OK, so we survived the vacation! It was nice to get away for a while and just have time to relax and enjoy life. The weather wasn't the greatest but none the less it was a nice break from our hectic lifes. We arrived home on Sunday evening, Bob headed back to work on Monday, as for me, I spent the morning cleaning the house, catching up on laundry, getting ready for a sleep over with Bill and Julie's kids. They were going to come spend the night while their mom was in the hospital having the new baby. When Bob got home, we headed down to Ogden Regional to see how things were progressing. Visited with Bill and Julie for a bit, then took the kids to Chick Filet for some dinner. Poor little Austin was so exhausted he fell asleep in the car and dispite all efforts would not wake up and eat. He was so cute, we put him in the chair and he just laid his head on the table and continued to sleep. After the girls were done eating, we decided to take them down by Sears where there is a play area to give them something to do while we waited for word about the baby. However, we missed Bills call letting us know the baby had arrived. I had pulled out the phone to call and see how things were progressing and saw we had missed a call, so we gave him a call to find out that Zachary David Burns had arrived at 5:57 p.m. less than 1/2 hour after we had left. So we pulled the girls off the toys and headed back to the hospital so we could all see the new addition. He is a pretty cute little guy, with sandy blond hair with a touch of red. Looks a lot like Sydney did when she was born. We were glad to have him arrive safely and have everything go well for Julie. That night we headed back home with Sydney, Ally and Austin for their sleep-over.

Day 9-Sunday

Today is the official last day of our vacation. We stayed last night at the Rugged Country Inn in Pendleton, Oregon. Was a quaint little hotel, had a small breakfast provided so we got up and going, headed to the Rooster room to see what was for breakfast. Bob had fresh cinnamon rolls, toast with Marionberry jam. I had some apple cinnamon oatmeal, a banana and orange juice. Not too bad of a breakfast, much better than the one at the first hotel we stayed at.
Got on the road around 9:00 and we were off on the last leg of our journey home. Stopped a few times to get out and stretch our legs, stopped in Caldwell, Idaho for lunch. Arrived home just before 7:00 p.m. It was sure nice to drive up Forest Street, see the trees, the old Court house. Was nice to be home. Now tomorrow I will get the house in order for Sydney, Ally and Austin to come spend the night while their mom, Julie, is in the hospital with the new baby.

Day 8-Saturday

Well, were we are on day 8, last official day of the vacation, we start home this morning. Did not start out the best, you see, last night when Bob asked me what time I wanted him to wake me up, I told him I didn't want him to wake me up, I would get up about 8:00. Well, he woke up early, like 6:30 and preceded to open and close doors, then got in the shower, which is right next to where I was trying to sleep! So, I got woke up at 6:45! Way earlier than I wanted to on the last day I have to sleep in! Needless to say, I was somewhat grouchie all morning. Bob kept looking at his watch every few minutes, was ansie to get going. After repacking the suitcases, we started packing them down to the car, trying to get everything loaded. Got checked out and on the road just after 9:30. Headed up Hwy 101 to fuel up, typed John's address into the GPS and we were off. As I mentione in one of the earlier blogs, just having GPS doesn't always lead the way, (especially if the driver doesn't pay attention to where it is guiding you!) After a ways on the road, which was leading us towards Portland, Bob kept saying we should be going towards Salem, finally found a road leading to Salem and the GPS kept telling us to proceed to the highlighted route, which we were not headed towards. Finally got tired of Bob getting mad because the GPS wasn't working as he though it should be, and getting mad at me, I pulled out the good old paper map to figure out where we were and where we needed to be. After pulling over a few times, finally figured out what road we needed to strive for, got a little lost going through downtown Salem, GPS still trying to get us to go the other way, we finally found the right route, and turned off the GPS and followed the map. Took us about a hour longer than planned to get to Estacade, turned the GPS back on when we got near Estacade so we could make sure we found John's road and alas, pulled into John's place, vented bit as we got out of the car, John just stood on his porch laughing at us. Boy, was it nice to arrive somewhere that looked familiar! John was defiantly a good site. Settled on the love seat and told John all about our adventures. He said it was because yesterday was Friday the13th, and we just got delayed with the bad luck. Bob showed John the animated video of the program Thiokol will be going to after the shuttle program, took some pictures and then John took us out to lunch at a diner that makes really good hamburgers. He and Bob had hamburgers and onion rings while I had popcorn chicken. Visited a bit more, got some directions to get us back on the road and going the right direction. Did turn the GPS back on and guess what, when you follow it's direction, it seems to work.

We made a stop at Multnomah Falls for a few minutes, took some cool pictures of the falls.

Next stop was at a rest stop a ways up the road, as we got out we noticed squirrels all around a lady that was sitting on a bench. I went and got the Corn Pops out of the car and was able to feed the squirrels right out my hand. The bigger squirrels would take hold of my hand, take the cereal and stuff in as many as I had in my hand into their cheeks. The baby squirrels wouldn't come up to us but would take the cereal off the ground and sit up holding the cereal in their front paws and eat the cereal right away. One of the squirrels took hold of my hand with it's little paws and was licking my fingers. First time I have ever had squirrels eat right out of my hand.

We finally made it to Pendleton about 8:00, checked into the Rugged Country Inn Bed and Breakfast hotel. Was good to finally reach our destination for the day. Got things hauled up to the room, looked through the guide looking for somewhere to eat, had a Pizza Hut listed so we set out to find it unsuccessfully, fueled up the car, headed back to the room, popped some popcorn, and ate the popcorn and ritz crackers and Dr. Pepper, with M&M's for dessert. Stretched out on the bed and watched the movie R.V., at least the last 1/2 of it. Pretty cute show, may have to rent it and watch the whole thing. Now it is about time to turn in for the night so we can get headed on the road early and head for home.

Day 7 - Friday

Well, we are about to start our last day here in Gleneden Beach. Woke up early, day looked to be a pretty good one, blue skies, not too cold, but windy. We decided to head down to Depot Bay and see if we could get a whale watching tour only to find out they don't start until 12:30. So we headed back to Gleneden Beach for a day on the beach. Bob is really into the agate hunting. I just spread out a beach towel and took the camera to try and get a few shots of Bob agate hunting. Then I just laid back in the sand, closed my eyes and just enjoyed the sounds of the waves. Finally decided I was getting a bit cold, Bob was still down at the waters edge so I got the key to the condo and headed back to get my jacket and book. They have a bench just above the beach level so I went back down and just sat and read my book for awhile. Bob was still agate hunting and I was getting cold so I headed back to the condo. Bob came back up after awhile, cold, wet but happy, he had found some pretty good agates. After he got cleaned up, dry and warmed, we fixed some lunch then headed up to Lincoln City. The gentlemen that did the glass blowing sell their items in a shop across from their glass blowing shop. I got a glass float and Bob got a glass starfish. We then went up to the outlet mall and did a little window shopping.
Decided since it was out last day we would go to Depot Bay to the Tidal Raves which is a pretty fancy restaurant that over looks the ocean. We both had the salmon. It was pretty good, not as good as the salmon we had a couple of days ago, but good.
Then it was back to condo. I decided I couldn't come all this way and not get in the ocean. So I changed clothes and we headed back to the beach. Wind was really blowing, the sand blowing was like getting sand blasted. We had taken a plastic container to put any agates we found in, weighed it down with a rock, I took off my shoes and headed down to the water. Bob is pretty good a getting right in. It took me a bit, water was cold but not unbearable. It was the wind that hit the wet legs and standing on the cold, wet sand that got my feet to freezing. After a few minutes I went up and sat on the dunes and buried my feet in the warm sand. After they got warmed up, I went back down to the water for a little bit, decided it was just too cold for me and went back up the dune. I bent down to take the rock off the container so I could put the few agates I had found and the wind caught the container and off it went, first going along the beach, then up and over the dune. I just kept blowing ahead of me as I went chasing after it. Finally about 1/2 mile down the beach it caught in a tree branch and I finally caught it. Well, that was enough exercise for me! I made my way back down the beach to where Bob was, climbed up the dune to sit down and promptly slid 1/2 way back down. Was getting pelted with the sand that was blowing but I was warmer although tired. Bob was finally getting too cold so we headed back to the condo. Bob sorted through his find, we finished off the Tillamook Chocolate peanutbutter ice cream, and just relaxed for the rest of the night.
Tomorrow we start heading back home. We are going to stop by and visit John again, then head to Pendleton for the night, then will do the last of the trip home on Sunday.

Day 6 Thursday

Well day 6 dawned sunny with blue skies, little breeze blowing! We had our meeting with the timeshare people to try and sell us a timeshare, so we just spent the morning doing a little laundry, just kicking back until the 10:00 meeting. Was mildly surprised, they did not do the high pressure sales, made sure we understood how the points worked, what the cost would be. When we told them we couldn't afford it right now with the Trendwest timeshare we already own, the salesman just said thanks for your time, shook our hands and that was that.
Headed back to the condo, fixed a little lunch before heading back south. We had decided to go back to Yaquina Head Lighthouse since we didn't get to do the tour yesterday. We stopped in the information center first, they headed up to the lighthouse. Yaquina Head is the tallest lighthouse in Oregon with 114 steps up to the top. Quite a climb. I wasn't sure I would make it but I did! My legs were about to give out once I reached the top, Bob did better than I did. It was a good thing there was a wait at the top to go the last 1/2 dozen stairs to view the light. It was worth the climb, going down much easier. Went back to the information center so I could buy a t-shirt that says I made the climb to the top of Oregons tallest lighthouse.
After the lighthouse tour we decided to do the tourist thing and headed into Depot Bay to check out the boats for the whale watching tours. Waters had gotten pretty rough so we did the souvenir shopping. Hit all the little shops along the main street of Depot Bay, picked up a little something for everyone.
After the shopping, we headed back to mile marker 150 for a bit more agate hunting. Spent about a hour or so there then headed to Newport for dinner at the Sizzler. Food adequate, not the best. Then it was back to the condo, traded some of the agates we had found for some that are already polished. Took some pretty good pictures of the sunset. By now we were both pretty tired so it was back to the condo for a little t.v. time and bed.

Day 5-Wednesday

Hey, guess what! It looks like the rain has stopped! It is still cloudy and there is a breeze blowing, but hopefully the day will get better as it goes on.

We decided to head south and see what lighthouses we could find. The first one we went to was south of Yachats, it was the Heceta Head lighthouse. Had to park in the parking lot and hike up to the lighthouse. The sign said it was 1/2 mile hike, I think it was closer to a mile! Very pretty view from there, that is where the pictures were taken. We did a tour of the lighthouse, it was very interesting. The lens has 6 bulls eyes with over 300 prisms that reflect the light almost straight outward. The lens and prisms are all original and came from England. The only changes was to install electricity instead of using oil for light. From the area you could hear the sea lions in the caves further up the road. There were also tons of birds on the rocks surrounding the hill.

After the tour, we decided we were starving and headed back south in search of lunch. Before we found somewhere to eat a place where Lynn Yeates has told us to go to see the sea lions, Strawberry Hills. We parked and walked down the beach and at first didn't see any. Then Bob noticed some movement on the rocks. Sure enough, dozens of seals sleeping on the rocks. We were able to get up pretty close to them after maneuvering over the rocks. Also got some good pictures of the star fish that were clinging to the sides of the rocks. We found a mexican restaurant in Yachats, looked pretty good so we decided to give it a try. They had sea food as well as mexican. We decided to give the grilled salmon a try as we had yet to find any. Boy or boy, was it ever good. It was some of the best we have ever had. That restaurant defiantly got the thumbs up.

After lunch, we stopped at the parking lot at mile marker 150, where Lynn has said was a good place to hunt for agets. Tooks some searaching but we finally began to find some. The wind had again kicked up and it was getting cold, so after a while we called it quits and went in search of another light house, went to the Yaquina Head Lighthouse. The light house was closed for tours, we got there a little late. It is really neat, got some good pictures. As we were leaving, Bob pulled over to take a picture and noticed a big rock off the side off the road, there were a lot of seals just relaxing on the rocks. We may try to get back there later Thursday both to search for more agets and tour the light house.

Back at the condo, it was pizza, pop and ice cream for dinner.

Went back down to the beach. I sat on the dunes and watched the waves crashing, while Bob was more adventures' and got drenched by the waves! The wind was picking up, so we headed back to the condo so Bob could get out of his wet clothes and have a nice hot shower.

Spent the rest of the evening watching t.v. then hit the sack.

Day 4-Tuesday

Day 4, middle of vacation time, and guess what, It is windy, rainy, cold! Can you believe it! So we pulled out the vacation brochures to see what we could do. Decided to head north to Tillamook. Toured the Tillamook cheese factory, saw them slicing the blocks of cheese into different sizes and package them to distribution. While there we decided we had to try out the ice cream. Bob got a Marionberry pie ice cream cone and me, I went for the chocolate peanutbutter. Yummy! On the way back we just took our time and decided to do the ocean loop, stopped for a few minutes at one of the pull outs and went down to the beach. As has been the norm for the past few days, it was cold, windy and rainy. Headed back to the condo and spent the rest of the day just hanging out there. Went over to the rec center for a BBQ dinner. Tried the beach once again, Bob did some searching for agates, found a few small ones, and me I headed back inside to try and catch up on this blog.
That is about it for the day, hopefully tomorrow will be better.