Oregon Adventure

In the middle of May, Andy, Mom, Jim, Larkin, and I visited Jim's sister Beth and her husband Gene in Corvallis, OR.  We had wonderful food, a couple visits to the coast (Newport), and a guided fly fishing trip.  Then, Mom and I went to San Francisco to visit my aunt Mary and my cousins Mason and Meredith.  Here are some of our adventures caught on (digital) film.

Our first full day in Oregon we decided to spend in Newport, a city on the coast, directly west of Corvallis.  There were wonderful shops, fresh seafood (mostly fried, unfortunately), and beautiful murals.

 (Click on the images you would like to enlarge)

Murals along the street

FINE woodworking

Other attractions in Newport were the friendly sea lions, a couple lighthouses, and a gorgeous coastline.

We weren't done yet--Andy and I were off to Eugene to fish the McKenzie River.  Our guide was Chris Daughters, owner of The Caddis Fly in Eugene.  We had an wonderful time--we fished about 11 miles of river and caught numerous wild and reared rainbow and a few cutthroats (we caught and released).  Andy and Chris caught each other up on the latest fishing rods, and Chris tried out Andy's new St. Croix Legend Elite fly rod (Andy had brought 2 with him for us to try out--great rods!)  Thanks Beth and Gene for the trip, and thanks Chris for an amazing day of fishing!

Our day on the McKenzie

Our last full day in Oregon we went to Silver Falls?, which was an hour drive northeast of Corvallis.

Mom and I also slipped into Portland for a few hours--had an excellent lunch and saw an attack sub.

Then it was off to San Francisco to visit Mary, Meredith, and Mason.  We toured wine country, complete with multiple tastings, flew kites :-), and had wonderful meals.  We miss them all already!!

Mason, Meredith, and Mason's light bulb experiment

Mason and Meredith keep busy with talent shows, singing, softball, and piano, and Mary somehow still has time to have a wonderful garden (the pictures don't do the garden justice!)

Once again, Mom had zonal envy

We couldn't have asked for a better trip!!  Thanks everyone!  I hope we can visit again soon!