Oregon Part 1

This year we had the chance to go up to Oregon for Thanksgiving to visit James' mom and dad. We left around 10:00 on Saturday Nov 19. We took the route that lead us to Enterprise and into Nevada. We stayed on the east side of Nevada and headed up to Ely then west to Winimucca. We wanted to try and make it to Bend Oregon. But by 8PM both James and I were starting to get tired and just wanted to sleep. We stopped in a small town called Burns Oregon. Avery woke up as soon as James stopped the car. She got a little amp'd up but as soon as we all got snuggled into bed and turned out the lights all of us fell fast asleep.
Nov 20- We woke up a lot earlier than we had anticipated which we later found out was a great thing. After breakfast at the hotel we were back on the road by 8:00. We were glad we stopped the night before because we still had a good 100+ miles till Bend Oregon. We headed on to Corvalis and then to Blodgett where we got a little lost. A very scenic detour but it did add almost an hour to our drive.
But we finally got to Newport and then to Seal Rock. I was extremely tired of driving and being in the car; and my head hurt so bad. I was just happy we were finally there.
Nov 21- After a much needed rest and a good night sleep we were ready to go exploring. Mom and Dad took us down to the beach by there house were we walked around. Avery was so excited to see the beach for the first time. She automatically started to do what you do best at beaches...make sand castles. :)  After awhile we headed back to the house to see if Bob and Ilia were awake and ready to go exploring too. They took Lucas down to the beach as well, then Mom and Lisa took us to this other beach were we got to see the waves coming in and crash up against the rocks. It was very beautiful. Since the day was sunny and nice we decided to capitalize on it and head down to the pier. Mom, Avery and I beat everyone there and decided to start walking around the pier and to show Avery the sea lions. Avery loved them and it was so fun to watch them. Then we headed down to walk around the docks to show Avery how big the ships were. After we met up with Bob, Ilia, Lucas and Dad. We did a little window shopping in the cute little shops then met up with James and Lisa at a restaurant called Ocean Bleu for a late lunch. It started to rain while we were walking around after that and we decided to call it a day. Lisa drove us around this little place called Aquarium Village before we headed back to Mom and Dad's. Everyone was pretty tired so we didn't do to much the rest of the night and we all got to bed fairly early.
Nov 22- Mom and Dad wanted to show us another beach that has tide pools when the tide is out. It was a really pretty beach. Unfortunately because it was a story day the tide was a little higher so we were unable to view the tide pools. But we still had fun. Avery found a little hideout where someone had stacked some driftwood logs and made a little shelter. She thought that was pretty neat and got Grumpy and Daddy to get in and get a picture with her. After the beach we went back to the house to see what everyone's plans were. Mom and Lisa wanted to get some cooking started; Avery wanted to stay and help make cookies and they said it was ok to leave Lucas too. So Bob, Ilia, James and I braved the rain and decided to go do a double date. We first stopped at this buffet to eat called Izzy's pizza. The food wasn't very impressive but the view sure was. It was up on a hill and over looked the ocean. So we could sit and watch the big waves crash against the shore. After lunch and a quick stop at Fred Meyers to order Lucas's birthday cake we headed down to the pier. Mom and got us tickets to the three museums there. Ripley's Believe it or Not, The Wax Museum and the Undersea Gardens. We had fun at all three of the museums. There was this section at Ripleys Believe it or Not that was dedicated to the Titanic. They had actual footage rolling for the ship and the passengers on board, a life preserver and lots of information. Being a history buff and having been fascinated with the Titanic since middle school, I really loved that section. I could have spent A LOT more time there. Oh and they had this container full of water that was the exact temperature of the ocean the night the ship sank; it said you could stick your hand in and see how long you could hold it in there. A plaque said that in those freezing temperatures ( I think it was 28 if I can remember correctly) People could survive for a minimum of 15 minutes and up to 45 minutes. James and I kept our hands in for about a minute before we couldnt bear it anymore, it really was an emotional experience to try and put yourself in those peoples shoes; our hands were still tingling after we left and went to the wax museum.  I couldn't believe how life like some of the figures in the wax museum looked. Especially the Johnny Depp one. Ilia made the comment that it would be funny if we were taking pictures of him and he "came to life" or it was the real Johnny Depp and he blinked or said boo or something just to scare us. :p We also got to see Gollum and Yoda; and James got to live out his fantasy of becoming borg. :) hee hee. After the Pier we tried to go to the Hatfield museum but they were closed. So we decided to call it a day, We were all pretty tired and done. :p