Welcome to Oregon

David's brother Matt and his wife Danielle came to visit us. Neither had ever been to Portland, so we wrote down a list of places to take them. To my surprise and pleasure Matt said he had heard about the Tillamook Cheese Factory and was interested in visiting. I have been dying to go there and was getting to the point where I was considering taking a day trip by myself, but once Matt said he wanted to go, that sealed the deal, we were going. Really I wanted to go because they make DELICIOUS ice cream and they have all the flavors including those not regularly sold in the stores.

The factory was fun and it was fascinating to see how they package the cheese, and how much is wasted. I hope the factory workers get paid decent because their job looks a little boring and monotonous.

This look fits David too well.

Pretend fulfilling a life long dream. Weird, I know.

We got to sample lots of cheese (including the squeaky cheese which you must try if you haven't) and then we came to the end, the ice cream. I was almost in heaven. I got Sticky Bun and White Licorice. Yum, yum.

After the factory we headed over to Cape Meares. It was a stormy day and I felt like we were in a hurricane, so David and I had to take a little video. I think we might have freezed Danielle out because that was the end of our Portland outdoor adventures during their visit.

Lost

This year we took the YM/YW to a Corn Maze. I was super stoked. We had the corn maze to ourselves. Everyone took off at different times, David and I being last, and I was pretty confident that I could figure it out without the map, so I folded up the map and put it in my pocket. An hour later, we were literally the last ones in the maze along with one of the young women and we COULD NOT find our way out. I thought they were going to have to call in the emergency rescue squad. I admit we did cut through one wall where some of the young men were waiting to guide us out. Whew! Who knew you could really get lost in a corn maze. I actually enjoyed the adventure, possibly because I knew there was no real danger.

Seaside and Fort Clatsop

The last day that Karsten and Theron were in town we headed to the beach and it might have been the most perfect day ever to be on the Oregon coast. Karsten loved running into the ocean and drawing pirate pictures in the sand. He must have talked about pirates all day and informed me that he would like to grow his hair long like a pirate (Thank you Captain Jack Sparrow).




There was only one problem during our trip to Seaside, my favorite salt water taffy store was closed for a wedding. I guess that's what you get for visiting a small town. The whole place shuts down when one of their own gets married :).

Next we headed to Fort Clatsop, the final stop on the Lewis and Clark Expedition. After visiting sites like this I wish I had paid more attention during history class. I was either too busy googling over my history teaching or chatting to the kid next to me to pay attention.

Where was the sign that read...

"Danger, No Exit."

Mt. St Helens

Karsten and I

Yesterday I met up with my brother-in-law Theron, his dad, and my 6-year-old nephew Karsten. They were up in Seattle visiting Theron's dad and decided to venture down my direction to see Mt. St Helen's. First we went to the Johnson Observatory to see the north side where the blast took place in 1980. It was incredible. The mountain floor surrounding it is still barren, from what it once was, but there was this green covering that was brilliant against the dark backdrop of the mountain and the cloudy, gray skies.

Our next stop was the Ape Caves, a lava tube created during the eruption, on the south side of the mountain. Theron had told me about these caves when David and I first moved here and I have wanted to go for awhile. So, I was excited to finally go. When we arrived we started out on the lower cave which is an easy 3/4 mile walk to the end. We did that for a short while and decided to venture back to the upper caves which is quite a bit more difficult and 1 1/2 miles long. Neither of us had read much about the upper caves, so we didn't know how long it would take. But 1 1/2 miles can't take that long and then there was supposed to be an opening at the end that met a surface trail that we would take back to the beginning. Easy, right?

Karsteroni... at the beginning of our trip.

Theron and Karsten. Karsten did awesome and was so brave.

We had been in the cave for about an hour and a half and I admit I was getting a bit nervous. Obviously we weren't going to get stuck in there, we could always turn around and walk back out, but I was having visions of the miners trapped in Brazil. And a bit of claustrophobia was setting in. Nevertheless, we forged ahead scrambling over rocks, up lava created waterfalls. Theron did mention that we didn't see bones anywhere which was a good sign.

Every so often I would turn my flashlight off to see if I could see any light up ahead indicating an exit, but I did this several times to no avail. Then after about two hours I started to feel a breeze and knew we must be close. Then finally, I saw the sky! As much as this was a relief, I looked up out of this hole in the top of the cave and wondered, how the heck are we going to get up out of this thing. It was fairly high and it looked like we would have to do a little bit of rock climbing. I've done a bit of rock climbing, but generally I am hooked in and am not attempting to bring a six year old along.

Theron working on hoisting Karsten up to me.

I mustered up my courage and went first. Then stopped in a pocket to the side and Theron boosted Karsten up to me. I tucked Karsten back in the pocket behind me and scooted in myself so that Theron could come up. As we were sitting there and Theron was figuring out how to come up, Karsten calming said several times, "We might die here". For thinking he might die, he was remarkably calm. And how tragic that he thought this was a possibility.

View of the skylight from halfway up.

Basically we did this climb out in segments to get Karsten up as we went. Now, came the tricking part, the next climb up wasn't quite as easy, even to the point where we wondered if we should just head back out to the beginning. But, I knew I saw the daylight and was ready to be in the fresh air, so I examined the cliff edge in front of me and figured I had to just go for it. So, I did. Next we did some manuevering and I pulled Karsten up with me next. As we watched Theron figure out how to get up this next little bit, Karsten and I said a little prayer that we could do it. The last part was the easiest so I got Karsten up out of the cave and had him get far back from the opening and wait for us. Next we had to get Theron up to the middle level. I would guide him to where there were hand holds that he could grip to pull himself up. I saw a rock hanging down behind his back and thought he might be able to use this to push against. So, I told him he would have to kick his leg back behind himself. He did this and then was finally able to get up over the ledge. I then scrambled out the rest of the way. While Karsten and I waited the last little bit for Theron to get out, we said a prayer thanking Heavenly Father for helping us.

Then we headed back to the parking lot where Theron's poor dad had been waiting for us for the last 3 hours or so. Gaylord told us that there was a sign on the map that said only use exits that have a ladder. Ummmm, this exit definitely did not have a ladder, so when we got back to my place in Portland we did some research on the Upper Ape Caves. To our surprise, there happens to be a SKYLIGHT before you reach the actual exit, with a nice set of stairs, leading right up to the trail. We also learned that several people have been injured attempting to exit the cave through the skylight.

Theron and Karsten after the journey.

I guess we learned our lesson.

Family

After our trip to Lake Powell we visited family and friends in Utah. We saw my sister Ashley down in Provo as well as David's friend, Rob and his wife Jamie. Then of course we had to head up to Pleasantview to hang out with my brother's family. Remember how much I love seeing my nieces and nephews?!

Jackson turned 5 while we were there, so we got to celebrate.

We went out for lunch at Sonora Grill.

I guess food tastes better when your shades are on.

Then we finished up with some ice cream at this super cute old school ice cream shop. Not sure why, but I have been on a licorice ice cream kick ever since I tried it at Seaside Beach. Sophie wanted to try it. Not so surprising, but her and Jackson were not fans.

On our way out of town we met David's brother, Clint, downtown. We toured the conference center and temple square.

David and Clint