Oregon Coast Motorcycle Trip ~ September 2013 ~ Part One

This was maybe the best September of my life. Okay, second best, because it was the month of September when I started dating and fell in love with my husband. 

While I was spending time with Debra's family that first week in September, Ray stayed home and worked a couple of days then he drove the motorcycle up to Seattle. Scott Perry met him in LeGrande, Oregon and they rode the rest of the way to Seattle together, taking a lot of very fun back roads. 

Friday morning, the 6th of September, we took off on a motorcycle trip with several of our friends. What a glorious trip. It was so beautiful and relaxing. I cannot say enough how much I enjoyed it. 

We started out with six couples:

Doug and Denene Crandall

Dave and Tamara Badger

Scott and Karen Perry

Hal and Judy Hartzell

Ray and Diane

Fred and Gayle Mackenzie

Actually the Hartzells joined us on Monday. John and Tammy Jacobson (no picture) started out with us, but left to return home on Sunday morning. The Crandalls left to return home on Tuesday morning. 

This post has a lot of pictures. Some were taken with my phone, and many were taken with the little digital point and shoot camera that I wear around my neck while we ride. I just snap away and hope that a few will turn out in focus. It's easy to tell which camera I was using. If we are off the bikes, it's my phone. If we're riding, it was taken with my other camera. 

Day 1 (Friday September 6) Kirkland, WA to Cannon Beach, OR

We all met in Kirkland and rode to Edmonds to catch the ferry over to Kingston. It was raining, so once we were on the ferry we put on all our rain gear. The sun peeped out a couple of times during the day, but every time we took our gear off, we ended up having to put it on again.  We rode along Hood Canal a good portion of the time. We had lunch at a little burger stand along the canal. When we arrived at the Columbia River, we had to cross a long, tall bridge to get to Oregon. Bridges are not my favorite things, and we crossed a lot of them on this trip. I survived, but they made me nervous. We ended up in Cannon Beach and had dinner at the Lumberyard Rotisserie and Grill. Delicious food. I recommend it.

I took this picture while crossing the Columbia River.  On that long, tall bridge.

Putting on Rain Gear

Day 2 (Saturday September 7) Cannon Beach, OR to Lincoln City, OR

We took our time getting out of Cannon Beach in the morning. It gave us a great opportunity to walk the beach. Cannon Beach is one of the prettiest areas I've ever seen. We had breakfast at the Pig 'N Pancake, then off we went. We stopped at the Tillamook Cheese Factory and did the self guided tour, had some great cheese curd samples, and ice cream. I don't need to stop there again. There was a pretty big crowd, and I think I would have rather kept going and bought some good Tillamook ice cream in a regular store. After the Cheese Factory we went to the Air Museum just outside Tillamook. It's one of the places they housed blimps during World War II. I learned some interesting things there. Then came the best part of the day. The Three Capes Scenic Drive. It took us through some state parks and we saw the Cape Meares lighthouse, which is very pretty. We finished up in Lincoln City. We had a hard time finding a place to eat that was close to where we were staying and still open. We ended up in a pizza place that was pretty good. We were able to catch the BYU game on TV while we were eating. 

Karen Perry and Diane in front of the famous Haystack rock

Out for a morning walk: Dave and Tamara Badger, Gayle and Fred Mackenzie, Karen and Scott Perry

Low tide!

Diane and Ray

One of our viewpoints along the way. Diane and Ray

Pizza for dinner. L to R: Scott and Karen Perry, Doug and Denene Crandall, Fred and Gayle Mackenzie, Tammy and John Jacobson, half of Tamara Badger

Day 3 (Sunday September 8) Lincoln City, OR to Florence, OR

We attended church first thing in the morning, then started on our next leg of the trip. We stopped in Depoe Bay for a few minutes and saw a few whales. They were easy to spot because the whale watching boats followed them around. We continued down the coast and had lunch in Newport. I can't remember the restaurant, but the food was great. We ended in Florence, right on the river.

The Badgers

The Crandalls

Another bridge! This one is in Newport.

We saw clouds like this all along the coast. It was fascinating.

Day 4 (Monday September 9) Florence, OR

We stayed in Florence for the day. Did a little laundry, relaxed, and went on a day trip on the bikes up the Umpqua River. We saw some elk, and the river is beautiful. We ate at the Noti (pronounced no tie) Pub. 

We saw these signs all over the place along the coast.

Tamara, Karen, Gayle, Diane

Along the Umpqua River

All along the way we marveled at what a beautiful world we live in. The view from a motorcycle is amazing - no confines. I love the ocean and can never get enough of looking at it, hearing it, and being near it. This trip was wonderful for that. We rode all along the coast for most of the trip. It was wonderful.

I'll post the second half of the trip in a couple of days.

Meet Katherine

 This was our first view of Katherine:

It's also when we found out she has some fairly big heart problems. (The doctors originally thought there might be some other genetic problems, but no, just her heart.) She had several fetal echo cardiograms and ultrasounds after that first ultrasound at 20 weeks. 

She was born today, and all went well. She came out and cried right away, which was a relief--breathing on her own! Her apgar scores were good. She weighs 7 lbs, 15 oz. They whisked her into the NICU right away. No chance for Audrey or Joseph to hold her.  Ray and I brought the kids up to the hospital and we were all lucky enough to see her for about two minutes when they transported her over to Primary Children's Medical Center.

Katherine will have open heart surgery in the next couple of days. The doctors are very positive. It will be a huge relief when that is done and we know everything is on the mend. 

Isn't she beautiful?

Seattle Trip ~ September 2013

I arrived on Saturday morning. Debra and the children were there to pick me up at the airport. The talking and fun started right then, and didn't end until I left. 

I always have a food agenda when I go to Seattle, and I managed to squeeze in a couple of favorites while I was there. We did King Charley's the same day I got there. I just love their burgers. The best in Washington.

My friends were kind enough to accommodate my craving for a beef gyro at Pizza Bank and joined me there with a fun evening of cards afterward. And when Ray arrived in town we hit Spud's Fish and Chips one night. 

I had such a fun time with everyone--so much fun I didn't take enough pictures. But I did get a few.

Jonathan and Diane

Diane

While I was there, Madeleine had her first day of school--kindergarten. It was such a thrill for me to share that with her. I always loved school and I'm ever hopeful that my grandchildren will too. 

Madeleine and Diane

Madeleine, Randy, and Diane

Madeleine and Debra

My girl and her girl

The walk to and from school looks like this.

That pretty much wraps up the week. We walked Madeleine to and from school every day, and Debra and I worked on a few projects. Mostly the family digital photo album.

I can't wait to go back!

BYU Football ~ Fall 2013

We love going to BYU football games. (Perhaps that's why we have season tickets.) We missed the first game this season because we were out of town, so this was the first game we actually attended. The weather was perfect. We usually get there a little early (so we can beat the traffic) and enjoy watching the stands fill up before the games.

Ray, me, David (Ray's brother) and Sally (David's wife)

September Report

Here it is a full week into October and I haven't done my September report. That's a pretty good indication of how September went, and how October is going.

1. First Things First: going very well right now. I hope I can keep up on it.

2. Photo Labeling and Scanning: none done.

3. Household Organization: I gave my bathroom a very thorough top to bottom scrubbing, which it desperately needed.

4. Projects: I finished a couple of small things (can't mention them here yet.)

Really what happened in September is that I had an amazing vacation for a couple of weeks that I will write about on my blog, hopefully before the end of October. (No promises on that timeline, though.) I have so much to write, and haven't really had time. My goal in October is to hold my household together. More on that later.

Split Second by David Baldacci

This summer we started watching  the TV series King and Maxwell  (starring Jon Tenney and Rebecca Romijn). It's a fun show!

Part way through the season I noticed the show was based on David Baldacci's King and Maxwell book series. I thought I'd give it a try. Split Second is the first in the series. I really liked it. In fact, I've already requested the second book in the series.

March 2013 ~ Eastern Caribbean Cruise ~ St. Thomas and Princess Cays

On St. Thomas we went on a sailboat for half the day. It included some snorkeling time.  The very last day was on Princess Cays - Princess Cruise Lines private beach. It was nice - but we didn't stay too long, and we didn't take any pictures.

St. Thomas:

Diane, Dave, Tamara

Karen and Dan

Dave

Tamara

Scott

Scott and Karen

Ray

Dave, Tamara, Scott, Karen, Ray, Dan