Middle of Oregon

img_6392We had originally planned on going down the entire coast of Oregon. Someone had a baby and we decided to cut the bottom of the coast out of the route. Then I got in touch with my brother I hadn’t talked to in twelve years, so we cut some more coast out of the trip. The good thing about being totally free to go where we please is that we can change plans quickly. Though we were sad to miss the coast of Oregon, it was worth it to get to see family.
Our entire adventure we haven’t made reservations and up to this point only one campsite was filled up (it only had 10 sites). Usually we leave it to fate and just try to arrive at a decent time. The camp we had picked out for this stop had a small train and it looked very kid friendly from the pictures on the website. We pulled up to the camp and there was a sign saying they were closed and to not bother them. Bummer. Well life has a way of working out though and the closest camp we could find was a state img_6468park called Silver Falls. This was an amazing campsite and I am so glad we ended up at it. There is a hiking trail called the trail of ten falls with a waterfall you can go behind. With Trip we can only hike four or five miles, so we visited three or four falls and had a blast. The kids did the junior ranger program and even collected litter along the trail. Later the locals recommended we visit Silver Falls, so everything worked out for the best. While staying here a neighbor came over and asked for help because she had accidentally locked herself out of their trailer. I had my tools in hand to work on our trailer, so instead I went over and tried to break in for her. Well an hour later her husband and I drilled the lock out because they make the trailers tough to break into. The couple gave us some excellent wine as thanks, which we enjoyed over the next week.


img_6041The capitol building in Salem was unique and had a flavor of it’s own compared to the other capitols we visited. It still had the history, artwork and informative government lesson for the kids. It just had a different style building and a major emphasis on both the green movement and a government ran by the people. I especially liked that every representative was required to vote on all the bills and no one was allowed to abstain or img_6066miss a vote. They even allowed goats to mow the lawns for years, though they had recently switched to a more standard mowing system. After checking out the capitol building we visited a children’s museum that was on Miles museum list. The play structure alone was worth the visit, but we still enjoyed all the different areas of the museum. The best part to me was that the museum was housed in several img_6100Victorian age buildings with great wood carvings and architecture. Our visit to Salem was nice, but we were running out of time before we had to be in San Diego and we wanted to see family.
Getting to see my brother made our adventure worth it no matter what happens from here on out. It was really difficult finding a campsite because the local sporting team was having a game, so we had to stay at an expensive resort and only had a few nights to stay before our spot was reserved by someone else. We picked my brother up and went to the museum and afterward he took us to lunch. No words could express how nice it was to see him and know that his family is doing good. We ended up at his house to see the rest of his family and enjoyed our short time with them. Although we didn’t img_6622get enough time, but both Sarah and I agree we will have to visit again sometime in the future. After this family visit we got to see Sarah’s new niece, so it was definitely worth missing some coastline and beaches.
The hitch started making a horrible noise about this time and it wasn’t turning properly. I contacted the company and they immediately sent a replacement sleeve. It took a few minutes to switch out and the hitch has worked perfectly since. I also got to fix our coffee percolator, a drawer the kids overloaded with books, a shelf from the refrigerator, and our stabilizer jacks electrical issue. While I was working on all these projects a img_6626major plumbing issue happen where we were at due to all the kids accidentally blocking the sewer line. Plumbing isn’t my favorite and it was a dirty horrible job, but everyone chipped in and we managed to fix it without having to call a plumber which gets expensive quick. Even though we don’t have jobs, we still manage to find work to do. It’s a good thing for me too because I am a busy body and I enjoy some work, especially when it is for my family.

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The kids loved dancing in front of the screen and watching the results

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