Camp Awesome, Rogue River Boating, and More

It’s been awhile since I’ve posted because my husband and I went on a two week vacation; and it has taken me a week to get semi caught up at work.  Now, I’ve found a peaceful moment to post an update. 

Vacation was wonderful.  We toured the California Mining Museum which was very interesting - all sorts of gold, minerals, and gems. 

We then went further north and spent quite a bit of time enjoying Columbia State Park where there were some great rock formations and old gold rush days buildings. 

Further north on our trip we saw some metal sculptures and a sign for “Mine Tours” that caught our eye and we pulled in on impulse.  If you ever pass by Sutter Creek, CA, I highly recommend the Mine Tour - we really enjoyed it. 

Then came the part of the trip I was most looking forward to . . . seeing my son, daughter-in-law, and grandkids!  My son and his friends dubbed our final group camping destination as Camp Awesome and that describes the place perfectly.  On the way there, we all stopped at Cape Meares to check out the lighthouse and have a picnic lunch.  We also stopped at the Tillamook Cheese Factory and watched the workers make cheese - quite a fascinating process to watch the processing and packaging. 

We arrived at Cape Lookout in the afternoon and set up our Camp Awesome.  This place was literally right on the ocean - just several yards across a road and over a short berm.  I so enjoyed meeting Jim and Rebecca’s friends - this is just a wonderful group of people and we had such a good time camping, hiking, and visiting with them.  If you ever want the perfect s’more, just ask Megan to make you one - delicious! 

We played on the beach with the grandkids (actually we gained two more grandchildren as Kaylee and Chase adopted us as their grandparents for the duration), hiked with them, and just had a ball.  I was in grandma heaven!  As always, it was tough to leave to head back home to the desert - not only missing the kids, but oh how I loved the cool weather, clouds, and even rain! 

On the way back home, we stayed in Gold Beach, OR and went on a mail boat ride down the Rogue River.  It was raining when we left port, but stopped about an hour into the trip.  We saw deer, wild turkies, eagles, and mud swallows - it was terrific. 

When we left Gold Beach, we stopped over in Calistoga, CA, for two nights to see the “California Old Faithful Geyser” and the “California Petrified Forest.”  The petrified red wood trees were huge!  Much larger pieces of petrified wood than I saw when visiting the Petrified Forest in Arizona. 

Our final stop before coming back home was in Cambria, CA.  The weather was beautiful, we saw tons (literally) of elephant seals on the beach near San Simeon, and we walked the board walk along Moonstone Beach. 

So, vacation was absolutely wonderful.  Now, it’s back to work and back to the heat of the desert.  Ahhhhhhhhhhh, I’m longing for the clouds and coolness of Oregon . . . and most of all for the hugs and kisses of my grandkids.