We started off our last day in Washington by having a picnic at Snoqualmie Falls. Then we continued east, up into the mountains, to the little “Bavarian village” of Leavenworth.
We went for a nice hike along the Wenatchee River and then walked around exploring the village shops. We finished up our day by having a delicious German dinner at the Andreas Keller Restaurant. The bratwurst and weinkraut were amazingly good!
We started off our first day back in Portland by building some bug boxes. My little brother AJ and sister Michaela joined us, as did my dad.
Later on in the day, we watched a Hillsboro Hops game with my parents, little brother and sister, and my sister Courtney’s family. Connor was excited to get to buy a Hops hat, so he could match his Daddy and Grandpa Rick.
It was a little on the hot side, but the kids enjoyed themselves and even got to run the bases after the game.
All the Portland Ladd clan went to the Silver Falls State Park that was in the mountains south of Portland for an afternoon picnic and some fishing. Connor and Gavin were super excited to try fishing, because they had never gone before. Unfortunately, there wasn’t any fish biting this day.
Aliciana and I went on the 2.5 mile long looping trail that went to the South Falls and Lower South Falls. It was gorgeous, but the climb up from the Lower South Falls would have killed the fatter version of myself from several years ago.
Today was what passes for a rest day for our style of vacationing. We made a short 45 mile drive down to Salem to check out the Oregon State Capitol. We went on the guided tour and learned about the building, which was actually the 3rd capitol building, because the first two burned down.
On the way back up to Portland, we walked around an Eddie Bauer outlet, where I found a cool shirt with a llama on it. Aliciana also snagged some good deals in the Loft outlet.
Back in Portland, we had a delicious family dinner at the Raccoon Lodge. The Reuben sandwich I ate was superb!
The Portland Ladds all gathered at my sister Courtney’s house for a Fourth of July BBQ and fireworks. All the kiddo’s had lots of fun playing with bubbles while we waited for the sun to go down.
It was a nice day to get to enjoy the tranquility of the Portland Japanese Garden. At least, it was tranquil while the kids weren’t running around causing a ruckus.
We spent our last full day in Oregon up by Astoria, where the Columbia River dumps out into the Pacific Ocean. We started off the day fishing in Coffenbury Lake at Fort Stevens State Park. Unfortunately, the fish weren’t biting this day, but the boys learned a lot about fishing being 99% waiting for something to happen.
After everyone got tired fishing, we headed over to the Fort Stevens Military Museum and the gun batteries that protected the mouth of the Columbia River. The kids had a lot of fun running around the giant concrete bunkers.
We finished up our day in the beautiful Northwest tip of Oregon by visiting the Astoria Column. It is located on top of a 600 foot tall hill in Astoria, and the column itself was an additional 125 feet high. We had breathtaking views of the Columbia River and surrounding areas, after hiking up the 164 steps to get to the top.
After taking in the views, we made sure to drive back and forth across the Astoria–Megler Bridge. It spans 4.1 miles across the Columbia River, making it the longest continuous truss bridge in North America.
The boys wanted to check out the new Japanese Steel exhibit at the Automotive Museum. It was largely just old Japanese pickup trucks and super small cars, but there were a few cool Japanese sports cars. We also saw Evel Knievel’s motorcycle and a Delorean, which was the boy’s favorite, even though they have never seen Back To The Future.
Eddie and Sally took the entire Loera clan to Disney California Adventure to celebrate their 40th wedding anniversary. Everyone had a blast! Besides riding great rides like Radiator Springs Racers, the kids also got to meet Captain America, walk around with Thor while he searched for Loki, and train to be agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.
The Disney photographers also took lots of photos throughout our fun day. In the last group photo, they managed to capture all 17 of us looking at the camera:
It is hard to believe so much tar and fossils exist practically right in downtown LA. We all learned a lot about ice age animals and the boys enjoyed seeing all the skeletons, such as saber-tooth cats and mammoths.
We also went on a walking tour of the tar pits: learning how they formed, how animals got trapped in them, and how they were (and still are) excavated.
My boys were super excited to start school, so they could see all their friends again. Gavin is starting 4th grade with Mrs Bivin. Connor is a big 1st grader and has Mrs Dastrup. I’m sure we are all going to have a great year!
We got out in nature at the San Elijo Lagoon and made some friends in the process. We met a desert tortoise named Franklin who loved to have his shell pet. They also had some cool snakes and other creatures in the nature center to look at.
A giant green beetle also tried to be Aliciana’s friend. First he landed in her hair, and after I picked him out, he flew off, made a circle, and landed on her side. Once I picked him off again, he decided to go bother someone else.
Gavin was busy at a birthday party, so Connor and I went out together to the Safari Park. We watched the new baby tiger cubs get fed. It was World Rhino Day, so we made sure to go say hello to them. We also spent some time with the goats, brushing them. A big woolly sheep wanted in on the brush action too.
The boys and I went for a nice hike over the pedestrian bridge and along the shore of Lake Hodges. The boys took a break along the way to try their hand at grinding acorns.
Besides seeing lizards and birds, we also ran across some mule deers, which walked out of some brush. Unfortunately, they ran back into cover before I could snap a photo.
