Depoe Bay Christmas 2016

Deb and I began our drive to Depoe Bay Oregon on December 19th. A long tough drive. I'll show pictures of our drive back. We stopped at the Redwood Casino which has a Holiday Inn Express attached to it. We enjoyed the bar and the people there plus some good food. We made a donation to the Yurok Indians in the casino.

Next day, the 20th, another long drive. The scenery along the coast is spectacular. Almost a traffic hazard. We were the first to arrive around 4:30. Peggy and Amber showed up and got us checked in then into the units. The Yates room is a few doors down from ours. Once again a very nice place with a spectacular view of the ocean, rocks and crashing waves. The ocean was as high as I've ever seen it.

I buzzed off to the local store and got some steaks to cook. Yum. I think Amber did her own thing with the kids in her place.

Peg and I broke out the jigsaw puzzle. It looks like a tough one. We figured out it was Saint Chapelle. Deb and I actually visited Saint Chapelle in Paris a few years ago.

Today, the 21st, we went to the aquarium. It was a bit of a drive and a bit expensive. We had a great time and spent hours looking at everything. The kids were interested and hung in there very well. Lots of fun stuff to look at. Peg stayed home and worked on the puzzle.

We went to the Rogue River Pub and Factory. A great lunch and good beer though a bit rushed. I took Daniel to the bus station. The bus station is a bit tricky to find without a GPS.

Back to the unit and then fun, food and puzzle until bed time.

The 22nd. We went to the pool where I swam with the kids. The air was pretty chilly but the pool was sort of warm. It was an indoor/outdoor pool though the indoor area was not heated.

I spent a lot of time playing Stomp Rocket with the boys. Lots of fun all around. It's a pretty neat toy. I think we went out A really fun toy. The boys made cookies. We went and did Stomp Rockets for a second time. More cookies, watching tv and veggies. Mini-burgers for dinner then cookie decorating and more puzzling.

On the 23rd we did the pool. Peg and I finished the puzzle. It was surprisingly difficult.
We looked at the seals for the first time. Even Peggy went down to see them.

Stomp Rockets and games. Amber was having fun cutting out and assembling some clever paper monsters. The boys and I had fun running around on the basketball court.

I went and got Daniel. It was a bit tricky but I found it.

On the 24th we lounged around playing games and doing recreational eating. Amber continued assembling paper monsters. It looks like fun.

We did the pool as usual. Around 3pm we went to the ocean, at low tide, to try to see a tide pool. No tide pools but we had fun playing with the stuff on the beach - rocks, seaweed, sand, etc. Deb got grabbed by a sneaker wave and rescued by Daniel. I guess that hurt. Back to Worldmark and another look at the seals.

Tonight we made the very good scalloped potatoes and the roast. The roast was a little over done and delivered too late.

At last Christmas day December 25th.  It started a bit slowly. Deb did the stockings. I guess the kids ate breakfast before coming over. We opened packages. We all got some nice stuff. Daniel got a cool drone. I got a large flask. Deb got a Fitbit.

Amber cooked a big breakfast for us all. We all gathered around the table and ate it with gusto. We continued playing with our stuff. More pictures.

December 26th. Not sure what we did on this day. It appears we lounged around.

I remember going to the pool and it was cooler then usual. The divider down. We spent a lot of time and had fun.

We went to a local Mexican restaurant for lunch. Very good!

Yup. Robbie is growing a new tooth. We enjoyed more cookie decorating.

December 27th. We packed up and cleaned up for our long trip home. Daniel had take the Mazda home with a load of stuff yesterday. So Amber and Peggy packed up Pegs car for the trip home. It seemed to go smoothly. We have a lot less stuff in our car then when we came. The weather was a little messy but the drive down the Oregon coast is beautiful.

We stayed at the Blue Lake Casino and Hotel. Very nice. The walls were a bit thin so we could hear everybody plus a group entering at 3:15am. Very nice Philly Cheesesteak and burger. Deb won a bit at blackjack. I lost on the slots.

December 28th. The rest of the drive home. There are some one way areas where we have to stop at a red light and wait for the traffic to clear from the other direction.

Going through the Redwoods is amazing. It's quite narrow with sometimes 15mph corners. Some of the trees are so close to the road they have been nicked. Some even have guardrails on them so it's slow going.

We finally broke free around Coo's Bay and made good time down 101. We crossed the Golden Gate Bridge and had a relatively easy time getting through San Francisco. When we hit I280 it was flying low. I cruised mostly at 75mph with cars flying by.

All in all a great trip. Thank you Peggy.