We're in Oregon ...

Thursday morning the kids and I said good bye to Mark, climbed into the car, and started a driving adventure. We had minimal crankiness along the way (thank goodness!) and ended the day in Grant's Pass, Oregon. Friday morning we got up and continued up I5 a bit, then cut across the coastal mountains on 138 to Reedsport. Then we took a detour to head south for just a couple miles to visit a lighthouse.

It was a missed opportunity and so, somewhat disappointing. We arrived and discovered that although we could see the beach from the parking near the lighthouse, there was no convenient footpath to get there, so we could not combine our stop with a beach visit. This did not make Duncan happy. Then, after having a picnic lunch there we planned to go on the tour. Only to learn that the $3 it was going to cost us had to be in cash. I normally do have cash on hand, but I'd just spent it on gas at the Arco ... I scrounged around and found about $2.16 in change. Not enough. We had to skip the tour. This did not make Sayer happy. Sigh.

We continued north, hoping to find a nice beach to make up for the misstep of the lighthouse. Stopped at a place boasting a sea lion cave. Nice gift shop, nice looking fudge, ridiculous entry price for being allowed to walk down to the beach to see the cave and *maybe* see sea lions. I asked where there was a nice beach and the ladies at the gift store said there was one about a mile farther up the road. So we piled back into the car (making neither child happy) and drove a bit more.

Then we found the beach. Lots of broken sand dollars all over the place. Found the carapace of a rather large crab. Saw a dead sea gull. Got our feet wet. Walked for about half a mile up the beach before turning to head back. Got nicely sandy on the walk back to the car because really, what car doesn't need to carry around a half pound of sand in the carpet?

Duncan was asleep in the car about 10 minutes after we left the beach. Sayer held out for about half an hour, but then she dozed off, too. Of course, at that point we were less than an hour from reaching our destination. We're in Oregon to help with last minute things, labor, delivery, and post-partum assistance for my friend Cathy, who just happens to be the mom of one of Sayer's two bestest friends in the world, Ariel.

We arrived around 4:30 and Sayer and Duncan ran around with Ariel and her sisters like silly monkeys. Silly monkey-ness has continued today, with a short break for homeschooling.

Sayer liked her new math book so much that she asked if she could do only math tomorrow. I told her that she was 3 pages away from finishing her word search book, and I wanted her to do 2 pages of ETC 5 1/2 and 1 page of analogies. She agreed, noting that she'd be doing 1 page, 2 pages and 3 pages. Then I jested that after those she could do 10 pages of math, and she smiled and nodded. :)

We'll be staying here probably until 10/2 or 10/3, then beginning to drive back home. I hope Cathy's little boy decides to make his appearance on time so we don't miss it! And I'm gonna see if I can't get in touch with my BIL in Eugene to see if we can stop to say hi or have lunch on our way home. It's been a couple years since he and his other half seen the kiddos.