Our Family Adventure

Sheldon took the week after Thanksgiving off work, and we thought it would be fun to take the family on a little trip down the Oregon coast to the Redwoods in California with a stop at Crater Lake on the way home.

Our first day was a 5 hour drive down I-5 to Bandon, OR. With lots of potty breaks and snacks the kids traveled very well. Bandon is a little tourist town on the Oregon Coast, and our hotel had a beautiful view of the beach. When we arrived we were ready to bundle up and play on the beach! God even gave us a SPECTACULAR sunset, a perfect photo opportunity for Sheldon!


It was SO FUN to see the kids get so excited about eating out at a restaurant and swimming in the pool that evening. Braden mentioned several times with every ounce of enthusiasm in him that "this was the best day ever; I just LOVE trips....!"

Our second day we enjoyed a beautiful drive down the Oregon Coast. We could see the morning sun rays shining through the mist on the rocky coast...WOW! We arrived at sunny Crescent City, CA by late morning with the rest of the day to enjoy the Redwoods. We drove on a windy gravel road through the Jedediah Smith Redwood State Park, hiked, and even walked into the trunks of some of these HUGE trees (up to 350 ft tall with massive trunks) . Braden was impressed by how old these trees were (some 2000 years old) and would say to everyone he saw that: "these trees are so old that they were here when Jesus was on Earth! "




We made it back to our hotel on the beach for another sunset photo and an evening highlight for the kids of eating out and swimming!
The next morning we headed back north up to Crater Lake, OR. Sheldon was hoping to get a sunset shot of the lake. We made it by mid afternoon with plenty of time to play in the the snow atop this volcano while we waited for sunset to arrive. Since we don't get snow at home very often, this was a treat for us all.



Our drive down from Crater Lake was dark, but the snow sparkled as our headlights shone on it, and our windy drive through the Cascade Range was amazing as we could see silhouettes of the trees and mountains from the light of the full moon.

The kids got pretty hungry as the drive through the Cascades took much longer than expected, and we were truly in the middle of nowhere, but we finally made it back to the freeway, with much relief that our restaurant was near. We ended up driving all the way home that night and making it there before midnight. Lots of hours in the car, but much to see along the way.

This opportunity to take the family to see God's creation beyond our local area, and to spend time doing activities out of the ordinary for us as a family was such an amazing experience!

Hope you enjoy this video clip of some of our highlights:

Family Vacation Video