Tessemland, U.S.A.: Just Us.

In July, I checked with my parents to see if it might be possible for our kiddos to have an extended weekend with them on the farm while Jeff and I took time together, just the two of us . . . some time in August... and they did! We packed up the car in the morning on a Thursday in August, and headed north.

About half way through our journey, we stopped in Malad at the Gorge. Haven't stopped here in over 15 years. Kind of fun, but I admit I didn't want to come near either side of the-very-high-up bridge. . . The last time we stopped, Jeff and I were dating and he was on his way home to meet my family for the first time . . . along with my older brother and his then girlfriend (they didn't end up getting married but got questioned and teased relentlessly, while Jeff and I sat back and enjoyed our quiet time together.) . . .

Anyways . . .

We arrived at my parents in the evening with plenty of time to visit, and take a ride on my Dad's four-wheeler. Friday morning, we said a quick goodbye to the kiddos, told them to take care of each other, and hit the road!

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As we got closer to Mt.Hood, I couldn't figure out why it looked so hazy . . .

signs along the road warned of fire close, and not to stop or slow. . .

It was seriously right off the freeway, with cars literally feet away. . . guess this is why it looked so hazy!

The helicopter went right over us, and was hovering over the Columbia just off the freeway . . . craziness. Rain is definitely needed!

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We spent many hours talking, playing the alphabet game, enjoying the changing scenery, and the farm-side fruit stands as we got closer and closer to the coast.

Side-note. Portland.

We I thought it might be a good idea to stop in a grocery store and get some snacks and fill up our tank before we were too close to the coast, thinking that it might be a better idea. Ahem, not really, but we did have a truly unique Portland experience. As we were in a Safeway walking through the isles, there was a woman who was interested in deodorant, not necessarily purchasing it, just trying it out and putting it back on the shelf for later . . .

Finding non-organic fruits and veggies took some real looking, and our little cart road down its own little escalator, next to our people-escalator. So, even though when we made it to the coast and saw there were regular grocery stores and gas for less than $3.99 (what we paid in Portland) I still feel like it was kinda worth the detour.

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And just like that, we were at the ocean. (Okay, so just like about 11 hours or so, but who's counting?)

oooooh, how I've missed the waves.

The Oregon coast definitely didn't disappoint as far as views were concerned.

We kept pulling off the road whenever something caught our eye, but it was nice to make it to our Hotel, get a little settled, and take a leisurely stroll on the beach.

Sunset over the water. Magical.

I just didn't remember how windy Newport beach was . . . and chilly, but we walked through some fun little parts of town and found some cocoa to take the edge off.

I saw that it was only supposed to be 45 degrees on our run the next morning, and was a little worried, but there was no wind in the morning, so it was pretty perfect. Fog, sand-dollars, mist, the ocean, and this handsome guy I get to call mine to make the run just right.

We enjoyed the farmer's market, with tons of produce including blueberries! (I've really been missing those fresh!) and some great baked goods.

We took in the historic waterfront, and saw the seals and sail boats, oh, and this guy:

We watched him get his kite, maintain it's height as he hopped with his board beneath one arm on his way to the water, and then he was off. We had to watch because I had no idea how he was going to turn around. . . but he did, changed the direction of the kite and was headed back to shore. Crazy.

Hard to believe it's been 15 years since we became an Eternal Family.

We took in a couple lighthouses as well.

Did I mention it was windy?

We walked down to the tidal pools to see what we could find. I really wanted to find a starfish, and just before we were done exploring we found one :) Beautiful.

Fun to stay at the same place we did when we were first married. We remembered taking this picture, but I didn't remember exactly HOW I had tried to kiss the whale, so it's not exactly the same, but you know, there are a few other things that have changed in the inter-rum, so no biggee. . .

It was hard to say goodbye to the coast again . . . I may or may not have shed a couple tears. But we sure had a nice visit.

On our way home, we stopped to hike to some waterfalls . . . along with most of Portland . . . but once we got hiking, we left most of them behind, so that was nice.

Joseph and Megan brought drove about 45 minutes to meet up with us and say hello for a few minutes. So nice to see them, and give them hugs from us. Sweet family.

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Then we were back with Nanna and Grandy and seeing our kiddos.