Angel and Tristan went swimming in the community pool. They get along so well and had a blast together. We did some beach combing. It was high tide so we didn't get too many things but it was a great day, with a great family and wonderful friends.
Angel and I were home for 5 days and we headed East to Leavenworth. We went camping with our friends at Icicle River RV park. We spent many hours at the rivers edge since it was in the upper 80's and 90's. Tristan and Angel got along really well. They were in class together in 3rd grade.
Jerry wasn't far behind so they wouldn't get away from us. The next day we tied a long rope to the tube and they would float down and pull themselves back. We went into town to look around one evening. It was late so not many shops were open. Besides the fact that it was very hot!! We found the park which had a trail that went along the river. I have no idea how far we walked but it was nice. The kids wanted to fish so the next day we went in search of a dock for them to fish off of. The river was for fly fishing only. We traveled
west on hwy 2 for about 10 miles and found a turnoff to Lake Wenatchee State Park and Fish Lake. We checked out the state park first and figured it might be a fun place to camp next time. It had a great swimming area for the kids. We didn't find a dock for the kids to fish off of so we ventured on to check out Fish Lake. What a wonderful place!! I don't know that we would pull our trailers in there but to go fishing we hit the jack pot!! People were coming in with 50 fish or more. The had a dock but also had boat
s that you could rent. Anywhere from float boats, to row boats, to motor boats to party barges. We chose the party barge. We had Bella with us and not only could it hold the 6 of us but there was more than enough room for her too. This was Angels first time fishing. EVER!!! She happened to be the only one that caught a fish that day. We were only out there for about an hour or so actually fishing. We floated around and toured the lake. Very nice location. Angel reeled that fish in at warp speed. Thought for sure that it would be down to bones by the time it reached the boat. It was a nice plump rainbow trout that was about 12 inches in length. I cooked it for her to eat the next morning for breakfast. She shared it with Tristan. It was a great 3 d
ays that we spent with the Halsen family. We genuinely hope that we will do this again sometime. It was a good time by all and memories that will last us a lifetime.
We started out our trip on the Washington coast. We stayed 3 nights in Long Beach. It was very windy however we had beautiful blue skies. We visited all the lighthouses on the Oregon coast and only 2 of the 21 lighthouses on the Washington coast. This was one that we saw. It was at Cape Disappointment. From Long Beach we traveled south and stayed the next 3 nights in Tillamook. Of course we went to the cheese factory. The highlight of that was having the best ice cream ever. We went on a scenic tour of the entire bea
ch area. Grampa, Angel and I hiked to a waterfall one day. It was very peaceful. Gramma couldn't go because she would not be able to hike the trail since it had hills. It was like looking at a postcard. From Tillamook we went to Depoe Bay. We were there for 4 nights. On our way in we met up with Aunt Lauraine and her family. They were in Lincoln City for her 90th birthday. It was nice seeing Tom and Susan Atwood. It has been many years since I had seen them. Once settled in the RV park we found a wonderful beach where we played in the sand and looked for agates. We moved south to Bandon. We were there for 4 nights. This was the furthest south that we were 
going to travel. Bandon had beautiful soft sand beaches. This is just one of the sunsets we enjoyed. Old Town Bandon had a lot of cute shops and a blue shack that had wonderful fish and chips. We enjoyed fish and chips and chowder at every stop along with ice cream almost daily. It was a good thing that we did some beach walking. We also visited a wild animal park. When you walked into the 
part where the animals were free you got mauled. Especially if you were carrying the ice cream cone filled with f
eed. There were deer, donkeys, goats, llamas and many other critters running around free. You just had to watch your steps at all times. The had many animals in cages too. They had lions, tigers, cheetahs, bears, cougars, monkeys and others. We had a very nice time. I think the highlight for Gramma and Angel
was when they got to go in the cage and hold, pet and play with 2 baby black leopards. Gramma fed the cub milk from a baby bottle. When they got a little too playful for Angel it was time to get out of the area. We had a very fun day at this park. From Bandon we headed north once again. Our next stop was Florence. We spent 4 nights there too. We went to lighthouses, to the beach, shopping in town and to the sea lion caves.
We were amazed at how many sea lions could be in one place at one time. We found out that they are owned and run by a single family and have had it in their family since 1934. It now has an elevator that you take down into the cave. I was very happy that we didn't have to go down and then back up all those stairs. Our last stop on our Oregon Coast trip was in Warrenton. Warrenton is just across the bridge from Astoria. We spent the last 3 nights of our vacation there. We went thru Fort Canby, saw a ship wreck, some nice beaches and some cool museums. It was a wonderful 21 day vacation. We are so glad that we were able to go. It was wonderful spending this special time with Gramma and Grampa building lasting memories.
