My Grandpa was 50 and my Grandma was 53 at the time of their trip. My Dad was 32 and my Mom was 27, they had an almost 2 year old girl and a 4 month old baby girl, and the rest of their lives ahead of them. I have thought about that many times in life, but hadn’t really considered it as we have been on this trip. We are enjoying this as a retired couple without kids and major responsibilities. I thought that was an interesting perspective.

Our plans today are to head on down the Columbia River to Portland and then the coast. We are going to make some stops on the way to Portland. They did stay with family at Portland, but again we need to make this our trip too, so we have decided to drive to the coast and follow the 101 down to California. They actually went on a highway to Eugene, Oregon. There were not things they went to see there. They visited some of my Grandpa’s family. Everyone tells us we absolutely can’t miss driving the 101 down the coast!

This morning before we left, we walked in front of our hotel and took a few pictures of the bridge and the dam. I got out the Nikon. 😉 It was so pretty. Jay missed a turn and we had to cross it. I was thrilled!! I wanted to drive over it!

We started the morning heading along the Columbia River. We stopped at Bonneville Dam. It was not in my Mom’s letter or my Grandma’s diary, but they had a brochure so we decided to stop. The plants and flowers were gorgeous along the paths. That is something my Mom and Grandma mentioned throughout their writing. We saw a 6 ft Sturgeon. It was a very nice place and worth the stop.

We then continued along the Columbia to Portland. I am just fascinated by the beautiful scenery. We could not stop along the side of the road for pictures and they just do not show the beauty.

We drove through Portland and confirmed that we are not “city folk”! We felt like we would never get out of Portland. So now here we are checked into a room at the Coho Inn at Lincoln City!! Our room overlooks the Ocean!

We spent close to an hour walking on the beach. I added a few shells for my collection. Jay and I were both overwhelmed by the vastness as we should be. I don’t know why but I feel so connected to my Grandma standing in the waves looking out at the ocean. We decided we will walk again in the morning. We also, walked downtown, sat in the hot tub, sat by the fire pit looking out at the ocean, caught the last of the Husker baseball game and just enjoyed our time.