Our Pacific Coast Trip

Our long-awaited trip to the Pacific Coast,

celebrating our 45th wedding anniversary,

and 25 years as Cru staff!

Also, this was our first trip out to visit Lee & Cheryl, and Loren (two of Cherry's brothers and a sis-in-law) since their move to the Portland area, and also ... our first trip to visit our son Seth since he moved to San Francisco! We were so very excited! And so very thankful for our 25-year bonus from Cru to help fund the trip! A four-part trip, over 18 days ...

Sharing just a few of our many, many photos, starting in this post with a few photos from the first part of our trip:

Portland area - July 12-16

Time with Lee & Cheryl, and Loren

Day 1 (July 12) - flying from Omaha to Portland, 
with a glimpse of majestic Mt. Adams as we neared Portland

Visiting the beautiful Portland Japanese Garden, and also the Rose Garden
on our first afternoon, the day of our arrival

Day 2 (July 13) - a day driving through the gorgeous Columbia River Gorge ...
in this photo, a view of Multnomah Falls

A picnic with this amazing close-up view of the Columbia River

Day 3 (July 14) - a two-hour drive up into Washington to view Mount St. Helens

So proud of my brother, Lee, for his research on the 1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens as a volcanologist for the Smithsonian - his name even included on a display in the visitor center 

Another view of beautiful Mount St. Helens 

Day 4 (July 15) - a one-hour drive to Mt. Hood, and to Timberline Lodge,
built in 1936 at 6,000 feet elevation, about halfway up Mt. Hood

A view up Mt. Hood through the visitor center window

Another view of Mt. Hood, from Trillium Lake

Enjoying our last evening meal of our visit
with Lee & Cheryl, and Loren ...
fresh salmon, caught from the Columbia River by a neighbor 

Our visit came to an end much too soon ... it was such a sweet time with family. Such beautiful sites to see, and the best gift of all was the great conversation and connection together with those we love. 

Besides our days staying with Lee & Cheryl in their relaxing, gorgeous retirement home, it was also a real treat to see Loren's spacious 10th-floor apartment in nearby Portland. We treasure our time together, and have many, many photos to help keep the memories close.

We picked up our rental car the morning of  Day 5 (July 16), and after a few more hours together with Loren in Portland, continued on with our 18-day trip, driving to the Pacific Coast ...

(to be continued)