The day after the 2011-2012 school year ended, we headed to Oregon to celebrate the beginning of summer. Unfortunately, while the weather forecast looked largely sunny, we discovered that Oregon wasn't as ready to start summer as we were. But, really, we can't complain. Most of the rain happened at night, but by the end of our stay, we did decide to pack up our soggy campsite a day earlier than planned, simply because of more rain in the forecast. It turns out, that the rain wasn't the only thing that made our vacation water-filled. We explored the Pacific Ocean, lakes, rivers, and nearly 20 waterfalls on this trip! In the end, we explored nearly 750 miles of Oregon in the car, and another 25 on our feet.
We also took a day to visit Portland. It was the kids first trip there, and they really enjoyed it. We visited the Pittock Mansion (pictured below), the marvelous Japanese Gardens (rated 2nd in the country by the Journal of Japanese Gardening), the immense International Test Rose Garden with 550 species of roses on display, the World Forest Center, and we even tried to get lost in massive Powell's Book Store. It took us over an hour to check out all of the different rooms, and in the end, with that amazing inventory, we somehow managed to emerge with only five new books!
Pittock Mansion (1914) in Portland, Oregon
Hiking
We hiked 24.8 miles in 6 days (average of 4.1 miles per day). The following table contains a summary of all of our activity. Here is a map of all of our hikes, courtesy of GPS Visualizer:
| Hike | Distance (miles) | Elevation (ft) |
| Bridal Veil Falls | 0.6 | 167.3 |
| Cape Foulweather | 0.2 | 36 |
| Cape Lookout State Park (Beach) | 0.6 | 32.8 |
| Cape Lookout State Park (Cape) | 4.5 | 554.4 |
| Cape Meares State Park | 0.8 | 216.5 |
| Devils Punch Bowl State Park | 0.2 | 29.6 |
| Fort Stevens State Park (Historic Walk) | 0.7 | 36.1 |
| Fort Stevens State Park (Battery Russell) | 0.3 | 62.3 |
| International Test Rose Garden | 0.7 | 167 |
| Japanese Gardens | 0.8 | 147.6 |
| Multnomah Falls | 0.7 | 242.8 |
| Munson Creek Falls | 0.4 | 154.2 |
| Oxbow Regional Park | 0.4 | 154.2 |
| Rocky Creek State Park | 0.2 | 23 |
| Seaside Promenade | 0.9 | 88.6 |
| Silver Falls State Park (Central) | 2.6 | 726.4 |
| Silver Falls State Park (East) | 1.3 | 465.8 |
| Silver Falls State Park (West) | 1.2 | 258.7 |
| Tamanawas Falls | 3.6 | 820.2 |
| Trillium Lake | 2.4 | 216.5 |
| Wakeena Falls | 0.5 | 183.7 |
| Yaquina Head State Park | 1 | 144.4 |
| TOTAL | 24.6 | 4928.1 |
Highlights
- Waterfalls everywhere! From the Columbia River Gorge, to Silver Falls State Park, the Coastal Range, and Mt. Hood, we saw nearly 20 spectacular waterfalls, and that doesn't even touch the surface of what's available. We were able to see so many falls, from so many angles, above, below, in front... even behind! There were four falls that we could walk all the way behind. It was a very different, unique, and surreal experience for all of us.
- The Oregon Coastline is rugged and spectacular. We especially enjoyed being able to get some views from 500 foot high cliffs.
- Camping on the Coast was a first for us. We were pleasantly surprised with the size of our campsite. True, there was no shade, but there was hedges around each site for privacy. It was nice being able to hear the sound of the waves at night, but not so much the fierce winds that blew the tents around on our last night.
- Seeing the Tillamook Cheese Factory was an enjoyable treat for all of us. We eat so much Tilamook cheese that it was pretty cool to see how it is all produced.
- The kids really loved playing in the waves of the ocean. Even though they didn't bring their swimsuits, assuming the water would be too cold, they still jumped in. Mia went all the way under in her street clothes even... silly girl!
- Seeing Mount Hood from the Timberline Lodge ski resort was quite impressive. Suzanne pointed out how small one feels, standing right up against 14,000-foot tall mountain. We were lucky enough to get a glimpse of it out of the clouds just when we showed up at the lodge.
Lowlights
- We would've preferred better weather. It certainly could've been worse, but coming from Seatlle, we were really wanting more sun than we got.
- Not enough time to see it all. Even if we hadn't got cut short by a day, we still wouldn't have been able to see all that we wanted to.
- Campfires are tough to build when it is humid and wet... also doesn't help when your campground sells you wet wood!
Favorites
Here's what each family member said was their absolute favorite activity of the trip:
| Raymond: | Swimming in the Ocean |
| Amelia: | Swimming in the Ocean (although the Cheese Factory and Winter falls were close runners up.) |
| Suzanne: | Silver Falls State Park |
| Mike: | Silver Falls State Park |
