Hi All,
I am way behind on the good old blog!!! Back in September Mattie had a week off of school for Fall Break. Adam and I decided it was time to check another place off of our travel bucket list. This year we took the kids out to Oregon and drove down the coast to San Francisco. We have been wanting to get out to Oregon for years. We also thought it would be fun for Mattie to see San Francisco and where she lived for two years of her life.
We took an early morning flight (8:00 a.m.) out of Atlanta in hopes that Graham would nap on the plane. That. Did. Not. Happen. He was terrible. We had just boarded the plane and were getting settled when the lady in the seat in front of us turned around. She proceeded to tell me that Mattie had bumped her seat several times already, and could I please do something. Really lady?!?!? We haven't even taxied yet!! I was already anxious, and sweating bullets, just trying to get the kids set up with snacks and movies. I just looked at her with daggers, and let her know I was doing my best. That just kind of set the tone for the flight. Our busy bodied little boy just couldn't sit still. In hindsight a 4 1/2 hour flight was a lot to ask of him, but we made it to Portland and it was worth it.
 |
| Just strolling through the airport |
 |
| It's a good thing he is cute! |
 |
| Oh, you know just not sitting in his seat |
 |
| This lasted about 2 minutes |
 |
| This kid is a pro at traveling |
 |
| The only 5 minutes of peace on a 4 1/2 hour flight |
Saturday: We arrived in Portland midmorning. We grabbed our rental car and off we went. Our first stop was downtown Portland. We hit Voodoo Doughnuts for our doughnut loving Mattie Grace. After stuffing our faces with delicious doughnuts we walked around downtown and took in the city.
 |
| Mattie was in doughnut heaven |
 |
| Why is this cell phone attached to the wall??? |
 |
| First day...can't hang |
Sunday: We were still on East Coast time so we took advantage and got an early start. We left the hotel and headed for Mount Hood. There was a hike around Trillium Lake that we wanted to do . It was suppose to have amazing views of Mount Hood. Unfortunately, it was cloudy and rainy so the views were not as spectacular.
 |
| Reunited with my Pacific Northwest love...Dutch Brothers Coffee. |
 |
| Trillium Lake |
After our hike we headed north to the Columbia River Gorge Area. We had a couple of things to see, we did miss out on a few hiking trails and waterfalls due to the 2017 Eagle Fires. Some trails were still closed to allow for revegetation. We did get to drive the Columbia River Gorge Scenic Hwy, and we saw two amazing waterfalls, Multnomah Falls and Latourell Falls.
 |
| Bridge of the Gods |
 |
| Columbia River |
Multnomah Falls was spectacular. It was raining a little while we were there but it didn't slow us down. We decided we would hike up to the top which was only about a mile, but very steep. Adam did the entire hike with Graham on his shoulders. Dad of the year!!
 |
| Multnomah Falls |
Next stop was Latourell Falls. It was pretty awesome, we had it all to ourselves! No one was there, and I can't understand why. It was amazing. Adam and Mattie even had their own adventure climbing behind the falls, while a mad Graham and I watched. By this point in the day Graham had not napped and he was over us and our adventures.
'/;[.÷
We had two last stops on our Columbia River Gorge adventures where short. Graham fell asleep in the car, and we did not dare wake him! Adam basically stood next to the car while Mattie and I snapped some pictures.
Monday: On Monday we started our drive down the coast. We started at Cannon Beach and Haystack Rock. It was so beautiful! In true Corrigan fashion we were only there for like 15 minutes when Graham fell down in the water and got soaked. It was cold so we had to cut our time on the beach a little short, and take him back to the car and change his clothes.
After Haystack Rock we continued on down the coast. We stopped at Oswald State Park and also took a tour of the Tillamook Creamery.
After lunch at Tillamonk we continued on for a little while and ended our day on the beach, the same way we started the day!
Tuesday back on the road again. We started making our way to Bandon Oregon. Adam's parents had recently been and said it was a must see. It did not disappoint! On our way to Bandon we found a couple of hidden gems that we weren't expecting. After our daily stop at Dutch Bros we came across Devil's Churn and decided to stop and check it out. It was the coolest, craziest thing, and totally worth the stop.
Next we hit Whale Cove. I had it on my list originally, but when I found out that it wasn't peak season for whale migration I kind of marked it off the list. We decided to stop anyway and I'm so glad we did. We actually got to see some whales. They were pretty far out, but it was awesome.
Next stop Sea Lion Cave.
And finally we made it to Bandon, it was beautiful!! Pictures do not do it justice.
After Bandon we drove half way to Crater Lake and stayed the night. We wanted to get to Crater Lake early the next day, knowing we would have to drive back towards the coast after.
Wednesday: Woke up and drove to Crater Lake. After Crater Lake we had to do a lot of driving. When planning our itinerary I had kind of miscalculated the driving for Wednesday and Thursday, so we needed to get a little farther on Wednesday than I had originally planned. Of course Adam had a really good laugh at how far I had expected us to drive in one day (Basically Bandon to San Francisco, in one day which is crazy :) I still don't know what I was thinking.
After Crater Lake we made our way back to the coast.
 |
| Natural Bridges |
Thursday: Driving Day! Our plan on Thursday was to drive to Pleasanton, CA where we would stay the night and show Mattie our old stomping grounds. But first we needed to drive through a tree!
 |
| Driving in Redwoods National Forest |
We finally made it to Pleasanton! It was so awesome to show Mattie where she use to live and all the fun places we use to go. We stopped at a park we use to go to a lot and let the kids play for a while, then it was off to dinner and The Dairy for ice cream.
