This past week we've been trying to recover from our spontaneous trip to Grants Pass, Oregon. Ben had to go there on business and at the last minute the girls and I decided to accompany him. The first part of our trip was a little rough. We got a late start, leaving at 11:45 a.m. instead of 9. Then the six-hour drive turned into a ten-hour drive - partly because we underestimated the distance and partly because we had to stop so many times! This was something that I was not really prepared for! We stopped to go potty. We stopped to change a diaper. We stopped to change another diaper. We stopped to go potty again. Then we stopped to eat dinner. We finally arrived in Grants Pass at a little after ten! As you probably guessed, it was a long day, and I was wondering whether it had been worth it or not.
The next couple of days the girls and I hung out at the hotel while Ben went to work. We enjoyed watching cartoons, having school time, and playing at a nearby park. In the evenings, we went swimming at the hotel pool - even little Camilla went! We were having a fun time and so I was wondering if we shouldn't just go home and call it good rather than trying to do/see more stuff on our way home. However, we decided that we were so close to some cool stuff, we might as well go see it! I'm so glad we did because we had a GREAT time! 
First, we went south and crossed the border into California where we went to see the Trees of Mystery. These are the Redwoods. If you've never been there, we would definitely recommend it! It was amazing to see and touch the humongous trees and think that some of them have been alive for thousands of years. At the park they had a little trail as well as a gondola to ride in. We had fun walking and riding among the giant trees!
After getting seeing the redwoods in California, we drove along the Oregon coast until we came to Roseburg, Oregon where we stopped for the night. This was a beautiful drive. We loved seeing the ocean along with all the greenery of Oregon. The following morning we continued driving along the coast and saw Sea Lion Caves as well as the Heceta Head Lighthouse. The girls were impressed, but their favorite activity by far was our picnic lunch at the beach. There we played in the sand and even got our feet wet (but only our feet as the water was freezing)!
After playing at the beach, it was time to head home. We made a quick stop to see Multnomah Falls. It was beautiful, but crowded, so we only stayed for a little while. Natalie kept trying to convince us to push the double stroller up the steep, narrow path so we could see the upper falls, but we decided it wasn't worth it. Thankfully, the rest of our drive home was easy and uneventful. We came home happy to have gone and happy to be home. 
