A few weeks ago we left for a 2000 mile round-trip drive up to Florence, Oregon where Andrew's family has been vacationing for well over 30 years. With 2 little busy boys sitting in the back, we tried to make the trip as fun as possible. So we planned ahead to stop at various tourist spots and friends houses along the way to make the drive more fun. We also bought little treasures and treats from the 99-cent store or from Walmart to give to our boys as surprises during the long days in the car. Boy, did that work out great!
First off, we heard about this amazing little rest stop called Bravo Farms off the 99. We highly recommend it to anyone wanting to stop and stretch their legs while driving through California. This place had a bbq restaurant, gift shop, cheese factory, a 6 or 7 story mini tree house, mini golf, a shooting range, antiques, an ice cream shop, petting zoo and more. Love this place!
Day 2 of the road trip we stopped at this fun little park in Mount Shasta city. We let the boys play for a while and we also filled up all our empty water bottles with some of the cold, fresh spring water that flows from Mt. Shasta and comes out through the side of a mountain - love that we discovered this place! This place also happens to be the headwaters for the whole Sacramento river!
Once we made it to Oregon, we enjoyed playing at Woahink lake on every nice day.
There were just too many pictures for one lake collage, so here are three. :)
Samuel loved playing with his 2nd cousins Josh & baby Johanna.
There were a couple of non-lake days where we went golfing (Samuel had a blast golfing! He called me mid-round on the first day and was soooo excited to tell he that he hit the golf ball a "mile" away!) We also went shooting sporting clays this year with our Uncle Drake & cousin Jeff. Its always so much fun and each year we get better and better. This year Andrew was the winner of all 5 shooters, with a score of 37/50!
One morning we took the boys for their first time to the sand dunes. Samuel had the most fun, running, jumping, climbing and playing in the sand.
We also visited Heceta Head Lighthouse. Such a beautiful place with breathtaking views! I think I remember the tour guide telling us this was the most photographed lighthouse on the West Coast.
By far, Samuel's favorite part about our Oregon vacation was riding Great Grampa's scooters. When we first arrived in Oregon, like, right when we pulled into the driveway, this was the very first thing that he wanted to do. :) "Big Red" was his favorite because it has the option to go "turbo" speed. We would race around the block at least 2 times each day on our trip.
Below is also a sweet photo of Gigi & Great Gramps with their 4 Great-Grandchildren. :)
On our way home we visited more fun places... like Shasta Dam & Lake Shasta, a super fun children's splash park in Redding with a huge volcano in the middle, our dear friends the Wisners, and a stop in SLO where we ate at Firestones & Bali's with our friends the Grindys. :)
What a fun family trip! Of course we are glad to be back home & sleeping in our own beds again. :) Hope you all are having a great summer too!
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