The Law Family: Portland & Oregon Coast

We took our annual CSG partner trip. Neither of us had been to the Oregon coast, so we thought that would be a fun part of the country to explore. My parents were gracious enough to watch the kiddos for a few days and this trip was so what I needed. Summer was crazy with Carter's broken leg and the puppies that I feel like I didn't really get a summer. I was really looking forward to this trip and getting to spend quality alone time with Dayton before the next baby boy comes along in January. Dayton and I flew into Portland on Sunday morning. We spent the entire day exploring the city of Portland before we drove to the coast.

Our first stop was to get breakfast. We had looked out different places on tripadvisor that would be "brooke friendly" right now. I've had health problems for the past year and have limited diet. Luckily, Portland is a fantastic place to be with diet specialty needs. Seriously loved it! We at breakfast at Mother's Bistro and it was honestly some of our favorite food we ate there. I had the most delicious salmon, eggs, and potato dish. Dayton enjoyed his eggs Benedict. Supper yummy.

We then ventured across the street to Voodoo Donuts. Not going to lie, that place is just weird. The menu was interesting. Our kids would have loved to pick out the unique donuts.

The line was out the door regardless of the time of day. It was a busy place. Dayton got a chocolate donut and a bacon maple bar. He wasn't very impressed and said it tasted just like a donut from Smiths. So who knows what the big hype is.

Next, we stopped at the Japanese Garden. It was pretty and peaceful.

Next, we took a tour around Pittock Mansion. We learned about the Pittock family and saw beautiful view of the city. What I loved about Portland is one minute you are in a big city and the next in a completely isolated forest. It was so cool to see a city surrounded by forest and big pine trees.

Then we took a walk through the forest to the witches hut.

We still had a little bit of time to kill before dinner. We headed to another park to stroll around and absorb the beautiful green scenery. Portland has so many parks.

Afterwards, we drove to Mcmenamins for dinner. My cousin Kristen had recommended it. I got more salmon and Dayton got fish and chips. He said he was his favorite fish and chips form the entire trip- and he ate a lot of fish and chips. He still talks about how good it was and how he wants to go back.

We got to our hotel in Cannon Beach that night. We got a few groceries and again I loved how farm to fresh Portland is. Yes Portland is a weird city and is known for that, but man I was loving it. I was able to get fresh berries and grapes from a local farm and they were DIVINE. I found lots of goodies for me.

We got up that morning and took a nice long walk on the beach. We just kept walking and ended up doing over 5 miles! It was so nice to just relax and be together and not have a schedule or agenda.

We then took a bike ride through the cute beach town and met up with Danny and Leslie for lunch. They had flown in late Sunday night. Then we all went on a hike at Ecola State Park. We did the Crescent beach trail. It was a perfect forest trail that ended on a beautiful beach. We hardly saw anyone else.

We saw this giant slug on our hike.

After the hike we went and got dinner at Mo's restaurant and enjoyed more yummy seafood. We all decided to be brave and try oysters and clams. The clams were okay but I think we all about puked after trying the oysters. BLAH. Now we know not to order that again.

We woke up that morning and saw this seagull hanging out on our balcony. And look at that view! Waking up and looking at Haystack rock every morning was my favorite.

We got up early the next morning to check out Hug Point while the tide was low.

We always saw lots of star fish, jelly fish, and sand dollars on our walks.

I love how there are so many cool caves and things you can only access when the tide is low.

We got back from our hike and relaxed in our hotel. I took a long bath in our giant jetted tub. What a life.

We then drove to Tillamook and ate lunch at the factory before going on our toor. Dairy obsessed Dayton was in HEAVEN.

We then went on an adventure to see some lighthouses. Closed roads made for an interesting trip, but we found the Cape Meares lighthouse just in time.

We even were able to spot some whales in the distance. So cool!

We went out to dinner back in Cannon beach before we called it a night. Danny and Leslie had to fly out early the next morning. Lucky for us, Dayton and I still had one more day left in Oregon. We flew out the next night.

We started the morning with another peaceful beach walk. I got a massage, which was wonderful. I am not sure why I have never gotten one when I was pregnant before, but it was great. It ended up being a beautiful sunny day. We explored a little bit of Seaside.

Then we continued our drive to Astoria. We went over the craziest bridge. I wish our pictures did it justice.

We drove over the bridge to Washington. Funny jumping picture for a pregnant lady. HAH.

We went to the tower in Astoria. It was pretty unique. It had the history of the city painted on the tower. Dayton was brave enough to make the climb up and we saw stunning views. It was such a beautiful city. I loved the green fields and country.