Oregon coast: A photo journal
+ our itinerary, what went well, and what we would change if we were to do it again
I grew up driving to Oregon with my grandparents and older sister every summer to visit our cousins. Aside from this, our family didn’t travel much so these roadtrips from Utah to Oregon really hold a special place in my heart.
I’m not sure how many summers the tradition lasted, but I’ll never forget the time I spilled a melted Frosty on my grandparents’ brand-new white sedan. I confessed to my older cousin and we frantically tried to scrub the chocolate goop out of the fabric seats, but it was no use. That Frosty would forever mark those seats…and my memory. (Sorry, Grandma and Grandpa!)
This was my first time visiting Oregon with my own family, kids and all— a trip David and I have talked about taking for years. And it was just as magical as I remembered it being as a kid.
Here’s a photo diary of the images we captured on film (and true to this month’s focus, I ended up shooting a few rolls of Super8!)
I packed disposable cameras for each member of our family (one of my favorite traditions for trips!) Here are a few of my favorites…
Day One: arrival
We flew into Portland in the late afternoon and made our way to the coast. We made a quick pit-stop at Salt & Straw, an ice cream shop that’s been on David’s ice cream bucket list for a while. “The pear & blue cheese was divine.” - David.
Day Two: Cannon Beach & Astoria
We started off our morning at Cannon Beach, building sandcastles and hunting for sea stars at the tide-pools beneath Haystack Rock. The volunteer naturalists posted there let us borrow their binoculars to check out the tufted puffins and had stickers for the kids.
Later that afternoon we drove up north to Astoria Column, where we climbed to the top and threw off balsam wood airplanes (the boys loved this so much!) We enjoyed a snack at the picnic tables and played games while we watched the boats float down the Columbia River.
Day Three: my favorite day
Our hotel was just across the street from Cannon Beach, so we started off the day here again to fly kites that we picked up nearby (a very Frog & Toad moment for the boys).
It was a colder morning, so we grabbed some hot chocolate before driving to Ecola Point for the view (one of my favorite views of the entire trip).
I mentioned that video would be my primary focus for the month of May, so I packed my Super8 along. I love how this video turned out. I’ve shared more clips on my Instagram here.
From the viewpoint, we then hiked down the trail to Indian Beach, where we foraged for fun rocks and some of the biggest sand dollars I have ever seen. But the best was yet to come…
