Christine's Oregon Coast Travel Journal

Naturally, I took more than 400 photos during our recent family vacation to the Oregon Coast. Here are just a few of my favorites!

For starters, the Velvet Elvis is a staple. The first thing we always do when checking into our yurt is to hang Elvis in the front window. So if you ever see Elvis at an Oregon state park, you can be pretty sure the Claringbold family is staying there! A little history: our very first Christmas together (1991), Chuck and I both bought each other Velvet Elvis hangings. It was a big surprise! The one I got for him was pink with a younger King on it, and that one has since been lost, but the one he bought me still remains and lives in our camping equipment just for this reason.
We had gorgeous weather, blue skies, and sunshine. Is that a clipper ship on the horizon?
It was relaxing! Naps were actually taken!
We walked in the woods. I took a zillion marco pictures of wildflowers, wanting to save all the beautiful colors for future inspiration.

We went to the amazing Oregon Coast Aquarium and were simply enchanted by the huge variety of fabulous creatures there...


...especially the Oddwater exhibit...

...and the Passages of the Deep, where you walk through acrylic tunnels and watch fish, sharks, and rays swimming all around and over your head... so cool!
This picture has its own caption:
We had campfires and cocoa and good food. We also got a lot of reading done. Tangereen scored a cool Star Trek book at a local thrift store, where I also found an awesome psychedelic coffee cup for my collection!

We explored tide pools too.
We checked out a big old bus that was for sale. Chuck was so excited, he totally wants to buy an old school bus for the band.
Besides all this, we also played lots of baseball, spent hours at a huge antique mall, and what trip to the beach would be complete without lunch at Mo's?

I have to say, I think this was the most fun and relaxing family vacation we've had in a very long time. Now that I'm home, I'm trying to get back to work, so I'm making a new batch of Mandala Record Bowls for the upcoming Recycled Arts Festival (June 28 & 29 at Esther Short Park in Vancouver - see you there!).