Disneyland or Bust: A Mother-Daughter Coastal Road Trip

[RGirl]

“I don'’t know, he seems kind of hairy and slobbery to me.” (cont.)​

Day 3A (cont.) - Sunday, 27 July 2014 - Lincoln City, Oregon and down the Coast of Oregon

We headed back down.

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And then took the elevator back to the surface, where Willow RAN up the long hill to where we started. And I slogged my way up.

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When we had reached our starting point, we traveled down in the other direction to the Sea Lion Lookout.

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Here, we kind of saw the sea lions on the rocks far below us, and definitely heard them - man, these guys are LOUD.

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We made our way back up, and Willow did a little shopping in the gift shop, picking out a little stuffed penguin for her first souvenir of the vacation. (Willow had her own souvenir money this trip that she had earned by doing chores for an allowance and by reading extra books through the school year and summer.) Looks like she got a picture of her penguin after we returned to the car.

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We also got some popcorn to snack on as we continued on our way.

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Up Next: Day 3B

 

[shan23877]

Yoo Hoo! Look who's managing to comment!

I'm going to need some update hints if I'm going to get any points I guess! Darn it!

Loving hearing about the trip! Sea Lion Cave looks AWESOME! That's a lotta sea lions! Very cool.

And I remember you messaging me about those kids at dinner. I'm still not over it. YIKES!

 

[shan23877]

Oh! And MJ rocks. Thriller was my very first LP

 

[gardengirl2790]

I have to say that Willow is quite the photographer, great job!

We've visited the Sea Lion caves too, unfortunately what I remember most was the smell . . .

 

[ajsary]

I agree, Willow is a terrific photographer! What camera do you guys have? I'm looking for an easy camera to take on our Disney Cruise in four weeks. I am the worst photographer in the family. I think my one year old can frame up a shot better than me. The sea lion caves look so neat!

 

[DisneyKid4Life]

Wow, Willow's pictures really are great, especially from a moving car. That is not easy. Good Job!

Hey, MJ is a legend and musical genius Roni. There is never any shame in rocking out to MJ. Ever. Anyone who disagrees can Beat It.

The caves look really really cool even if there isn't an abundance of Sea Lions.

 

[petals]

Great updates and great pictures from the car Willow

 

[RGirl]

Scuttle in The Little Mermaid

Dang, Jill!! You are ON FIRE!

The coast looks stunning....Willow got some great photos!

Thanks! I was so happy to see her pics - one down side of driving is you can't really take pictures.

I feel your pain on hauling the luggage....my parents do the same thing and they don't pack lightly!

Ugh - I used to be such a light packer. And then I became a parent of a little girl......

The Little Mermaid; but can't remember who said it

***Dang Jill beat me to it again.

So close!!!!!!

I'll be back tomorrow to read the update. Finishing watching Robin Williams Special and then hitting the sack.

I haven't watched any of the tributes yet - I know they will make me too sad (I did DVR a couple though for later).

 

[RGirl]

Yoo Hoo! Look who's managing to comment!

What??? Who is that????

I'm going to need some update hints if I'm going to get any points I guess! Darn it!

I'm still convinced you'll get at least one.

Loving hearing about the trip! Sea Lion Cave looks AWESOME! That's a lotta sea lions! Very cool.

It was a very fun stop.

And I remember you messaging me about those kids at dinner. I'm still not over it. YIKES!

Right? CRAZY!

Oh! And MJ rocks. Thriller was my very first LP

Well, you know how Willow and I feel about him.

I have to say that Willow is quite the photographer, great job!

Thanks! I thought she did a pretty great job this day.

We've visited the Sea Lion caves too, unfortunately what I remember most was the smell . . .

Luckily,we did not experience that - probably because they were all outside enjoying the sun.

I agree, Willow is a terrific photographer! What camera do you guys have? I'm looking for an easy camera to take on our Disney Cruise in four weeks. I am the worst photographer in the family. I think my one year old can frame up a shot better than me. The sea lion caves look so neat!

Thanks!

We both have Canon PowerShots - I pass mine down to Willow when I upgrade.

The sea lion stop was really fun!

 

[RGirl]

Wow, Willow's pictures really are great, especially from a moving car. That is not easy. Good Job!

Thanks! I was pretty impressed with some of the shots she got - and grateful since I couldn't really get any pictures myself.

Hey, MJ is a legend and musical genius Roni. There is never any shame in rocking out to MJ. Ever. Anyone who disagrees can Beat It.

I couldn't agree more. Willow is one of his Biggest Fans.

The caves look really really cool even if there isn't an abundance of Sea Lions.

It was a great stop - we liked going all the way down to see the caves, and then it was cool to observe all the sea lions sunning themselves on the rocks. And man, were they ever LOUD!

Great updates and great pictures from the car Willow

Thanks! I thought she really got some decent shots.

 

[RGirl]

Willow wanted to respond to all the nice comments she received!

Roni and Willow, that is ONE fun TR to read!

It sure was a fun trip!

I love Willow's pictures and her offering her own thoughts as you go along.

Thank you!

that mountain picture is really pretty--and it does sort of look like Everest! good eye, willow!

the ghost/goat story was so funny! I love conversations like that.

the surftides looks like a pretty hotel. how nice that the bride stopped to talk to willow.

Thank you!

Me too! [goat conversation]

It was pretty cool to see a bride for my first time.

I'm loving the fact that Willow is chiming in. And her nail idea was too cute!

Thank you!

Ok, a real reply finally! I can't believe willow wore a white outfit to the fair and left clean! Way to go, girl! I would have found a mud puddle to fall in for sure....

I like all the new outfits for school--super cute. The boots are rockin'!

Hope your first day of school was awesome, Willow!

That is silly!!! I stayed clean!

The boots ARE rockin'!

It was! Thank you!!!

Tell Willow she did an outstanding job capturing some memorable moments...love the selfies

I like myself that's why I take selfies! Thank you!!!

What are you eating there, Willow?

I'm eating a funnel cake! It's such a LARGE funnel cake! It's good - you should try one.

Should have asked for one for Willow's room.
Right Willow?

Right!

I have to say that Willow is quite the photographer, great job!

Thank you!

I agree, Willow is a terrific photographer!

Thank you! I agree too! []

Wow, Willow's pictures really are great, especially from a moving car. That is not easy. Good Job!

Thank you!And if you want to try to do that, you have to snap it really fast before you past it and make it look blurry.

Great updates and great pictures from the car Willow

Thank you!

 

[STLMickeyMom]

the sea lion caves look really awesome, and i'm glad you all didn't do any jumping in the elevator!

willow's pictures of the drive are very good. man, I live in the wrong part of the country!

 

[NorCalGal]

“I don’t know, he seems kind of hairy and slobbery to me.” (cont.)​

Day 3A (cont.) - Sunday, 27 July 2014 - Lincoln City, Oregon and down the Coast of Oregon


Here, we kind of saw the sea lions on the rocks far below us, and definitely heard them - man, these guys are LOUD.


Up Next: Day 3B

I'm following your report and just wanted to comment on this. I live in Eureka (you practically drove by my house if you were on 101!), and I live on the bay so I hear California sea lions all the time, and they ARE loud. During mating season the whole town can hear those guys barking all night, LOL.

 

[RGirl]

The Contest: First person to provide the movie title from which the chapter heading comes gets a point; two points if the character who utters the line is also identified. If the first person doesn't name the character, the first poster to do so will get a point.

Current Standings:
Courtney (courtneybelle): 2 points
Jill (jedijill): 8 points

"Everybody in the car. Boat leaves in two minutes ... or perhaps you don't want to see the second largest ball of twine on the face of the earth, which is only four short hours away?”​

Day 3B - Sunday, 27 July 2014 - Coast of Oregon

So, when I last left off, we had said good-bye to our sea lion friends and hit the road again. We were zipping along until we came around a bend and spotted this.

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Another roadside attraction! (I had read about this one prior to leaving on our trip as well, although I had not specifically planned to stop unless we happened to notice it in passing, which we obviously did!)

This was certainly better than the second largest ball of twine on the face of the earth! This was the Prehistoric Gardens. In 1953, dinosaur enthusiast and former CPA E.V. "Ernie" Nelson set out to fulfill his dream of building a dinosaur park. He chose a prehistoric rainforest on the Southern Coast of Oregon. It took years to construct, including extensive research to attempt to ensure that the life-size dinosaur replicas were scientifically correct. The Prehistoric Gardens opened on 1 January 1955. Amazingly, like so many of the roadside attractions we visited on this trip, the Prehistoric Gardens remains a family business. How can anyone pass up a visit to this place? This is America, folks!

First order of business was to get a pic with Rex out front.

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We then paid the entrance fee ($20 - $12 for adults and $8 for kids) and started on our self-guided tour, map in hand. Basically, this is a rain forest area dotted with giant dinosaurs. Who can ask for anything more????

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Among the dinosaurs, we also spotted a real and very blue bird.

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This was very fun - it was silly, but somewhat educational, and a nice little hike. We thoroughly enjoyed it, and it was well worth the $20.

Willow: And I kind of felt like I was in a real dinosaur world. But I was glad they weren’t real.

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Crush, is that you???

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(Hey, Rob! Did you see that? I managed to pull off a Disney reference in a totally non-Disney environment. )

Here, we were trying to demonstrate how ginormous these leaves are.

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Up Next: Dat 3B (cont.)

 

[RGirl]

"Everybody in the car. Boat leaves in two minutes ... or perhaps you don't want to see the second largest ball of twine on the face of the earth, which is only four short hours away?” (cont.)​

At first we thought that maintenance had missed this toppled fish thing. Then we read the sign, which explained that these creatures were “helpless as a fish on land” and often got stranded “like this” in low tide. Who knew??

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Of course, we had to make a stop in the gift shop for Willow to examine every potential souvenir and finally make her purchase.

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She attempted to get a picture in the car.

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Okay - this one is slightly better.

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Psst - it's a necklace!

When we were done exploring the dinosaurs, it was getting close to 1:00, so I quickly fixed us both a little lunch "buffet" from the cooler, and we headed out on our way.

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We were treated to more amazing views as we traveled on. Don't worry - I actually pulled the car off the road and got these shots.

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See - told ya.

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Willow once again passed on watching a movie and instead insisted on listening to more Michael Jackson.

Don't worry - I'm not going to let you down:

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Up Next: Day 3C

 

[RGirl]

the sea lion caves look really awesome, and i'm glad you all didn't do any jumping in the elevator!

We were very careful in the elevator!!!

willow's pictures of the drive are very good. man, I live in the wrong part of the country!

It's gorgeous, isn't it? I just want to go to the coast all the time!

I'm following your report and just wanted to comment on this. I live in Eureka (you practically drove by my house if you were on 101!), and I live on the bay so I hear California sea lions all the time, and they ARE loud. During mating season the whole town can hear those guys barking all night, LOL.

Hey there! I'm so glad you're following along, and thank you so much for taking the time to stop and comment!

Nothing like a little sea lion noise to keep you up at night!!!!

 

[jedijill]

Clark Griswold in National Lampoon's Vacation

I love those family run roadside attractions! Every time I drive home to Missouri, I pass the world's largest prairie dog but I never stop.

Those dinosaurs look really cool! The coast continues to be stunning. I love all those rocks out in the water.

Jill in CO

 

[STLMickeyMom]

I just love roadside attractions!!! this looks like a stop we would love in our family! I've already decided that the next time we need a weekend family trip, we're going down to see the world's largest rocking chair.

willow--I think those dinos look so fun, but i'm glad they're not alive anymore too!! we just saw the world's largest ketchup bottle the other day. you'll have to look it up online. it's in Illinois.

jedijill--we're in St Louis! a couple summers ago I took the kids I nanny on a roadside attraction vacation. we did a cave/underwater lake, world's largest fork, largest solo cup and a really fun drive through zoo. I've never heard about the world's largest prairie dog though. gonna have to find that one!

 

[petals]

The Dinosaur yoke looks cool. Love Willow's necklace as well

 

[pkondz]

After our brief stay in Lincoln City, we were up at about 6:30AM.

And how did Willow handle that?

I was too stubborn to call the front desk to see if there was someone who could help us, so I made about 243 trips down the tiny, twisty outdoor stairs to haul all of our stuff back down to the car and shove it all back in there.

I would've done it in one.

And paid the price... again.

Please ignore the fact that the woman above is going UP the stairs; picture it in reverse or something.

I did, but couldn't figure out why she kept walking backwards.
Back problems with her too?

pick up some complimentary coffee with disgusting powdered complimentary creamer.

I don't drink coffee... but I can't imagine ever putting that stuff in.

Wow - sorry - Willow got a lot of pics today, and some of them were quite good. I don’t think she’d forgive me if I didn’t share, so just keep scrolling for a couple secs, okay???

I don't mind. I've never seen the west coast... well, I did see a tiny bit in Vancouver, but that's it.
My bucket list has a drive down Hwy 1/101 from Canada to California.

When not taking pictures, we were rocking out with Michael Jackson. Okay, listen, we are big Michael Jackson fans - just deal with it. Hey, at least we weren't listening to Let It Go, a song I have only heard 845.7 million times.

That seems to be a very common complaint these days.

Very common.

And by about 9:00AM, we had arrived at our one planned destination for the day - the Sea Lion Caves!

I would so stop there! That looks so cool!

We checked out a sea lion skeleton.

He's dead, Jim.

Willow posed with a sea lion statue again.

You should've said that it was real, but tame.
Who would've guessed differently?

And then took the elevator back to the surface, where Willow RAN up the long hill to where we started. And I slogged my way up.

Were there certain quiet mumblings about kids and surplus of energy?

Here, we kind of saw the sea lions on the rocks far below us, and definitely heard them - man, these guys are LOUD.

It's because of two factors.
1. Obviously is the number of sea lions.
2. Lesser known fact, they're a little hard of hearing.

"Did you hear about Hank?"
"Huh?"
"Who?"
"Wha?"
"Huh?"
"Hunh?"
"Who?"
"Wha?"
"Huh?"..... you get the idea. Just multiply by the number of sea lions and keep repeating until everyone gives up and goes to sleep.

I like myself that's why I take selfies! Thank you!!!

So love that attitude.

I'm eating a funnel cake! It's such a LARGE funnel cake! It's good - you should try one.

Ah! I've never had one. As far as I know, we don't have any in Canada.

"Everybody in the car. Boat leaves in two minutes ... or perhaps you don't want to see the second largest ball of twine on the face of the earth, which is only four short hours away?”

!!!

Clark Grisw.... oh, poop. She beat me to it again.

How can anyone pass up a visit to this place? This is America, folks!

You're absolutely right!

Willow: And I kind of felt like I was in a real dinosaur world. But I was glad they weren’t real.

You're right. Because if they were real, you'd have to deal with dinosaur farts, which couldn't possibly be very good, now, could they?

Here, we were trying to demonstrate how ginormous these leaves are.

Those suckers are huge! Each leaf is like an umbrella, at least that's the first thing that popped into my head.

At first we thought that maintenance had missed this toppled fish thing. Then we read the sign, which explained that these creatures were “helpless as a fish on land” and often got stranded “like this” in low tide. Who knew??

Who indeed. I wonder where they got those facts from?
Possibly the same people who advised them on their dino colour choices?

Psst - it's a necklace!

Well of course it is, silly.
And a very nice one, too.

so I quickly fixed us both a little lunch "buffet" from the cooler, and we headed out on our way.

Two buffets in two days!


So envious.

We were treated to more amazing views as we traveled on. Don't worry - I actually pulled the car off the road and got these shots.

"pulled off"? Or skidded off?

Hmmmm????

Don't worry - I'm not going to let you down:

Still one of the coolest things ever.

Up Next: Day 3C

Can't wait! Thanks for all the updates!