Tour de Oregon 2011

I'm not sure why I'm calling our Oregon vacation the Tour de Oregon as there was absolutely no bike-riding of any kind for the entire week-long trip, but it has a nice ring to it, no?

Our family vacation to Oregon was not relaxing per se (we stayed in 4 towns in 7 days - lots of driving from one place to another!), we certainly got to see and do a lot!  Best part was seeing lots of family that we don't usually get to see.  Two of my cousins live in Oregon, and so does Handsome Husband's father and his family - so it was great to see them!

We started off the trip eagerly awaiting our flight to Portland out of Long Beach Airport.

Sister Singer and the omnipresent iPhone

The next morning, we woke up bright and early to take a walk along the river by our hotel.  Well, some of us did...

Early morning walkers group - HH is seriously into it.

Portland, Oregon - The City of Roses

We spent the day driving around and seeing all the places Gardening Mom and Hat Dad had lived in (Portland is where my 'rents met!), and then drove down to our coastal stop on the trip - Lincoln City, Oregon!

The beautiful view from our suite!

Our hotel had these adorable alcoves where you could check out the pretty views of the ocean.

After a fabulous seafood dinner, we played some seriously intense games of Egyptian Rat Screw, War and Rummy back at the hotel.

The next morning, we walked right up the street into the small "downtown" of Lincoln City, which was filled with cute little antique stores and gift shops.

 Very seriously considered making this purchase.

The 3 Musketeers.

We drove down the coast, and stopped at a few places to check out some gorgeous views and a cute lil lighthouse.

After soaking in the ocean-air sufficiently, we headed inland towards Albany, where we would soon get to see Best Cousin marry the love of her life!

The next morning (while Best Cousin was busy getting beautified for her big day!), we got to take a lovely tour of beautiful Oregon State University campus.

A costume change later (look out for a special "What We Wore" outfit post next week!), we were off to the wedding!

We got to watch Best Cousin walk down the aisle with her daddy,

marry the love of her life,

dance with her new husband,

and her wonderful father.

And we were pretty excited about it!

The next day, we were lucky enough to spend the entire day with family (and leftover wedding cake!) before heading to Eugene, Oregon where HH's Dad lives with his sweet wife and their two children.

It was our first time seeing their house (which is absolutely gorgeous, by the way!), and we were happy to spend a few days with them, as we don't get to see them too often.

The next day was a day we were all looking forward to - shooting day!  We trekked it up a mountain until we were met with a big open space and a breath-taking view for shooting.

Even Gardening Mom and I got in on the fun!

We had an awesome dinner that night of elk backstrap and elk fingers, lasagna, and plenty of yummy sides thanks for HH's fabulous host of a stepmother!

Our last morning in Eugene we went to a wonderful breakfast in the downtown college area, and finished our visit with a short self-guided tour of University of Oregon.

We drove up to Portland, and had an awesome Japanese sushi dinner, and I started the vacation-home readjustment a bit early, and actually did some homework (the life of a never-ending student).

On our last day of vacation, we walked all around Portland, and saw Gardening Mom's alma mater - Portland State University.

Before we had to head to the airport, we took a little trip east of the city to the Multnomah Falls, which is (according to my tour guides, Hat Dad and Gardening Mom) the third tallest waterfall in the country!

One quick stop for with some more amazing views of Oregon, and we were off to the airport to go back to real life.

And that was our Tour de Oregon!

If you are interested in hotels we stayed in, or restaurants we ate at, please feel free to comment here or email me at stresscasey@gmail.com  - I'd be happy to share, we experienced some great places to stay and eat!