Friday morning.

 We loved having a house on the beach. Besides the close proximity and that we could hear the waves crashing on the beach while we slept, we were able to cook all our meals at the house and I did a few loads of laundry. We took way more clothes than we needed.

Crater Lake National Park is breathtaking.

 We took the really long road home. By the way, Southeastern Oregon looks a lot like Duchesne, Utah. I don't need to go that way again. We squeezed in a visit to beautiful Crater Lake National Park and Sun Valley, Idaho.

Everyone was super patient in the car.

Took a ride on the Gondola and the ski lift to the top of Sun Valley Ski resort.

Beautiful views. 

 We were all very happy to be home and sleeping in our own beds. We're already discussing where we will go on our family road trip next year. We loved the beach house in Brookings, Oregon so it's a very real possibility that we will go right back. We found it on HomeAway and were very happy.