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On Wednesday morning, we were officially on vacation. Nellie came in the night before to join us. We had decided to go down the Oregon coast into Northern California and then loop back north, through Crater Lake, and back to Portland. The weather forecast was for temperatures in the low to mid 60's but sunny. Wednesday started cloudy and stayed that way. We headed to Lincoln City and found a nice spot on the beach. It was a little cool but not terrible. Dad took a nap and mom and Nellie went exploring.

Our goal was to end up in Newport at the end of the day at our hotel. After we left Lincoln City, we went through Depoe Bay. This is a whale spotting area. We looked and looked and looked but all we found were whale rocks, no real whales.

We then headed to Newport and checked in. Not a great place but better than the place we stayed in Arkansas. We went down tot he beach and cooked a nice dinner of kabobs and rice. It was a little chilly but a nice evening overall.

The next morning we headed to the Hatfield Science Center to see the exhibits and octopus.

Nellie was a little squeemish and didn't want to touch the anemone's, unchins or starfish but she finally did.

The octopus spent quite a bit of time out of her sleeping area while they fed her.

We spent the rest of the afternoon at Yaquina Head. This is one of our favorite places as the seals are just off the coast and the beach is made up of smooth lava rocks that make cool rumbling sounds as the water goes back and forth across them.

Friday was at Gold Beach for Jerry's Rogue Jets. This is a 80 mile round trip up the Rogue River on jet boats. It was really cool. We saw bald eagles, ospry, deer, elk, four bears!, otter and racoons. The jet boats are cool and fast. You also get very wet. We had a nice dinner up the river and then headed back. It was getting dark and colder as we came back. We headed to the beach to watch the sunset but it happened so fast we missed most of it and then it was too cold to stay any longer. This was the only sunny day we had on vacation. The forecast was for sunny and cool weather for the entire time but the sun only materialized on Friday. Fortunately that was the day we were on the river. Otherwise, we would have skipped the river tourn.

The driver loved to do these 360's.

A view down the river.

Saturday was to Crescent City and the giant redwoods. We had lunch on the beach and then drove through and saw some HUGE trees. We stopped at another beach on the way back to the hotel and cooked pork chops and had a fire watching the sunset. A great end to a great day.

Sunday was back to Oregon to go to Crater Lake. The Rogue River begins around Crater Lake and ends at the coast in Gold Beach. We were able to see both ends of it. After a long drive on Sunday, we ended up in Medford, OR. On the way we stopped to see some great scenery in the Smith River area. Once we arrived in Medford, we headed to a State Park, Tou Velle just 15 minutes from the hotel. It was right on the Rogue River. A beautiful picnic sight.

Monday was on to Crater Lake and back home. Crater Lake is the deepest lake in the US at over 1,900 ft. It is only accessable at one point and that is after a hike that goes down 700 feet. The water is unbelievably clear and has a deep rich blue color. It is six miles long and in a volcano crater. We thought we could go swimming but the water was too cold. We did put our hands in it (and Nellie's toes).

As always, vacation went way too fast. It seems like we just left and are now back. We just dropped Nellie off at the airport and she is on her way home. Dad is back to work on Wednesday. We always loved the vacations when the kids were little.

Last weekend dad was in Washington DC for a conference. There was some extra time so he was able to do some sightseeing. The hotel was only a mile and a half from the National Mall. The Lincoln Memorial was his favorite but all of it was very cool.