Good morning, on this very warm Monday. (We seem to be taking the high temperatures with us everywhere that we go!) It's time to play catch up, and it's hard to know where to start! Since you last heard from us, we're sporting two new van tires, a filling in one tooth and an incapacitated cell phone. We've ridden in dune buggies and an airplane, seen lighthouses and sea lions and sky divers, and eaten all kinds of good food. Best of all, we've formed friendships and made memories that will last a lifetime.
Also, to be straight up honest, there's been times the past week when I've been desperate for a couple of hours alone or a quiet corner to just hide. Last night I would have been perfectly fine with just loading up this morning and heading home.
Let me backtrack and fill you in on a bit of our adventures....
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Wednesday, June 23
Tuesday evening around 6, we arrived at Jason and Elsie Schrock's house.
Growing up, my family's next door neighbors were Lowell and Elsie Mast. I have so many memories with their family -- playing with her children when I was young, Chris staying at their place when we were dating, Elsie babysitting our children when they were little... Lowell died in an accident in 2004 and in 2017, Elsie remarried and moved to Halsey, Oregon. It was so special to stay with them for a few days and did they ever give us a wonderful time!
Wednesday morning, after a yummy breakfast, Chris and Isaac went to check out a disc golf course while the rest of us stayed at Elsie's. Charles was in toy heaven!
I worked on washing up all of our laundry, and the girls enjoyed doing puzzles, browsing through books and just relaxing. It felt so good to be in a house and to stay at one place for a while.
After lunch, we all headed out to tour Smith's Seed, Jason's seed packaging operation. Here, I would show you pictures, had the phone used to take them not later gotten dropped and incapacitated. I don't even know how to describe the many buildings with their big machines, sorting, cleaning, and packaging bags and bags of grass seed.
They showed us a small research farm, a fascinating hay press and fields of hazelnut trees.
We even drove by the famous Dorcas Smucker's house and Sparrow Nest.
Back at Jason's place, we helped cook up a delicious supper and then headed out again to see a lookout with an amazing view.
Thursday, June 24
Thursday morning we were up early and ready for our next adventure. Jason's took us to the Oregon Dunes National Recreation Area and treated us to dune buggy rides!
What a thrill! The sand dunes were amazing. I wished we could get out and just walk around a while.
From there, they treated us to a seafood lunch at Mo's. Chris made a quick decision to get our back tires changed on the van and he and Jason dropped it off to be worked on while we ate.
With our bellies full, we headed up the coast, checking out the views along the way.
They were hoping to show us a spot where the sea lions hang out but I guess they had taken the day off. Our walk took us by a cute candy shop where we tried out saltwater taffy and Chris bought a jaw dropping jawbreaker.
We did get to see sea lions later at one of the overlooks. We also thought for a minute we had spotted a whale but, as the gentleman with his telescope set up informed us, it was only Oregon's famous "rock whale".
They were sure we needed a stop by Dutch Brothers for refreshment.
And a stop by the beach to wet our feet in the ocean.
It was a full, fun day!
Friday morning Chris dropped Isaac off to play disc golf again and I washed up clothes. The three youngest could hardly get enough of their favorite activity -- driving the golf cart.
We won't make a big deal out of the block wall they drove into... children always manage to keep us humble, don't they? Sigh.
After lunch, we said our goodbyes, loaded up, and headed over the mountains to the next stop on our Oregon trail. We won't soon forget Jason and Elsie, their generous hospitality, and the good times we had together!
What a wonderful trip!! 😀
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