Mac Family Road Trip

We took our first long family vacation with just the three of us last month.  It was a road trip up to Washington and back.  We were nervous about making the long drive as Landon doesn’t love being in the car for long periods and he doesn’t have anything to entertain him since he doesn’t watch tv or movies.  However, we survived the trip and Landon did great in the car.  John did a GREAT job of figuring out our itinerary so that there was very little “wake time” for Landon in the car.  John felt the pressure as Shani said she didn’t care where we stopped other than wanting 2 nights in Portland and 2 nights in Seattle.  He honestly could not have done a better job at determining when or how long we’d be driving.  Shani was very impressed!  Although it was a wonderful trip together, by the end of it we were ready to be home.  Not because we weren’t having a blast together, but because Landon started getting sick and we just missed our bed.  Six different hotels in 8 days was a little much.  Hope you enjoy the adventures we had together!

Our trip started with John driving the 5 hours to Klamath Falls after Shani got off of work Friday.  We figured we should do the “boring” part of the drive while Landon (and Shani) were asleep for the night.  We had a yummy 10pm snack of milk shakes and fries at In ‘N Out, otherwise John drove until 12:30am.  We got up the next day to drive to Crater Lake National Park.  We have a life time goal to visit every National Park together and this one helped mark another off our list.  The only bummer was that there were fires going on in Oregon that ruined the clarity of the air at Crater Lake.  We had great intentions of taking this steep hike to have a great view of the lake and also to help keep us in shape during our trip, but the air was getting too smoky that we figured it wasn’t good for Lando’s little lungs or John’s asthma.  So we left there a bit earlier than planned to head to Bend, OR. By the time we left we could barely see across the lake.

Crater Lake National Park

Being in Bend triggered the start of what became the Mac Family Brewery Trip J  Everyone knows how much John enjoys beer.  If you’re worried, Shani has gone through the CAGE questions and John still is not a concern!  As he puts it, “It’s my hobby, like your knitting.”  Although Shani’s knitting doesn’t add calories, they have similarities.  For example, both our hobbies can’t be done while driving and we enjoy sharing our hobbies with others.  Anyway, we mean by a “Brewery Trip” is that we aimed to go to at least 1 brewery per day, but we ended up making it to 2-3 breweries most days.  By the end of the trip Shani was quite done with “Bar food.”  She and Landon really missed their (green) veggies.  No John, sweet potato fries aren’t considered vegetables.  In Bend we hit Crux Fermentation Project, Bend Brewing Company, and Deschutes Brewing Company.  Deschutes brews a ginger ale  which Shani really enjoyed.  See, she can have fun at Brewery’s too even if she doesn’t like beer!     

Mirror Pond- Bend, OR

From Bend we made our way to Portland.  We took the little more scenic route around Mt. Hood to get there.  It was a beautiful drive and definitely worth the extra time.  We then stopped off at Multnomah  Falls which was definitely a tourist stop.  The falls were pretty and it was a great place to get out and walk around since Landon had woken up from his nap.  There was a nice little stream that he could wade around in too which he enjoyed.  We stayed in downtown Portland for a couple nights.  For being such a “clean” city there were a ton of people who smoked.  This really shocked (and disgusted) us.   We did some good walking while in the city.  We went to a couple really good coffee houses and of course the well known Voodoo donuts.  Yes, the line wraps around the building!  Shani was probably more disgusted by the donut selection than impressed, but the experience was fun.  We walked along the water front which was fun.  Landon loved playing in all the water fountains they had around the city.  One in particular we hit after dinner as we needed to waste some time before heading back to put him down for bed.  He literally played in this large wading pool that was maybe 6 inches deep for an hour.  He was completely soaked and was upset to leave, but he fell asleep so quickly that night.  While in Portland, John visited Bailey’s Taproom and we hit Deschutes Brewery again (they have a second brew house in Portland and have a different taplist so yes, John had to refill his growler) Full Sail Brewing Company (Full Sail brews some of their beers next to, and sells their beers in a McCormick and Schmidt’s—it counts) and Hair of the Dog (an awesome small brewery with amazing barrel aged beers).  Off to Seattle we went.

Multnomah  Falls

Yes Shani let Landon have ONE bite of doughnut

Portland's River Walk

Wading pool in middle of downtown Portland that Landon loved

The drive to Seattle was nice too.  We were able to get in at a good time for dinner and a walk down to the water.  We had dinner at a great Japanese food restaurant. We barely made it in time to enjoy their good happy hour special.  It was by far the busiest Japanese (or any other type of restaurant) we’ve ever seen on a Tuesday (and Wednesday night- we went 2 nights in a row because John accidently left his credit card there).  From there we walked the 90 something stairs down to the water.  They recently added a huge Ferris wheel right on the water that replicates the one in Paris.  It was so beautiful.  We rode it the next day which was a lot of fun.  Landon had fun playing around in the gondola.  The view was incredible.  We also went to the Space Needle which was a tourist must.  Although neat we weren’t terribly impressed.  We probably would have liked it more if the sky was clearer and we could see Mr. Reiner.  There wasn’t much for Landon to do up there either so he bored easily.  We then made the 2 mile walk (hike as Shani puts it) uphill to Elysian brewery.  The hills meant it took longer and felt further than John anticipated which was a big mistake because and we all know how Shani is when she is hungry. We did get her some food and John had his beer so it ended up well. After lunch we stopped at a little café/hipster hangout/homemade ice cream shop. Oh, by the way, it had 8 amazing taps too! John loves Oregon beer laws! The next day we checked out Pike’s Market before heading out of town.  We can definitely see why there aren’t many grocery stores downtown.  Who would need them when you can go to the market and get fresh fruit and seafood!?!  We saw the original Starbucks but didn’t get anything there as the line was very long.  We did go to a great pastry place that one of John’s coworkers recommended.  After two nights in Seattle it was now time to head down the Oregon coast.  But before getting there we stopped at Powerhouse Brewery in Puyallup, WA.

Seattle Waterfront (giant Ferris wheel in the background)

Seattle Waterfront

Seattle Space Needle

View from the top of Space Needle

Landon loving the Ferris wheel ride

In the gondola of the Ferris wheel

Shopping in Seattle

Our next stay was in Seaside, OR.  On the way we stopped in Astoria for lunch.  There we hit Astoria Brewing Company/Wet Dog Cafe.  We also went to the Astoria column (it’s a beautiful tower on the top of the ridge by the ocean) which is definitely an experience worth checking out.  You can buy these light wooden airplanes from the little shop at the column, then climb the spiral staircase up to the top and let the airplanes go.  Landon just loved it!  One probably flew a couple miles into town.  We lost where it went after it went over the tree line.  The other two went into the trees quite a ways away as well.  He kept signing for more but we weren’t about to climb down and back up the stairs again.  We did end up buying a couple more planes to play with and to have as a souvenir.  The lady at the shop told John that he was “such a boy.”  John said it was for Landon but you know he loved it too! From Astoria we headed down to Seaside where we didn’t have a hotel reservation.  Bad idea as it was by far the most popular spot we’ve been so far.  Portland was “hot” (according to them) so everyone was escaping to Seaside.  We finally found a place but way overpriced for what it was, but at least we had a place to sleep. The next morning we went to coffee at the Sleepy Monk and then to the beach where John was able to get 3 life-birds. He was excited to see his first Puffin.  Landon had fun pushing the sea anemones and watching them close down.  It was pretty cold out there but the tide was perfect and we got to see some large starfish.   

Astoria Column- Astoria, OR

Landon throwing the little wooden plane

Cute boy in Seaside, OR

Seaside, OR

Landon playing with the sea anemones

After the beach we made our way to Newport, OR.  Our first pit stop was in Tillamook to check out the cheese factory.  Landon loves cheese and we thought it would be a fun break.  They had a car for kids to sit in and Landon didn’t want to get out of it.  We then went to Blue Heron Cheese Factory where they had farm animals you can feed.  Landon thought this was the greatest and had absolutely no fear.  He had no problem feeding the goats and even grabbed one by the horns.  John was a little afraid of the Emu and wouldn’t feed it (“so creppy!”).  What a scared-y cat! We then were back in the car to drive to Newport.  Landon took an extremely long nap and we had to figure out things to do while he slept.  John was able to check out Rogue Ale’s Distillery (really tasting Hazelnut Rum and Dead Guy Whiskey).  Once Landon woke we went to Rogue’s huge brewing center!  From there we went to the little downtown area to have dinner at the Rogue restaurant.  The beer was good, but the food was just okay and we were bummed we didn’t eat somewhere else as locals were crabbing off the pier just across the street.  If they could get a few crabs after having the nets out for 5 minutes, then there was bound to be great seafood places in town.  Oh well, maybe next time.  Landon got to “pet” his first crab.  The guy that was pulling up the crab nets was very friendly and would put the crab to “sleep” so the kids could touch them.  Landon didn’t want to stop watching them pull in the nets.  We walked down the pier further to see the noisy seals.  Since they were close Landon was very interested in them.  We then got into the car for John to drive to Eugene, OR for the night.  John stopped in Corvallis on the way to visit another brewery and picked up a few bottles at Block 15.  It was probably 10pm at night and Shannon and Landon asleep in the car.  Dedication, right? J   

Cheese!

Feeding the farm animals at Blue Heron Cheese factory- Tillamook, OR

Our boy has no fear of animals

Petting a crab in Newport, OR

Eugene was really nice.  We walked in a park that led to a bridge across a river.  There were a lot of bike/running trails in that area which would have been fun to explore more if we had time.  Landon had his first experience picking blackberries and eating them right from the bush.  He could have stayed all day doing that.  We have a similar fond memory from when we picked blackberries when we were in Canada a few years back and it was fun to do it with Landon.  From there we went to Ninkasi Brewing Company (our last of the trip).  They had a nice outdoor area for John to enjoy his beers and Landon and Shani to play.  Off to Medford/Ashland we headed.  We stopped at the Medford mall so Landon could run around in a cool place.  It was very warm out and he had just gotten up from a nap and needed to get out.  Supposedly, it’s the biggest mall between Portland and Frisco--kind of funny because it’s really not that big of a mall.  We then went to Ashland for dinner.  We had some major trouble finding a place but we eventually got a place to eat.  After that we hopped in the car and John drove the rest of the way home getting us in around 12:30am Saturday night/Sunday morning. 

Eugene, OR

Picking blackberries

So yummy!

Self Explanatory

We had just a wonderful trip as a family.  Although Shani is excited for the next family vacation where we can just stay one place and relax (doesn’t she realize that doesn’t happen anymore after having a kid?), it was something very fun and different.  Plus there probably won’t be another time like this in awhile where we just got to be together just the three of us for 8 days.  Sorry for the long post, but we hope you enjoy seeing the fun things we were fortunate enough to do together!