• West Coast Road Trip Itinerary & Travel Booklet
    Travel

    West Coast Road Trip Itinerary & Travel Booklet

    June 24, 2017 - By 

    Road tripping on West Coast is some of the most beautiful countrysides to travel. So much to see and do. From the Redwoods of California to the Cascade of Oregon, there’s tons of landscaping eye candy. Here’s our 13 day itinerary where we started in San Fransisco, CA and ended in Portland, OR. Here’s a map of our trip with many of our stops and points of interest. Click on the stars or letters on map for details. Click on each picture below to go to the post to read all about that day. Click above picture to enlarge.  Editable Excel…

  • Life

    West Coast Trip:Day 13

    June 17, 2017 - By 

    Day 13 of our West Coast trip was the day we were headed home. Our flight didn’t leave till later in the afternoon, which gave us time to do something. When Rob lived out in Portland, his favorite place to shop was Fred Meyer. Fred Meyer is similar to a Walmart, but way better. It is truly a one stop shop. From furniture to groceries to name brand clothing it has it all. After having breakfast and checking out of the hotel, we headed over to Fred Meyer so the kids could see what an awesome store it was and…

  • Travel

    West Coast Trip:Day 12

    June 10, 2017 - By 

    As I mentioned before since our days were so long (in a good way) but since we covered so much ground and so many amazingly beautiful places my daily travel posts aren’t including as much detail and as many pictures as I’d like. I want to write individual posts on many of the spots on this trip in more detail with more pictures. One day when I’m caught up, I’ll go back and share more. Today’s post covers our last full day of our west coast trip. We slept later that day than any other day on trip, which was…

  • Day Exploring Mount St. Helens
    Travel

    West Coast Trip:Day Trip to Mount St. Helens

    June 3, 2017 - By 

    On July 4th we rose early to make our way to Windy Ridge Viewpoint at Mount St. Helens. I can’t tell you how hopeful I was that we’d be able to see this mysterious mountain that I’ve visited twice, but only seen for short spurts from a far and saw for literally 30 seconds last time we were at Johnston observatory. The other times we’ve been to Mount St. Helens we weren’t able to get to Windy Ridge because the road was always still closed. (Map) The day started off quite overcast in Portland as it usually always does, but…

  • Oregon Travels
    Travel

    West Coast Trip:Day 10 Oregon Coast

    May 26, 2017 - By 

    Day 10 was all about the Oregon Coast. We started off with a lumberjack breakfast at Camp 18 Restaurant. This place is a must see. Every time Rob and I drive up the coast we stop and get pictures outside, our friends who usually follow behind on their motorcycles love to take videos of the landscape we pass by, but they do have to be careful because one of them almost fell of their motorcycle trying to get the perfect scenery shot, that day would have ended up either in a hospital or talking all night with their motorcycle accident…

  • Driving from Newport, Oregon to Portland? Here's somethings you should stop at see on the way!
    Travel

    West Coast Trip:Newport to Portland

    May 2, 2017 - By 

    Continuing with our family adventures on the West Coast as we leave Newport and head to Portland, Oregon. 1st stop was the Yaquina Bay and Yaquina Head Lighthouses. Such a beautiful lighthouse and natural area. It was quite foggy that morning, which made for some cool pictures. 2nd stop was the campus of Oregon State University in Corvallis, OR. We found this be a beautiful campus with lots of cool buildings, old and new. We also went to OSU’s Hatfield Marine Science Center, which has free to get in. They just ask for donations. I highly recommend this if you’re…

  • Travel

    West Coast Trip:Florence & Newport

    April 8, 2017 - By 

    Our drive up the coast of Oregon continued as we left Cottage Grove Oregon and headed to Newport, stopping a few times for some fun activities, like going to Sand Dunes, Sea Lion Caves, Thor’s Well, and more. First stop was Florence, OR for Dune Buggies ATVs. When we were researching we came to the realization that Dune Buggies for individuals really isn’t a thing you can do anymore. The thing now is driving ATV’s over the dunes. I really didn’t want to drive so Rob and I were in one and the kids each had their own ATV. Let…

  • Life

    Memories of the Month {7.2016}

    July 31, 2016 - By 

    This month I was happy about: just enjoying the less stress before school starts again. This year I’m going to rate the books & movies. Here’s my rating system: ♥ ♥ = Love it! A must read/see! ♥ = Really good! Highly recommend. ✓ ✓ = Good, not great ✓ = Not much to talk about X = Awful. Total waste of time Movies I watched were: 127 Hours ♥ TV Shows I watched were: The Bachelorette America’s Got Talent SYTYCD Kids (yay for a change) One Tree Hill (Netflix) Things I read: Foods with Friends My favorite song this…

  • Peach Cobbler Dumplins
    Dessert

    Peach Cobbler Dumplins

    July 28, 2016 - By 

    The other night I had some leftover peaches that needed be gobbled up before they went bad, so decided to take my Apple Dumplin recipe and use the peaches and turn it into Peach Cobbler Dumplins…to. die. for! Servings: 16 Prep Time: 10 minutes Cooking Time: 30 minutes Ingredients: 2 can crescent rolls 4-5 yellow peaches 3/4 stick butter 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon 1/2 cup of dark brown sugar 1/3 cup of sugar 1/4 cup of Mountain Dew or Sprite Directions: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Peel peaches and cut in to small bite size pieces. Spray 9×13 pan (or any…

  • Travel

    Disembarking in Baltimore

    July 12, 2016 - By 

    Our cruise earlier this year was a journey cruise, which is a new type of cruise that Carnival started last year. I highly recommend them if you’re looking to do a longer cruise. You start the cruise in one place and end in another. So after 3 days at sea, we disembarked in Baltimore. Yeah, it was kind of crazy going from nice tropical temps to Baltimore, Maryland in February with temps in the 40°s. The day was cold and dreary, but that didn’t stop us. After finally being able to leave the ship around 11 or 12, we took…

  • Travel

    Cruising Days at Sea

    July 10, 2016 - By 

    To wrap up the last 3 days of our Journey cruise, we were looking forward to 3 relaxing days at sea as we departed the Caribbean after leaving St. Maarten and headed to Maryland. The first day at sea Rob experienced his first ever bought of sea sickness. He stayed in bed most of the day and found some relief with the medication I got from him at the customer service desk on board. This picture doesn’t do the waves justice. The waves continued to hit our window throughout the day. The first day at sea was Throwback day with…