Our WAY Big Adventure

Oregon has completely surprised me. While I really didn’t know what to expect, the beauty of this part of the country makes me realize why Lewis and Clark sang it’s praises in the early 1800’s and why so many pioneers set off to claim their own piece of this land.  The beauty of the Cascades with the backdrop of the rivers, and lush forests…while there is no free land in it for us, it was worth the trip.

 We spent a good part of our day touring Portland by car. I feel like we have driven by so many cities without really finding out much about them. So today, without an official agenda, we set out to see what we could see. Besides the beautiful landscape, we were also intrigued by the floating neighborhoods. Upon closer inspection Scott discovered that each individual home is built ( and floating) on top of logs 3 to 4 feet in diameter. We told the kids it would be the perfect neighborhood to move into. Dad could have his boat in the front or backyard and mom could still have a house. Don’t worry friends and family in Michigan, they didn’t go for it.

We also ventured downtown to find their famous Powell Bookstore that fills an entire city block, and check out the downtown market that they have each weekend. Part of the park and town square are full of vendors selling clothing,  pottery, mosaics, jewelry and toys, made by local artisans. Plus there’s live music, and an international food court. It was a lesson in culture for our kids; quite different from Charlevoix!  I guess you could say we have been on our own “Oregon Trail” for a while. We have been counting the days until November 9th. Tomorrow we will  pick up Hilary at the airport and head north. We cannot wait for her to join our adventure and for our family to be whole again.  We thank God for our family, friends, teachers and coaches at home who have taken care of her these past few weeks!

This was an attempt to capture more of the beauty that takes my breath away. Scott and the kids laugh at me each time I say “Wow! I need my camera!” They have heard it A LOT! I now have hundreds of photos of mountains, but none do justice to what my eyes are taking in. The landscape got even more beautiful after this, but our view of Mount Hood disappeared as we got closer and the rain started falling.

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This is my first attempt at linking a You Tube video…they will get better. If the video “freezes up” as you watch, let it play through one time (walk away) and come back to it. It will play smoothly after it downloads.