RV Trip!

About a week and a half after we returned from Massachusetts, we set off for our next adventure of the summer: a road trip to the Oregon Coast in a rental RV.  The main impetus for going to the Oregon Coast was that KLC's mom wanted to have some of her ashes scattered along a particular stretch of beach where they would often vacation as a family when KLC was younger.

Of course, we wanted to honor her wishes, and we decided to do it in a way that we thought she would approve.  Rather than just drive straight there and rent a house or hotel, we chose to rent an RV in Portland and then drive to three different campgrounds along the coast before ending up in Lincoln City where we would meet other family for the scattering.

It was our first (and probably last) time renting an RV.  Especially a 30-ft one.  Somehow we managed to avoid hitting anything or anyone while driving this enormous house on wheels.  We were also able to give the twins a taste of 'real' (aka, tent) camping by using the new tent that my parents got the twins for their birthday last month. Along the way, we went to a maritime museum in Astoria (see the pic of J in the Coast Guard survival ship), explored a shipwreck, visited the Tilamook Cheese factory, and saw some spectacular scenery.

The morning we scattered her mom's ashes, it was clear and blue -- not a given on the Oregon Coast at any time of the year.  There are a group of seals that sun themselves across the bay on a spit of sand at this particular spot.  One of them was bobbing around in the water not far from where we gathered.  I got the feeling it was Ruth giving a wave to say hello and glad we could make it.