Category archives: Travel

Nestled off Oregon Coast Highway 101 towards the city of Rockaway Beach is a hidden treasure of old growth forest. An elevated wooden Boardwalk brings us to an impressive Big Cedar Tree said to the oldest tree in Oregon.

We are back in Oregon for Spring Break. Today's activity sees us hiking on a short trail in Oswald West State Park into Short Sand Beach. It is a beautiful secluded beach sheltered by Smugglers Cove and popular with surfers, hikers and beach goers. The beach is edged by volcanic basalt and sandstone cliffs make a very impressive beach to visit.

Arcadia Beach State Recreation Site is a beach and state park located on the Oregon Coast. The beach stretches between Humbug Point on the north and Hug Point Beach on the south which are accessible during low tides to explore areas usually covered by the ocean. This is an amazing place to explore sea stacks, tide pools and fantastic rock formations.

Something we have never done before is to launch a Dory boat from a beach. James is giving us this experience today by hauling his boat as close to the surf as possible from the Pacific City in Oregon. It takes 3 men to push the boat out further into the water and then we are off to try catch salmon. Boat has a hole so we speed back towards the beach!

It is a foggy day to go out fishing and crabbing because waves are supposed to be low so I'm not going to get sea sick, or so I thought. After casting the crab pots, we hang out near Painted Rock, a big rock formation that juts out off the sea. Check out why it is called Painted Rock. 3 hours in and I am thinking of chumming my breakfast for the fishes!

A unique hiking trip to Bayocean. A once popular resort town on the Oregon Coast now reclaimed by the sea. There is little left of what was once envisioned as the Atlantic City of the West. Nature has taken over. The trail we take are filled with blooming yellow scotch broom flowers. We climb on the sand dunes to get down to the beach.

It is a good day to go crabbing at Garibaldi Bay for Dungeness crabs. The water is calm and after throwing the crab pots into the bay, we have a picnic at a sandy island. This is the best way to catch crabs for people like me who gets sea sick in the ocean. We manage to get a good catch and have a delicious Dungeness crabs feast afterwards.

We are in a beautiful Nehalem Bay, Oregon that is known for its driftwoods that pile high at the mouth of the Nehalem River. This beautiful sandy beach is a spot for Shane's treasure hunt activity using his sister's metal detector. Find out the treasure he found when the metal detector went beep! It was fun watching him having fun and getting two kids excited too.

Our family has a beautiful wedding at Hoh Rainforest in the Olympic Peninsula. Ryan fell in love with this place when Shane brought him and his friends over here on a college spring break. He has visited this rainforest every chance he got and brought Kasandra along. We found a beautiful spot and Kasandra's mom officiated their nuptial.

We headed to Wallace, Idaho after our excursion to the Northern Idaho Ghost Towns. Wallace used to be one of the largest silver producers in the world and it is also one of the richest mining towns still in existence today. One of the main highlight of this place is the Oasis Bordello. It used to be a Wild West brothel until 1988!