day five - last day...?

On friday we were going to tour the Tillamook Cheese factory but my knee was hurting so bad that we decided to go home a day early. =(

So we packed up again and headed up the coast to Washington. One thing to remember is that as you go up the coast it may be only 30 - 50 miles to your next stop but the road is so windey (and sometimes foggy) that it can take hours to get there.

As we hit Long Beach Washington the sun finally came out! (we had not seen sun since the day we got to the beach) So we thought we would park the tent trailer on Matt's aunt and uncles lot in Ocean Side and play on the beach for an hour or so.

When we got there we saw that his aunt and uncle were up from California for the summer. After visiting with them for a bit we headed for the beach! Once there we thought it would be fun to have our own fire and eat our dinner out there.

We had so much fun we thought why not stay to see the sunset then camp with his aunt and uncle for the night and go home saturday! =)

day three - sightseeing

On our third day we didn't have to change campgrounds so we enjoyed sleeping in and had a nice waffle breakfast.

Then we packed up sack lunches and headed out to the Sea Lion Caves.

On our way back we stopped by Seal Rocks to attempt a geocache and walk down to the beach.

Unfortunately the fog had gotten so thick and we were getting cold we decided to cancel going on the long walk down the hill to the beach.

So we decided to check out the Oregon Coast Aquarium in Newport.

Where we also saw some sea lions..

Then we finished our activities with a well deserved nap!

day two - change of location

Day two after diving in clear lake we took a little nap (a must when camping) then took down the trailer and headed for the Oregon coast. We have a dive buddy that lives down here and he sent us an email letting us know of all the fun waterfalls and scenic byways we could see and take on our way to Newport from the lake. We stopped at a few that were right next to the road and had room for trailer parking.

We arrived in Newport and found a spot at the state park set up camp and had just enough time to make it to the beach for sunset.

summer vacation

Matt and I set a goal this year to "vacation" more. Oh sure we have always taken vacations from work but for the most part we stay home and worked on stuff or we travel to/with family. Don't get me wrong family is great but in our 16 years of marriage I don't think we have gone on more then 4 vacations alone and they have all been weekend trips. So we are down in Oregon vacationing! Thanks to Randy and Lisa for letting us borrow their tent trailer we get to stay for a whole week!

We packed everything up over the weekend and took off at 10am Monday morning. After a few quick stops (gas, back home to fix the tail light, the dive shop, Costco, Safeway), and a medium length drive, we arrived at Clear Lake Resort in Oregon by 7:30pm. According to Google maps the trip should take about 6 hours with traffic from our house to the resort.

We had just enough time look out across the lake once, find a "rustic" campsite to park the trailer in and set up for the night.

After having some sandwiches and chips for dinner, we played a couple games and went to bed.

We started our first day by getting up at the crack of dawn (6am) and went for a brisk scuba dive (Lake temperature was 40°)

The lake is accurately named, visibility was VERY good (just a guess- 75' to 100')

The Trip towards Nauvoo

For several months now, we have been planning a trip to Nauvoo, with Sheri and Joel. Them with their truck and fifth wheel and us with our van/camper. In the back of our van, we took out the middle seats and folded the back row into the floor. Placed a deluxe inflatable full size mattress in the back and put an ice chest and our suitcases at the foot.

In the planning stage, Sheri figured out that it would take them about 6 days to get to Nauvoo with their large trailer and small children. While they have a 3 month trip planned ahead of them, we only have 2 weeks of vacation. So it was decided that they would leave a couple days before us, and we would catch up with them somewhere in Montana. And as it turned out we caught up with them Sunday afternoon just outside of Bozeman, MT at the home a longtime family friend, Colette Crawford. Where she fed us a yummy Elk Steak Dinner, and allowed us use of her shower. (But not in that order)

Colette's husband Lonnie took Seth out for a ride on the tractor, next thing we knew Seth was steering the tractor with minimal help from Lonnie.

As you can see Seth had a great time.

We travled with Sheri and Joel all the next day and camped together in Rapid City

so we could all go see Mt. Rushmore!

We all had a great time traveling together!

Tuesday morning we parted ways with them so we could travel at "real" speeds, arriving at mom and dad's house in Nauvoo IL at 2am wednesday morning! =)

weekend project!

Matt and I decided it was time to organize the garage. When we moved BACK into our house we just "put" stuff in the garage. So other than a place to hang our scuba stuff it all had no home. Not that we have a lot of things, but it all took up the center of the floor!

We sat down in our camping chairs at the front of the garage and decided what "zones" we wanted/needed. This is what we came up with; scuba, computer, tools, garden and storage/camping. Then we mapped out the most practical & logical layout. Then the hard part, moving everything out and around! We cleaned it in stages- removing everything, sweeping then repurposing that zone for it's new use. At one point the garage was looking really good then we looked at the driveway!!

Hey things always look worse be for they get better, right?!?

As we went along designing each new space things really started to fall into place and it all just felt right. Like in the garden area I asked Matt to hang a bucket for my gloves. But I wanted it mounted sideways so as to not hold so many spiders! Then we found it was handy for more than just gloves!

It works great for storing extension cords! We also mounted a milk crate to the wall for little things witch gave us room to store lawn care stuff under it. Next we decided that the shelf on the left of the garage was in the way for hanging our scuba stuff so we took it out and moved it to the right side witch then gave us more useable storage space all together.

We also moved the work bench out from the back, where it always got blocked and was not useable. It is now out with our scuba area so Matt can work on our gear with out having to climb over boxes.

That then freed up space so the air compressor and tool box could move to the right side in the back.

So then there was room for Matt to put up his computer desk I ejected from the house. Now he has his own space to work on peoples computers. (And it's not all in my living room! =] )

All in all, I would say it turned out pretty good!! 

And we could still park a car in there too if we wanted!