Samuel H. Boardman

The day after mountain biking we spent the day exploring the Samuel H. Boardman scenic area. It. Is. Amazing.

So much beauty everywhere. Those big cliffs out in the ocean are so cool.

Natural Bridge has 7 arches and blowholes, and it is breathtaking. We hiked down to get a closer look, but it was pretty steep and cliffy, and Rand was not a fan. At one point he just sat on the trail and glared at all of us for making him hike it.

Cole hiked out on this cliff while I had a heart attack from the other side. Such a beautiful picture, though. I absolutely loved this part of the trip.

Caulder was brave enough to go partway down the cliff to snap this picture. 

This was Cole's view of us on the opposite cliff.

We finished off the day at Waleshead Beach. It was cold and breezy, but Rand loved it. Cole and I had found some pretty big shells on an early morning walk at our first campsite, so Caulder snuck them out and dropped them all over this beach for Rand to find. Rand was so excited. He couldn't even believe how many big shells he found! 

Tukk climbed up on this rock and found the perfect chair while the rest of us huddled in our jackets and watched Rand play in the sand. 

We made it to northern California that night and spent the night at Ramblin Redwoods RV Park, a beautiful campground with giant trees. 

 

Whiskey Run

This was my favorite part of the whole trip. We spent a day riding bikes at Whiskey Run, and it was seriously magical. 

Tukk's bike died right when we got there, so that was a major bummer, but he was such a good sport about it all. He pedaled without assist the entire way, which really sucks when everyone else has a working e-bike, but he kicked our butts all day, anyway!

Having all my boys riding through this amazing forest, in the quiet and beauty of nature, made me get a little teary eyed. Pure magic.

Caulder crashed, but the spot he landed was so soft he decided to just stretch out and enjoy it for a minute. He was cracking us up.

After a long day of riding, we fueled our bodies with only the best.😬

We stopped by this beach to see Face Rock. It was beautiful, but we felt like we were going to get blown off the cliff because it was so windy!

Then we had dinner at this little shack right on a working dock. It was so cool to drive down right to the ocean and see boats everywhere. We had clam chowder and fish n chips. It was delicious, and we saw a whale out in the water when we left. 

Helmet hair, fresh fish n chips, and whale watching = heaven. 

We finished off the night at Turtle Rock RV Resort. It was a little sketchy, but we felt like the kings of the rednecks because our campsite came with a.... wait for it....... WAIT FOR IT.......

A hot tub. 

I'm not even joking. We had a private hot tub at our redneck RV park. It was amazing. 

 

Bullard's Beach State Park

After two nights in Coos Bay, we moved south to Bullard's Beach. We stayed in a very nice campground with lots of trees and a bike path to the beach. 

I loved these yellow flowers. They grew wild all along the road. 

 

Coos Bay

We drove about 5 more hours on day 2, but it was totally worth it when we landed here. Coos Bay, with a camping spot right near the beach. 😍

We spent the next two days just relaxing and exploring the bay. There was hardly anyone else around, so we soaked up the beach, climbed the rocks, explored the tide pools, found starfish, Caulder saved a tiny crab and made a best friend, and we watched a brand new little puff of a gosling parade around like he owned the place. 

These two were living their best lives. 

The big boys had fun climbing their RC cars all over the rocks and racing them on the sand, Rand played with his new sand toys, Pa Babe busted out his shovel so he was in heaven, and we even rode our bikes along the beach.

Our last day here, Yaya and The Babe took the boys exploring up on the cliff, and it was so cool we had to go back up so Cole and I could see it. 

This place was so amazing. It's so green and lush everywhere, and the views were incredible. 

We were walking through one section that had knee-high greenery, when all of a sudden a wild beast came running straight at us. Everyone screamed in turn. 

It was a dog. A very big, very unexpected dog, because we hadn't seen anyone else the whole time we'd been up there. It was hilarious.

The waves would crash up through this channel and slam up against the rocks. 

Of course the boys wanted to take the adventuresome way down. We got a very perfect video of Yaya, right as she fell. We couldn't help giggling as she told us, "Some day I'll be dead and then you'll be sorry!"