Pacific Northwest Day 10

We visited Mount Rainier National Park.  Once again it was very overcast, and we couldn't see the top of Mount Rainier.  Plus, I still didn't realize my ISO settings (seriously?) until almost the end of visiting here.  We hiked two short trails in the Paradise area:  Christine Falls and Narada Falls.  Then we drove over to Ohanapecosh area and hiked the Grove of the Patriarchs Trail.  The drive through this whole area was breathtaking.  We all love the mountains.

Just showing the overcast skies and no mountain tops

Christine Falls

Trail to Christine Falls

Narada Falls

Grove of the Patriarchs

Grove of the Patriarchs Trail

Grove of the Patriarchs Trail

Grove of the Patriarchs Trail

Pacific Northwest Day 9

Today we went to see Mount St. Helens.  There are a number of visitor centers on the road out to it.  We stopped at two:  Mount St. Helens Forest Learning Center and Johnston Ridge Observatory.  The Forest Learning Center was free and had a short movie, lots of exhibits inside, and a fun playground outside.  The Johnston Ridge Observatory is the closest visitor center to Mount St. Helens and has the best views; however, since it was so overcast, we never did see the top of the volcano.  Unfortunately, I also failed to notice that I didn't change the ISO on my camera after visiting the Sea Lion Caves, so all the pictures are quite grainy.

Pacific Northwest Day 8

On the way to the Enchanted Forest Theme Park, we were rear-ended.  Luckily, there wasn't any damage to our vehicle.  The whole park is on a lush, forested hill that gave it charm and made for a gorgeous walk throughout.  We started off strolling through Storybook Lane. It has attractions inspired by Alice in Wonderland, Mother Goose, and the Grimm's Fairy Tales.  Some of the attractions were just life-size, whimsical figures to view, some were animated, and a bunch were places to actually explore.  They crawled through Alice in Wonderland's rabbit hole, explored Snow White's castle, found their way through the Queen of Heart's maze, slid down the old lady's shoe, etc. It was funny watching Ciera try to walk and keep her balance in the crooked man's house with its sloping floors.  She kept falling back against the walls.  We were all laughing trying to wobble through it. 

Crooked Man's House

Snow White's Castle

Lush paths

Hansel and Gretel's House.  Camden kept waiting for the girl to push the witch in the oven.

There was an old women, who lived in a shoe...

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs' house

One of Ciera's favorite nursery rhymes

Coming out of the caves where the Seven Dwarfs mined

One of the sparkling, Day-Glo waterfalls in the mine

After Storybook Lane, we visited the old west in Tofteville.  Camden liked going down the great big slide on the way out of Fort Fearless.  We also had fun driving remote control boats, walking the wobble-inducing drunken simulation chamber, and getting a little lost in the spooky Indian Cave.  The cave had empty caverns, a secret staircase, and underground passage tunnels.  We lost Ciera in there for a minute and were a little worried once we realized there were two exits.  One exit actually came out of the ground in a teepee across the path.  Both kids loved exploring the cave, chasing each other, and playing hide-and-seek in there.

Remote control boats

Driving the remote control boats

Camden's favorite slide

The next area of the Enchanted Forest we visited was the European Village.  The kids had hands-on fun in Pinocchio's Playhouse.  They watched the perpetual motion machine of Sir Newton's Gravity factory where balls move through a maze of contraptions and tumble and traverse a complex network of ramps, tubes, pulleys, and chutes.  Camden stood and watched that for an extended period of time waiting for one ball to pass through a particular funnel.  Then, Ciera didn't want to leave the Blackbird Pie Show.  We also had lunch here while watching the Fantasy Fountains water-light show.

European Village

Sir Isaac Newton's Gravity Factory

One of the hands-on things in Pinocchio's Playhouse

Blackbird Pie Show

After lunch we did a few of their roller coasters.  They cost extra, so we didn't do all of them.  Camden's favorite was the Challenge of Mondor ride.  On it you meet the kindly wizard Mondor, who tasks you with ridding his magical realm of evil.  You do this by getting into a little car that drives around the track, and then, whenever you pass by animatronic spiders, gnomes, trolls, monsters, and dragons, you shoot them with lasers!  The cars also keep score of  how many magical creatures you hit.  Darren had the highest score of our group.  I also went on the Ice Mountain bobsled ride with Camden.  I didn't understand why there was a plastic cage around the top of the car until we were going through all the twists, turns, and sudden drops with branches all around us.  It saved our heads and kept us from flying out of the car.  We were being thrown everywhere in it.   Being the last car on the roller coaster, I seriously thought we were going to bump right off the track.  It turned out to be a great day and only slightly drizzled on us every now and then.  I think the weather helped with the crowds; there was hardly anyone there.

Pacific Northwest Day 7

We first stopped at Cape Perpetua to do some hiking.  We wanted to be there around high tide so we could see some good wave action as we hiked along the coast.  It was a little past high tide by the time we hiked there, so the waves weren't as big as they could have been.  We did still enjoy watching them crash against the rocks in Devil's Churn and also watching the Spouting Horn, which is a salt water fountain driven by the ocean's power.

Devil's Churn

Spouting Horn

We next stopped and hiked up to Heceta Head Lighthouse.  I think this lighthouse is just so beautifully situated on the cliff.  Once we got to the top, Camden had his binoculars out looking at the hundreds of birds perched on the large rock next to the cliff.  He was also having fun pretending to spot and warn us of any nearby storm troopers or imperial walkers again.

 

Our last stop was at the Sea Lion Caves.  Both kids were so excited for the long elevator ride down into the caves.  I was glad there were a few sea lions in the cave for the kids to observe.  We have been there when there have been lots of sea lions and once when there was only one.  On the walk down to the elevator, there is a great lookout point to view Heceta Head Lighthouse again.

There are four sea lions in this particular shot.  Can you spot them in this poor quality photo?

Pacific Northwest Day 6

It was a rainy day today.  We first went to the Oregon Coast Aquarium, since some of it would put us indoors.  Camden's favorite area was the fish market where he could catch fish, take them over to weigh them, then get money for them.

Ciera loved playing in the submarine and sitting on the fish just outside of it.  I think she just liked all the buttons, switches, and levers (especially the one that made bubbles in the water).

Everyone liked walking through the shark tunnel.  Camden was a little disappointed that it didn't have the moving walkway like the shark tunnel at SeaWorld.  We all had fun seeing who could spot the biggest shark.

Ciera also liked watching the seals and sea lions swim past her at the underwater viewing area.

There were quite a few fun activities for the kids to enjoy.

 

After lunch, we drove along the Three Capes Scenic Loop.  Our first stop was Cape Kiwanda.

When we reached Cape Lookout, it was only drizzling, so we decided to still hike the cape trail.  It follows the cliff-edged cape that juts two miles out into the Pacific.  The trail first took us through a dense forest of gnarled old spruce and hemlock trees that sheltered lots of ferns and other ground cover on the forest floor.  It was beautiful, and the fog and mist made it a little magical too.  My pictures don't do it justice.  After a while we started getting glimpses through the trees of the ocean below.  By the time we made it back to the car, it started raining harder.  Perfect timing!

Our next stop was Three Arch Rocks National Wildlife Refuge.

Our last stop on the loop was Cape Meares Lighthouse.

On our way back to the timeshare we stopped at Tillamook Cheese Factory again to get some more ice cream.  It was just too yummy to pass up.