Oregon Trip | Day Seven

Wednesday, July 20

I must have been getting burnt out on taking pictures this day, apparently I only have twenty three pictures from the whole day? What in the world??

I woke up early our seventh day in OR and went for a five mile run, a little nervous that I'd get lost in Florence alone but somehow how I managed just fine. When I returned we all ate breakfast and then packed up for our excursion of the day: kayaking, sand boarding, and being generally very Oregonian. ;)

Overlooking her shell collection from yesterday:


We went to Clewox Lake/Honeyman State Park for our experience this day. We rented three kayaks and two sand boards, then spent several hours on the lake and boogying down giant hills-o-sand. Have you ever seen such a thing? I took videos, of course, and the pictures don't do it justice. The lake was clear and beautiful, and Nate took the big kids and went with his brother down the river for a bit---wish he would have taken more pictures! Porter despised his life vest but otherwise all children were adequately happy. Truman rocked the sand boarding and Nate complained of a neck strain the next day from wiping out so much;) I remember being pretty hot this day but the weather was nearly perfect, and the state park was busy but not horrendous. It was a great morning!









And yet, I drove back to Jon and Brittany's house with Lois and Porter around 1:30pm because he was 100% over it. Nate, Tony, Jon, Brittany and the big kids stayed for a little while then stopped at BJ's Ice Cream Parlor and also picked up coffee from Suislaw River Coffee Roasters. Hell yes. They brought both back home so that is why I'm excited about this part.

This is when the afternoon forked for us: I made the executive decision to chill the heck out while uploading pictures on the deck and enjoying some quiet time of my own. It was MUCH needed at this point after a hectic and jam packed trip and I do not regret taking a chill pill here. Nate and Jon went golfing. Tony and Brittany took Truman and Cecelia to see Finding Dory. Lois and I relaxed while Porter napped, then when he woke all three of us went grocery shopping. This was one of the highlights of the day, somehow---it's rare that just Lois and Porter and I ever get to spend time together. And at a grocery store, none-the-less (Lois's favorite place, not so much mine).

We came back home and started making dinner: Costco veggie burgers were the main dish, can't remember the rest but I'm sure it was delish. We put our kids to bed at 9pm and then Jon, Brittany, Nate and I went out to the local dive bar--Beachcomber. Tony and Lois stayed back to 'watch' the sleeping kids. It was exactly what the doctor ordered to spend time with just the newlyweds, at a bar where they literally knew everyone because the town is super small. We talked about all kinds of topics with two drinks a piece, then walked home around midnight. Side note: did you know that Oregon has a zero tolerance policy for drinking and driving? As in, you cannot have a 0.01 or you get a gigantic ticket, and subsequent offenses mean you lose your license pretty quickly? This is amazing and I can only imagine how it would go over in Wisconsin, but it does make sense! Hence the walking for about a mile or so each way after drinking----fine by me!