Bye-bye Sisters, hello Oregon Coast!

The journey from Sisters, over the Cascade Mountains, in Central Oregon, on a gorgeous April morning, turned out to be bright and beautiful. It was a glorious day!

We had not fully anticipated how treacherous the winding curves, steep descents and scary drop-offs that we would have to navigate after we summited the Santiam Pass could have been. We were just so focused on getting over the Pass. Fortunately the roads were very clear and once we descended the mountains, crossed the busy I5 and dropped into Albany then the flats of Corvallis, we were itching to catch our first glimpse of the ocean.

Our next stop was in Newport, Oregon at the Thousand Trails site called Whaler's Rest.

On arrival we requested a full hook up site with the best opportunity for a strong wifi signal, especially for Henry. We were directed up a steep hill and we spent at least 20 minutes trying to back into a very tight site. We ended up shifting over to a neighboring site so we could gain extra leverage to safely manouver the trailer and park her up safely.

As I began setting up the trailer on the inside, Kim began setting everything up the trailer on the outside. He quickly discovered the standing water pipe was leaking, spraying both him and the surrounding area with water. It quickly became waterlogged and exceedingly muddy. We were parked in a bog.

We asked to move sites and found a lovely pull through site on the other side of the road. We quickly settled in. 

The site was within walking distance of the Lost Creek Beach, so I set off after dinner, with Ollie scampering along beside me, to potter through the woods, cross the road and to run wild on the beach. We while enjoy the scorching evening sunset.

We spent many days hiking the trails around Sisters, Oregon. Ollie bouncing and skidding about in the snow made it extra special. We enjoyed seeing all the birds; the Piñon Jays, Mountain Chickadees, White-headed Woodpeckers and an array of warblers and nuthatches. The American Robin was always a welcome sight on the trails too. We saw plenty of deer watching us carefully, ready to run. 

The small town had olde worlde charm particularly with the Christmas lights and decorations during December. Filled with small mom and pop shops we spent many a happy day exploring. Henry and I particularly enjoyed the Antique Mall where he managed to snag a retro handheld Nintendo Black Jack game. His love for Antique Malls was born.

After buying a pair of Birkenstocks in Bend and thoroughly enjoying pottering around Antique Malls for hours, I think Henry is turning into me!

There was a lovely food truck called Brunchies where we stopped for a late breakfast one morning before our hike. It was very windy and we ended up chasing after food wrappers. Ollie loved the game!

Alpacas with full winter coats grazed lazily at the north end of town at the Best Western Ponderosa Lodge. It reminded me of my sister Caroline's 50th birthday when we walked alpacas through the woods on a sunny June morning last year. The alpacas were so friendly and calming to be around. Known for spitting if they feel threatened, I kept a beady eye on them as I took the circular walk around their huge enclosure, but they were quite happy to have us come quite close and whisper messages of love and gratitude to them.

Here are some more pics from our time in Sisters.

Our first Christmas in the trailer!

​After a trip into Sisters to see what decorations I could acquire at the thrift store and the dollar store, I found these amazing Christmas Nutcrackers, some fairy lights, candles, a tiny but real Christmas tree and other Christmassy bits and bobs. All for under twenty bucks! Win! I dried out slices of orange for festive tree decorations.

Christmas lunch was very traditional. Prawn cocktail followed by roast turkey and all the trimmings followed by Christmas pud, mince pies and ice cream. Considering we only had a small convection oven and three burners on the stove, it was a triumph. We had our bottles of Mexican Coca Cola and some Asti for the table. With our Santa hats and fun Christmas jumpers, we pulled the crackers, shared the silly jokes and of course retold the joke from the Vicar of Dibley;

What do you do if you see a spaceman?
I don't know, know, know, know.
​Park in it, man.

We toasted absent family and friends, particularly our mums, and tucked in to our delicious Christmas dinner.

It was Ollie's first Christmas with us and she had some special treats and was very well behaved. What a gift she is! Best. Ever.

Sisters do indeed rock!

I am fortunate to have two wonderful sisters, an older sister, Louise, and a younger sister, Caroline. I am piggy in the middle. We are very close and I love them dearly so I am always drawn to locations that celebrate sisters, particularly three sisters.

The first occasion where Louise, Caroline and myself found ourselves in front of a rock formation called The Three Sisters was in the Blue Mountains, just outside Sydney, Australia. This is a very hazy photo of that moment taken in 1977.

So I was delighted to happen across Sisters Rock State Park in Oregon just north of Gold Beach and our campsite at Honey Bear By The Sea, where we stopped for some quick pics of three rocks sitting out in the Pacific Ocean, called the Three Sisters.

​I took a happy moment to send love to my sweet sisters and all my family back in England. Lovely xxx