Highly Anticipated & Much Needed Vacation

On May 31st, about a year after our 1st visit to Oregon, we returned. This time we flew into Medford, OR and drove 2hrs to Crescent City, CA to see the majestic coastal redwoods.

1st stop Stout Grove and Grove of Titans in Jeremiah Smith State Park.

The beautiful Smith River runs through the center of the park.

Walking among giants.

It was such a nice day that we decided to skip our other redwood hike and see the southern OR coast.

We stopped at Natural Bridges along the Samuel E Boardman Scenic Byway but my favorite place was Secret Beach.

Look a seal! He would lift his head and stare when we got too close.

Jackson took this picture. Such great size prespective.

Exploring a sea cave.

Rare couple photo.

Next stop, Ariya Beach near Pistol River. Glorious!!

This place had all the sea creatures.

And all the beauty of the Oregon coast on a rare sunny day.

Such impressive sea stacks, especially with the greenery and flowers.

On the way to our rental house, we stopped for dinner at Wild River Pizza - Yum! This view of the Pacific Ocean greeted us from the front windows of the rental. So cool!

The next morning Josh, Addy, Jackson and I walked across the street to explore.

One cool thing about this place was we could hear barking seals off in the distance. Even at night when sleeping, if the windows were open.

It was a cloudy day but the bouquet of flowers on the hillside was so amazing.

Had to get a pic with Paul Bunyan on our way to Prairie Creek Visitor Center, another redwood state park.

We hiked the James Irvine trail 10.4 miles to Fern Canyon and back.

The rare and very cool banana slug x2!

Fern Canyon. Jurassic Park 2 was filmed here.

So many huge clovers but none with 4 leaves. The tops are green and bottom purple.

Big trees and ferns everywhere.

Yummy dinner at SeaQuake Brewery in Crescent City.

The next morning was rainy but made for some amazing pictures. We stopped by the Simpson Reed trail on our way out of town for a quick mile loop.

This fallen tree was one of the biggest we had seen.

Just one last picture of our favorite yellow slug.

Next, we headed 5hrs north to Silver Falls State Park and hiked the Trail of Ten Falls, a 7.4 mile loop. We started at North Falls, walking BEHIND the waterfall.

Middle North Falls, another walk behind and so epic!!

I had seen many picture of this state park but it was 100% more amazing in person.

See Josh and Aaron walking by the falls!?

Besides having so many huge waterfalls, the rest of the trail was a lush rain forest with a stream the entire way.

I think this one is called Lower South Falls. We were lucky to come after heavy rains the previous day. I've read that in the summertime, some of the falls are just trickles.

So pretty.

The star of the show, South Falls! See Benny in red behind the falls for scale!?

Taken from behind the falls.

The moss covered trail.

My creative children.

Upper North Falls, cheesy half family pic.

We stayed overnight nearby at the Best Western Plus Mill Creek Inn which included breakfast at Denny's next door the following morning.

After breakfast, we drove to a more remote area to hike down this roped, muddy 1 mile trail.

To see the most magnificant Abiqua Falls with a unique basalt pillar backdrop.

We had this place all to ourselves!!

This is another falls that mostly dries up in the summer. So we were so blessed to see it gushing.

The zoomed out view.

Some sun was peeking through the clouds and I prayed for a rainbow. We didn't see one but crazily, we saw one at ALL the other named waterfalls for the rest of the trip!!

More rain forest scenery with green moss everywhere. So magical!

On the drive out of town we passed several fields of gorgeous flowers.

I think this area is called the Oregon Willamette Valley and wine country.

Unbelievable!

Just a 2hr drive to our rental in the Columbia River Gorge. We stayed on the WA side in Carson. This firepit was so relaxing and the view was WOW!

Morning views from our bedroom.

We headed 20min away across the Bridge of the Gods to hike to Tunnel Falls via Eagle Creek 12.2 miles. There were several other waterfalls along the way.

Some areas were along cliff edges and cables were provided to hold onto.

We made it to the entrance of the tunnel. Everyone else already went through to the other side.

My turn!!

Just a little past Tunnel Falls was another treasure.

Twister Falls with a rainbow!! And flowers and oh my goodness.

What a place! Everyone stopped for lunch but I couldn't stop admiring the scenery and taking pictures.

A double rainbow!!

Pretty flowers growing on the walls.

Back through the tunnel. Can you see Benny's red shirt!? I think he wore the same shirt on vacation every day. I did laundry most nights. Notice the rainbow!!

Some much earned relaxation time.

The kids playing together so nicely as usual.

The next day we drove a few minutes away to hike Dog Mountain, a difficult 6.3 mile hike straight up. I was motivated by WILDFLOWER season!!

I used my hiking poles for the 1st time and they really helped on the way up.

My people are always ahead of me. Jackson and Benny stayed back at the place for this one.

A perfect nature bouquet. I LOVED this hike so much! And to have a sunny day for it was so lucky.

The balsamroot flower is what makes this hike so famous.

We had just missed peak season but I was still in awe.

Later in the afternoon, Josh, Aaron and I drove about 30min away to hike the easy Falls Creek Falls at 3.2 miles. When we got to the waterfall, our jaws dropped.

The rainbow was actually a 360 circle. I didn't even know that was possible.

So glad we didn't skip this one.

It was tough to leave this beautiful site. I'm so glad Aaron was there to share it with us.

Sunset from the porch on our last night in the gorge.

The next morning we were supposed to go to Ape Cave but we decided to skip and go directly to Leavenworth due to Jackson not feeling well. A 4hr drive later and this was our view.

In the evening we took a walk along the river nearby.

Leavenworth is an adorable Bavarian themed town.

Only these 2 came with us for the walk.

The biggest dandelion fluffle ever.

Addy slept outside on the porch. Unfortunately, we need 3 bedroom places now.

Saturday we hiked to Colchuk Lake, a 9 mile hike in the Enchantments.

Worth the effort to get to this picture perfect alpine lake.

Cue the mountain goat. Several were sprinkled throughout the area, which enhanced our experience even more.

Several minutes after seeing this guy, we heard a lady scream.

Thankful for some sunshine which made the color of the lake stellar. I believe it was still snow covered a week or two prior.

We hiked around the sides of the lake to explore but our 1st views were the best.

Evening relaxing in the pool and hottub.

The next morning we took nice 4 mile stroll along the Icicle Gorge.

The best part was all the purple flowers!

My only picture of the town of Leavenworth during the day. We had a hard time finding a place to eat for lunch due to crowds.

On our way to the airport we stopped by Snoqualmie Falls, the one featured in the show Twin Peaks. And yet another rainbow!! Blessed.