Leaves are falling and flying!

We took a Sunday afternoon drive up the mountain to Welches and Government Camp, exploring many of the beautiful leaf covered back roads. We found an area for the kids to play near the Salmon River and they had a great time throwing the leaves in the air. The colors are past their peak, but the woods were still vibrant with various fall colors.



Get ready.........

.......get set.........

............go!

It is hard to get Lauren to give us a "pretty" face. She'd much rather do her own thing!

A weekend at the beach

Happy Birthday Grandma!!

Last weekend we had the opportunity to run over to the Oregon Coast for a couple nights. We stayed in Seaside and had a room overlooking Broadway and the beach. The weather was perfect so we were able to get out both days for walks on the promenade and beach. The girls also hit their favorite spots in town: the tilt-a-whirl ride and the carousel. Alyssa and Lauren also spent a lot of time in the hat shop in the mall trying on all their goofy headware.


The house in the picture below used to be owned by my piano teacher. My folks rented in from her on a few occassions, the last of which was in 1991 (I believe). Pierce was just a few months old when we had a family get-together with all the Badens for a week. Scott and Bob were with us for that time as well. Grandpa Baden organized a game for us on the beach with prizes for all of the grandkids, of which I still have. Natalie and I slept on the third floor in a little alcove that faced the beach. The house slept 15-20, so it didn't seem at all crowded with the entire family. This house is for sale now, fully furnished (although it looks pretty ratty) and is three blocks from the beach and promenade. The price seems pretty good at $299K but it does need some work. I hope whoever buys it will keep it as a rental as I would love to stay there again. Natalie, do you remember throwing balls through the 3rd floor window to the deck below and then trying to throw them back again? :)

Harry had never seen the South end of Seaside up towards Tillamook Head, so we drove up there to explore it. When I was about 12 or 13, my brothers, Scott's friend Jeff and I went hiking up that head in December late in the afternoon. It was a warm day and so we were not dressed for cold night weather. Well, we ended up getting off the trail somehow and lost on the logging roads that wind around up there. It was well after dark that we made our way down onto highway 101 a couple miles out of Seaside. This was before cell phones were terribly popular, so we had to hike back into town even though I remember being so cold, tired and scared. I never go through that stretch of 101 without thinking of that time. So, when Harry and I reached the trailhead, I got out to look at the map of the area when two hikers came wandering out of the woods who were completely turned around and lost. Turns out, they had started the hike with friends from Canon Beach, clear on the other side of Tillamook Head and had become separated from their friends as well as turned around. Rather than having them hike back several miles through the mud and steep terrain, the kids and I hopped out of the car while Harry ran them back to the other side in the car. The girls and I walked down from the trail head through the beautiful forrested hillside towards the beach and waited there for Harry.

Tillamook Head is the tall point in the background (picture below). The trail winds around the front of the point from Seaside on the North to Canon Beach on the South. There are miles of logging roads that wind around up there.

The town of Seaside. We stayed at that resort towards the left side of the picture (tallest building) which is next to the popular Broadway Avenue and promenade.

The biggest hit for the kids were the swings on the beach. We spent a few hours here throughout the weekend (the other big hit was the pool).

Someone had spent a lot of time building this realistic looking sandcastle just below the turn-around. Many people stopped to admire it and snap a picture.

View of the sunset from our balcony. I never, ever get tired of staring at the ocean. The resort has really good coffee in the rooms so I always brew a pot of decaf in the evening and watch the sun go down when we stay here.

Another view from our balcony. A slow shutter speed to capture the traffic going around the turn-around.

It looks cold here, but we quickly peeled off our layers as we walked/scootered down the boardwalk (no, Harry wasn't riding that little one ;-) ).