Fort Clatsop, Lewis and Clark National Historical Park

Such a grande adventure these two gentlemen, Lewis and Clark, found themselves on more than two hundred years ago...

We haven't traced their route footstep for footstep (yet :)!); but we have, however, found ourselves in many of the same places that this famous duo passed through so many years ago.

We visited the shops in Harpers Ferry, West Virginia, where the expedition got many of their supplies and began their long journey...we walked the banks of the Knife River in North Dakota where their ranks were vastly improved by the addition of Sacajawea and her family who accompanied the party as interpreters...and now we would visit the last encampment of the group, the site where the Columbia River and the Pacific Ocean collide...

The expedition reached this point near the end of 1805.  Not able to begin their journey back east until the spring, they spent a wet and chilly winter in the forest along the Oregon/Washington coast...

I'm sure it had to of been cold, but oh so pretty, too...

The trees, the ferns, the mosses and fungi <3...so many beautiful things to discover and explore...

the ferns were HUGE!

Fort Clatsop is what they called their winter shelter, so named after the Clatsop Indians that lived in the area...

A snug little place for more than two dozen grown men, for sure...

After our walk in the forest, we headed back up to the Visitor Center to check out the displays and for the kids to finish up their Junior Ranger books...

With that done, it was time to leave Oregon behind and cross the Columbia River once again.  Heading back north into Washington...

A quick pause at the Dismal Nitch, a cove on the Washington side of the Columbia River where the L&C group spent a miserable 6 days riding out a storm...

...and we were back on our way north.  We didn't make it very far until we saw a sign that advertised "Fresh Oysters"...

There was a lazy tendril of smoke rolling off the grill out front and the river where the oysters were harvested just across the street...um yes, please, and thank you!  Quick as a wink, the car was parked and we were all piling into the tiny seafood joint by the name of River View Dining in South Bend, Washington. 

Do yourself a favor...if you ever pass through that way, stop by the River View for some BBQ'd oysters.  Order extra, though, or your kids will eat them all before you get to have more than one..yes, they are THAT good :) (and now I'm hungry, haha!)

Astoria, Oregon ~

This town, perched at the very edge of the Columbia River, and only a stone's throw from the salty sea...

It reminded me of home...of the Apalachicola River and the Gulf Coast.  Where my great-great-great...grandparents lived and raised their families.  Where I, too, lived...until this last decade.

Home. 

At times I question what that is for me and my family anymore.  Moving from place to place as we do and have done for the past 8 years.  Forty-eight of our united states, a dozen different countries...where is home?

I sometimes feel the guilt creeping in...the nagging voice of "society" that says we must stick to one place.  Live, raise your kids, and die all on one little square of soil.  I let the words of strangers make me sad for my children, they certainly haven't lived a stationary life.  Are they missing out by traveling as much as we do?  Would they be better served if we picked a spot and just stayed there?  Hmm...

Then I open my eyes...I look at my happy children and I know the truth.  Our truth.  Home is more that a physical dot on the map, it's a feeling inside. 

It doesn't matter which state we are in or even which continent we are on.

I know it's sappy, but as long as my family is together in one place...that place is home.  And for those times when the tug is there to return to some place that feels familiar and comforting, we have only to travel as far as the nearest shoreline.  The sounds of the water, the steady breeze, the rocks and sand...they are like a big hug...welcoming us back home.

Thanks for the big welcome Oregon...xoxo

Oregon: Haystack Rock>>Seaside>>Astoria

Our next destination was a place that had been on my mind for a long time and on my heart most recently...

...Haystack Rock in Cannon Beach, Oregon. 

My mom had been out to the west coast years ago, an epic road trip across the country with so many beautiful sights along the way...and Haystack Rock was her favorite.  She told me all about the beach, the giant stones, and the thousands of starfish that covered it in a colorful mosaic of sorts.  I dreamed of one day seeing it with her...

...I miss her so much...

I still can't believe she's really gone. 

Anyway, enough of that or I won't be able to finish this...and I've drug my feet about it long enough.  It's hard ya'll.  Really really hard.  I still can't talk about it, I can barely allow myself to even think about it.  ANYway...

Haystack Rock.  An island, or sea stack, that sits just off the coast of Oregon's Cannon Beach.  At low tide you can walk out to it...at a full moon low tide I wonder if you could maybe even walk all the way around it?  Hmm...maybe.

The day we visited was perfect.  Cool but not cold, low tide, and sunset was only minutes away...

We checked it all out, the tide pools, the rocks, the ocean and sky...

Sea glass was found...now that we know what to look for, we (meaning my kids) find it at pretty much every beach we visit.  Little treasure hunters ;)...

We searched for the Puffins that sometimes nest there on the rocks, but didn't spot any.  They're such pretty birds, we'd love to see some in the wild some day.  We did spot what looked to us like a cave in the side of the Haystack.  Pretty cool...

I don't think any of us was ready to leave, but it was getting dark and we didn't have any flashlights with us...

...so back to the car and back on the road we went.  A quick stop in Seaside for a twirl along the Promenade with Lewis & Clark...

...then we continued on to Astoria, where we would spend the night snuggled up next to the Columbia River...

...the view from our rooms...I see Washington :)!