Here we are at the top of Husum Falls.  I’m the only one in the boat actually paddling with any shred of power.  Of course, I have lots of experience paddling.  Yeah, I pretty much just tooted my own horn.

Hunkered down in the “crash” position, we’re take the plunge!

We’re going under!

We have achieved submarine status!

Steve almost fell out!  Luckily our guide had quick reflexes and grabbed him before he did!

We’re alive!

I was particularly fond of the large fire ring.  We had zero problems keeping warm at night.  The towels are drying after use at the showers.  Yes, luxury camping.

The kids and I went on a 7 mile bike ride throughout the park with amazing views.  We even ran into three deer in the bike path.  We were able to approach within about 20 feet of them before they wandered off into the forest.  Stupid me, I left the camera back at camp.

Abe got a workout and went on a couple of bike rides with us.  I ran him about 1 mile on the first day, broken into two half-mile trips when we went to see the Russell Battery.  The next day, I rode alone with him the same distance, but all at once.  He was pretty tired at the end of the mile long run, but did great.  I was really worried that he would pull me off my bike or get in front of the tires, but he heeled like a champ the whole time.  He even handled turning and weaving without any problems.  I’m really proud of my pooch.  I will definitely take him on bike rides from here on out.

This is the West Battery at Fort Stevens.  There are several batteries, each consisting of 2-4 guns.   The kids really enjoyed playing around the batteries as there are lots of interconnected rooms and stairs… a virtual playground on a massive scale.

The museum was pretty cool and told about the lengthy history of the Fort.  Built in 1863, it served during every major U.S. way through WWII.  The picture above is of a WWII era jeep outside the museum.

A U.S. Coast Guard Jayhawk rescue helicopter flew over several times throughout the day.  I’m not sure what they were doing, but I was able to get several good pictures of them.

After a visit to the Fort Stevens museum, we drove a couple miles south to the beach where the wreck of the Peter Iredale is.  There’s not much left of it, but it’s amazing that this much as lasted for over 105 years on the beach.

On the way home through Seaside we ran into this strange site.  A fully engulfed building right there on the main drag.  The firemen were lazily keeping the blaze under control and didn’t even see the need to stop traffic.  People were walking right up to the blaze, less than 35 feet from that blaze and chatting up the firement.  It was bizarre.  The heat could be felt from across the street where I took these pictures from.

You can see more pictures from this trip on Flickr.

I posted a bunch of Hood to Coast pics on Flickr too.

We headed to Tillamook in hopes that the Chamber of Commerce Visitor Center would help us find another place to camp.  We got there at 5:01, just after they closed.  Jen called Joleine who was helping us look for alternative sites online.  Everything seemed full already.  Luck was on our side though and Nate spotted a flyer with a list of campgrounds.  He started dialing for dollars.  He finally reached a place that had two spots open right next to each other.  We didn’t ask any other questions and headed straight there.

What we got was the two worst spots in the place, right next to the entrace of the park and near the highway.  The good news was that it was remote and traffic was very light.  However, it was an OHV park and there were lots of dirt bikes and quads making a lot of noise.

On the upside, we had lots of room (literally about a hundred yards) to ourselves, shady trees that kept the tents cool all day, and not much to complain about.  The noise stopped at about 10pm when the red necks turned off their country music.

We explored the river a bit and let the dogs run around in the water.  It was a great trip despite the rocky beginning.  Thanks to Nate for finding a place at the last minute – he saved the weekend!

You can view the entire set of pictures on Flickr.

On the way back, we stopped at Home Depot to get a much needed sprinkler for the front lawn.  After I mowed the lawn, the kids played for a bit.

Chris, Karen, and baby Owen came up and we had a great time with them despite the interruptions.  We had several dinner parties throughout the week and got to hang out with lots of friends.  We went to Juan Colorado a couple of times as Chris says that despite the fact that they live in San Diego, they can’t find good Mexican food.

We made it to the Saturday market (on Sunday go figure) and enjoyed the great weather.  It only rained for the 10 minutes we spent eating under a canopy… perfect timing on our part.  We heard some dreadful performances by a children’s singer.  I suppose you might like it if you were a kid, but I found it annoying.  We also received some free hugs as you can see from the picture above.  You can see a host of miscellaneous pictures from the week on Flickr.

While the ladies were enjoying a few hours at a salon, we went to the zoo with Megan and Farnz.  We only spent a couple of hours there which is great since we go there so often.  The annual passes we have really come in handy!  You can view the entire set of zoo pictures on Flickr.

On Thursday we took advantage of the perfect weather and went to the beach.  The Killians, Howlands, and Goings families all piled into the van (14 of us in all) and drove to Seaside.  In our haste to put sunscreen on the kids, the adults forgot and we all got nice sunburns.  It was all worth it though.  Afterwards, we took teh scenic way back through Astoria and took the opportunity to drive across that roller coaster shaped bridge.  You just have to drive on it to believe it.  You can see the full set of beach pictures on Flickr.

While we were at the bike shop, Beck spotted the white hawaiian Electra Townie 21 that she’s been wanting. It was all decked out already. The only negative is that it didn’t have an internal hub, but that just means it’ll need maintenance every once in a while… not a big deal. It’s a gorgeous bike.

You can see the whole set of pics on Flickr.

It was our first time to the Hoyt Arboretum and we were pleasantly surprised at how extensive the trails were. The trees were beautiful and the hike wasn’t too difficult. It was a great day out with the whole family.

Hoyt Arboretum from Jim Goings on Vimeo.

You can also check out lots of good pics that didn’t make the video on my Flickr site.

Hillsboro Oregon from Jim Goings on Vimeo.