10 must do's in Oregon.

1. Break up the drive but don't stay in a sketchy motels. It was a good idea to break up the 7+ hour drive, it was a bad idea to pick one of the cheapest motels we could find in Tacoma.  You know you why its a 2 star motel when a) it reminds you of the scene in Prison Break where John Abruzzi gets shot by the mafia b) the first thing you see when you get out of your is an inebriated gentleman with his pants around his ankles drinking from a bottle in a paper bag c) the receptionist is a 6 foot drag queen d) the show on the TV in the lobby is a gruesome homicide e) there is a prostitute loitering in the parking lot and f) the motel is directly under a flight path so you can hear the planes literally above your head allll night and  g) a stray black cat (definitely cursed) walks past your room. Nevertheless, the kids did not notice and were just enthralled to jump on the beds. We just locked the doors and prayed we would not get shot at night.

2. Take the scenic route. We were eager to leave the sketchy motel and back in the safety of our car as soon as it was morning. We took the scenic route along the coast and it was so beautiful we quickly forgot the questionable decision we made last night to stay at that motel.

3. Rent a beach house with friends. When vacationing with kids, its best to do it with friends, even if the number of small people out number the adults it's still infinitely better to do meals together and attempt to put your overly excited children to bed in the same room together. Plus renting a house together means you can afford a much nicer place than you can on your own (need I remind you of the sketchy motel?)

4. Don't forget to pack a hoodie! Our first beach stop was Cannon Beach,  after 15 minutes in our tank tops and shorts, we had to go back to the car to find reinforcements because we were all freezing. So much for getting a tan, I was wearing my hoodie most days at the beach.

5. Attempt to fly a kite or a rainbow ribbon. I had bought the kid each a kite from the dollar store and for the $1.25 I paid, I would say that it flew for about 1 minute and 25 seconds. But when we finally got one working, it was a glorious minute. Little Bro was so stoked racing back and forth across the beach nearly decapitating innocent bystanders with the string. Big Sis brought her rhythmic gymnastics ribbon and moderate success flying the ribbon by the ocean.

6. Do get free samples at the Tillamook Creamery.  This is the 'it' place to be. It just got renovated and inside there is a interactive display and a walking tour where you see the factory workers made the cheese. The kids were so memorized by all the robotics of the place. And of course there are free cheese samples. The ice cream there is divine. We bought two cartons and in 2 nights we went back and bought another one. I swear the kids ate most of it. We also bought some of this amazing smoked pepper cheese, we finished the last bit a few days ago and I am seriously going through some withdrawal symptoms.

7. Spend a day at Pacific City. Hike a sand dune. Skim a sand dune. This was one of my favourite days. You can watch all the trucks and SUVs race around in the sand dunes, there were deer walking around, there's horse back riding tours and there's the Cape Kiwanda sand dune which you can hike up barefoot and you get the most amazing view at the top. We even saw a whale at the top of Cape Kiwanda. It was so magical that I fully expected to see a mermaid after we saw the whale.

8. Go explore caves. Find new beaches. You can't really go wrong with any beach on the Oregon coast, we would just pick a different place to explore every day. One beach we found had a huge cave and of course we had to go in. Luckily, we weren't in the dark for too long and we followed the light at the end of the tunnel and discovered yet another beautiful beach.

9. Ride a one-of-a-kind bicycle along a railroad track. Check out Oregon Railriders. You get in these 4-seater bicycles and you can't get lost because you pedal the bike along the railroad tracks.  There is no minimum age requirement to get on the bikes, they even let babies in infant car seats on the bike, though our friend's baby did not do much peddling. Side note - it is also beside the Fish Peddler restaurant which is a great place for seafood and there are the biggest mountains of oyster shells I have ever seen in my life.

10. Pretend to be a pirate yar. Have some laughs yar. At one of the beaches, the guys hid some American coins (aka 'treasure') and led the kids on a quest to find the pirate treasure. Then we tried to keep talking like pirates except we didn't really know what to say other than saying 'yar' instead of 'eh'. That just became our catch phrase of the trip and we just added 'yar' to everything we said.

"that's good cheese yar"
"let's go in the hot tub yar"
All in all, a great trip with some great friends (yar).