To kick off our blog, we will be sharing our End of Summer Adventures! Lexy and I had to endure a great hardship as she was in Utah and I was in Virginia/Oregon. We struggled greatly, but managed to make the best of it. (; Just kidding, we had many adventures and got to communicate pretty continually the whole time anyway. Now we have stories to share and who better to share them with than all of you!? This will be the first of many (hopefully) entertaining, lighthearted, and comical posts to come. Enjoy and LiveJoy! (:
To Start off, this is Alyssa. Lexy will share her story after mine!(:
My Adventure To Oregon
Hey Guys! So, in August while Lexy was in Utah, I had the opportunity to go to Oregon, with my Grandfather, sister, cousin Rachel, and her son Ryan! Grandpa grew up there and wanted us to experience the great beautiful state he loves and calls home. Although I generally /avoid going out of town in August due to work, spending time with my grandfather is very important to me, so I decided to make this a priority. We had many adventures, from the moment we pulled out, right up to the end. Don't worry, I won't go too in depth, I'll just hit the highlights with a little photo story and some commentary! :D
Introductions (or, the characters of our tale!)
This is me!
Grandpa Brown! :D
Jessica (my sister) and I!
Also, our hotel's mascot Sebastian. (;
(Rachel, my cousin!)
(Ryan, My First Cousin Once Removed)
Now onto the real adventures...
Say Goodbye to Virginia...
Jessica and I were excited and eager as our plane readied for departure!
It was a long, but peaceful flight.
Also, I got to watch The Avengers for free. Can you say win? C:
Visiting the Queens!
Grandpa's Mother "Olive" and her sister Victoria, were both buried in the Rose Cemetery, which we visited together. Both of them were named for Queens! It's not a Brown family trip without some family history. (;
Dinner With The Leonettis!
You probably cannot see anyone in this picture, but that is okay. Grandpa's friend Dick, recently passed away, but we had a grand evening of fun and friendship with his family. The Udders opened their home to us. They also filled our bellies with the best Italian food I will probably ever eat in my entire life. ...yummy!
The Vista House!
We went to the Vista House, which offered a great view of the Columbia River Gorge. Not only did we get to enjoy the view, but we obviously enjoyed using it as a background in our photographs!
(Note: If we are Facebook friends, my current cover photo is the view from the vista house)
Moultnoma Falls!
The Moultnoma Falls (which, yes, Grandpa did have to teach me how to pronounce) were a lovely sight to behold. The picture on the right is the falls with the sun coming up over the mountain at exactly noon!
Bridge of the Gods!
This is us eating at Chief Chan's, a restaurant located just adjacent to the Bridge of the Gods. The booth seen in this picture is the one Grandpa always eats in, so he can take this picture and have the bridge in the background. Sadly, it is hard to see. The bridge was once a natural bridge, but it collapsed and a man mad bridge now connects Washington and Oregon across the Columbia. The blueberry pie pictured is made with blueberries grown in the Oregon Wild, (the only place blueberries grow in the wild is OR!)
Playing in the Columbia River!
Despite the freezing temperatures, we had a great time frolicking in the icy Columbia! ...well, as close to flocking as you can be while you're carefully walking and trying not to fall. All pictures of me are in the Columbia River are being omitted from this post as I don't like them, so enjoy Jess and Ryan (:
The Great Hike!
After a long day of sight seeing, Grandpa surprised us by pulling up to a hiking trail! Despite exhaustion and the fact that we were in no way dressed appropriately, we went along with the plan. I'm glad we did because we got some incredible views while traveling up that rock. Despite the rickety bridges and constant fear of death held by Rachel. I absolutely enjoyed the experience, and unlike Ryan who now "hates mountains," I am planning to return someday. However, I cannot recall the name of the Rock, maybe Beacon Rock? Regardless, it was awesome. Sadly, the pictures I took from the hike are on a different computer.
Ready to start? Ready as we'll ever be.
At the top!
Also, word to the wise: don't hike a mountain in a skirt, ...just don't.
Lincoln City/The Oregon Coast!
Jessica and I on the beach before a swim!
Jessica in front of a mural in Lincoln City!
My FIRST EVER sandcastle! C:
I played hearts with Grandpa, Carol, and Peggy.
Jessica and Ryan, Masters of the Pacific.
Taking Grandpa out into the water.
This was probably the highlight of my trip was hearing him squeal with delight as the waves hit him.
#momentsIwillcherish
Sand Sculpting! Ryan and then me as Mermaids!
It was a windy day on that ocean! Jessica "had" to take a picture of my hair. To me, the most significant thing about the wind was the way it rocked the boat. haha
I'm not sure that you can tell from these pictures. ..we were drenched from head to toe. That's the price of riding in the hot seats at the front of the boat to see the best view of the coast.
Our very own "Oregon Gold!"
Bobby and I both took turns pulling the crab crates from the water!
I really enjoyed the experience of fishing on that boat! I would do it again, but probably not for 5 hours, and I would definitely use the bathroom before getting on the boat...
Wild Sea Lions! :D
This is Bobby and Peggy! Bobby is my first cousin once removed (aka my Dad's cousin!) He is deaf, and he is awesome. This is his wonderful wife Peggy! I love them a lot. I wish we saw them more!
We feasted like Kings on our catches! ...or as Grandpa said (many times), we were living "high on the hog!" We ate fish, crab legs, and fish and crab chowder! It was fabulous! Not to mention the amazing blackberry cobbler Bobby made us from wild grown blackberries, and the yummy peach cobbler Rachel made us! :P
This was after our fishing trip when we got stranded for a bit. If you can find the white spot in the ocean, just below the horizon line to the left of the sun, that's actually a whale blowing water from it's blowhole!
Last time putting our toes in the Pacific!
Sea Side!
Our last stop on the Coast before we headed back in to Portland! Seaside is where the Lewis and Clark Expedition ended. Also, it is where Grandpa spent time as a teenage hooligan. (;
Tillamook Cheese Factory!
We got to eat delicious cheese samples and yummy ice-cream at the cheese factory! :D
Me with our rental car from Canada! Every time we did something illegal while driving, which was more than I will confess online (Grandpa is bad at one way streets...), I would say "Dang Canadians!" to demonstrate what drivers in cars around us were likely thinking. Rachel didn't realize I was talking about us until the second or third day, at which point she began to laugh hysterically as she finally understood the inside joke!
I made these shoes the day before we left and I love them. ...that is all.
We introduced Rachel and Ryan to the Big Bang Theory and bonded late at night as we laughed away to it.
I seriously love this show, ...and Sheldon... a lot.
THE END!
Sorry that this was longer than expected. I am bad at choosing pictures. I love all these memories too much to choose! I hope you Enjoyed them!
Now for Lexy's turn...! C:
