Tag: Vacation

On the Way Home

We stopped for our traditional departing yurt photo. Yurting in Tumalo State Park in early March was great. I think we were the only ones yurting. There were a few camper vans, but overall, it was pretty quiet.

On the way home, we stopped at Petersen Rock Garden, and what a treat it was.

I’m not one for rocks, but when a Danish immigrant makes them into really cool things, I’m a happy tourist. The huge chunks of obsidian alone are worth a visit.

The museum was closed because they were finishing up renovation for their grand reopening in early April, but Matt peeked in through an open door, and we were beckoned in. We got to see the glow room (and the cool new glowing floors) and take in the fireplace which again, is worth a visit.

Peacocks live at the rock garden. None were feeling showy while we were there.

The garden sells cups of corn that people can use to feed the chickens and the peacocks. Matt coached a boy through feeding this pretty chicken.

Because the museum was closed, the old restaurant was serving as a makeshift museum and gift shop. This was also a treat! The counter! The wallpaper! The sign! Egg salad for 50 cents!

Our final stop on the way home was in Government Camp. I resisted the call of the house-made maple bars as long as I could, but I eventually gave in. And it was a good choice. I’ve not had such a freshly made maple bar in ages.

Shevlin Park and The Grove

We did a nice hike in Shevlin Park. It’s quite popular, even on a Thursday in early March.

Then, we headed to the Grove for some lunch. Matt ordered some Thai food, we split some tempura green beans, and I picked out a grilled cheese with fries.

We had ice cream for dessert. I got the special Peeps milkshake. Marshmallow-hating Matt did not approve.

As we were eating the place was slowly taken over by teenagers. “Are we near a high school?” I asked. Google Maps told me we were.

March 2026 Vacation: A Visit to the Deschutes Historical Museum

Matt and I stopped by the Deschutes Historical Museum and found many fun things.

Among them:

This eighth grade diploma test for grammar.

I really enjoyed it because I’ve been teaching myself how to diagram sentences which is where you learn all the stuff they are asking questions about. Since I would get to skip two, I would not answer numbers 4 (my brain goes blank when I have to come up with different uses of a word) and 11 (I apparently haven’t learned what “principal parts” are?)

There was also a great display about Camp Abbot, a training site during World War II. My favorite detail was about the Great Hall.

Camp Abbot didn’t have an Officers’ Club, and the officers weren’t much fans of that. So they had one built. After the war, Camp Abbot was razed, but the Officers’ Club wasn’t on the plans, so it wasn’t taken down. You can still visit (or rent) it; it’s located in the Sunriver Resort.

Matt got caught up in the Don’t Be a Sucker film. It was engrossing (and perhaps relevant to today). You can watch the 22-minute film on YouTube.

And this is just a fraction of what we learned about while at the museum.

HH outside of Boone’s Treasury

Our vacation has begun! Matt and I stopped at the two Salem McMenamins to get our stamps (and our sandwiches.)

While at the Boone’s Treasury location, the server told us that Herbert Hoover’s initials were on the side of the building. She also told us where to find them.

And here I am pointing to the faint HH.

Newport Municipal Crabbing Pier

As we were driving over the Yaquina Bay Bridge, I noticed a very long dock. What might it be? It turned out to be the Newport Municipal Crabbing Dock and it provided us a long walk out into the bay, plus a close up view of crabbing.

There were also seagulls lying in wait for any crabbing spoils they could grab. They perched along the railing, and as we walked along the dock they flew off in succession, reminding me of a Broadway chorus line.

As you can see it was cold and windy, but it was also a fun find on our trip.

Newport: Biking on the Beach and Sea Lions

We had an open window of about an hour with no rain forecast, so we rented fat-tire bikes at Bike Newport and had a very fun ride on the beach.

The riding was great because all the sand was very wet from the torrential rain the day before. It was my first time riding a fat tire bike, and I had a blast.

It was also significantly harder than riding on paved streets. I got very sweaty.

From there, we went to check out the sea lions, who were living their best sea lion life on the Newport docks. You can see them for yourself on the livecam.

They were incredibly fun to watch.

So much so that we ate at the Clearwater Restaurants so that we could continue watching them.

I got fish and chips, my favorite thing to get at the beach. Both fish and chips were delightfully hot and seasoned and I felt I had made a good choice.

After lunch, we stopped by the exterior of Ripley’s Believe it or Not so Matt could get a picture with the Hulk.

From there, we went to the Oregon Coast Aquarium where it wasn’t very cold, but it was raining. I made the unfortunate choice to not wear my rain jacket. It’s a mostly outside aquarium.

We did, however, time it perfectly, fun-wise. We first watched the birds get fed, then continued on to the seals and sea lions’ feeding, and then finished up with the sea otters’ feeding.

I have no pictures, but I had a great time.

First Day of Newport Trip

While most people said, “You will have amazing weather!” when I told them about our trip to South Beach State Park outside of Newport, Oregon, planned for late September, it poured rain all the way from Portland to South Beach.

We stopped at the park near the Pronto Pup in Rockaway Beach to do a short walk (in the rain) to see a big tree.

Along the way, we encountered some upper elementary students who wove a tall tale of a creepy monster they encountered. They were amusing, though their tale telling could use some work.

The tree was big, as advertised.

Here’s a Matt-person for scale.

Thankfully, it had rained itself out by the time we got to our yurt, so we didn’t have to unload while the rain continued.

We took a walk to the beach, and then settled in with an Exit escape room game. This time, it was the Catacombs of Horror.

The game was a challenge, as usual. We took 189 minutes and needed ten help cards. That gave us a score of five (out of ten) in the assessment.

We thought our favorite riddle was the last one, and the last one was the trickiest. Our score sheet answers the question “The player who solved the trickiest riddle was…” and we answered “The help card.”

Exit games have been a fun addition to our vacations.