Even though we were staying in Oregon, we did a lot of going back and forth between Oregon and Washington since we were so close to the state line.
Saturday we met up with some friends from Texas who now live in Washington. Kari is the daughter of some friends we went to church with for many years. She and her husband have four boys and she is pregnant with another boy. She is an amazing boy mom!
We took a beautiful route from Portland to Carson, Washington to get to Panther Creek Falls.
We hiked a short way down and were able to view the water fall from above.
Then, we hiked further down. It was a somewhat difficult trail to hike for very young kids, but it was doable and enjoyable.
Manning and Rhythm loved having other boys around! They talked and had a good time with Julean, Kamden, Aydan and Brayson.
We were stunned by the beauty of Panther Creek Falls when we got to the bottom of it.
It looked like it was glowing. It is one of the prettiest waterfalls I’ve ever seen!
The trail was fun to hike. It was cool, nice weather, and there were beautiful views in all directions.
We loved getting to hang out with friends and see Panther Creek Falls!
Last Thursday we moved from our RV park near Seattle to a park on Hayden Island in Portland. We debated whether we should keep our reservation due to the rioting in Portland, but after talking to some locals we felt we would be safe at the location we chose.
We arrived and got settled. It used to take us so long to set up and tear down. After having done it so many times, now we are pretty fast.
Upon arrival, Ryan and I work together to decide where we want the RV parked in our site. That can be tricky. We have to consider where our vehicles will fit and if there are trees or electrical boxes that will be in the way of our slides, stairs or opening our outdoor kitchen. Once we get the RV where we want it, Ryan puts the front jacks down and unhitches our 5th wheel from our truck. I then hit an auto level button that levels our RV. Manning, Cherish and Liberty set up all our outdoor stuff – rugs, trash can, tables, chairs and shoe cubbies. I make sure nothing is out of place and then put out our slides. Ryan hooks up the sewer, water and electric. Rhythm sweeps the inside of the RV. I vacuum the indoor rugs. Then Ryan mops the floors inside while I put things back in place that I put away for moving. This is the only time we have no kids in the RV and the easiest time to do a quick floor cleaning. Tapestry watches and entertains our little kids in the air-conditioned van while we do all this. It takes about 20 minutes.
On Hayden Island, we were just across the Washington/Oregon state line. Tapestry suggested we walk the bridge across the Columbia River for our evening walk that first evening.
We thought that sounded like an interesting adventure so we went for it. It was fun crossing from Oregon into Washington and then back into Oregon.
We loved seeing the sun set on the Columbia River and watching a ship go under the bridge beneath us.
Our walk across the bridge was refreshing and a great way to start our time in Oregon!
On our last day in Washington, we went to Olympic National Park. It was a long 2 1/2 hour drive from our RV park, so we headed out early and arrived just before noon.
We parked at the main visitor center and ate a quick lunch in the van. Then we headed to talk to a ranger about recommended hikes and sites to see. We were given suggestions and were excited about the day ahead.
The first thing we chose to do was drive to the Storm King Ranger Station to park. From there we walked down to the beautiful Lake Crescent. The water was such a pretty blue.
Most of our kids skipped stones as Bravely collected rocks and sticks. That is one of her favorite things to do.
From there we chose to hike the Marymere Falls Trail.
It was a really pretty trail leading us through a mossy green forest.
There were some very large trees, similar to the size we saw at Sequoia National Park in California.
I was totally enamored by this tree bridge. Every time we see a bridge, one of our kids asks, “You want a picture of us on the bridge?” They know me. Haha.
At the end of the trail, we arrived at the beautiful Marymere Falls.
Looking at and listening to a waterfall never gets old.
After seeing the waterfall, we made our way back down the trail and to our van. Then, we made the hour drive to the Hurricane Ridge Visitor Center.
I definitely recommend filling up with gas before visiting any national park, and count on using quite a bit of time driving once you are in a park.
When we first arrived at Olympic National Park, we were told the Hurricane Ridge parking was full and there was a line to get there. A ranger recommended going around 4 or 5PM, so that is what we did. It required some extra driving, but it was worth it.
From the Hurricane Ridge parking area, we climbed a trail up a mountain and looked out on breathtaking mountain views.
This day was truly picture-perfect, but it wasn’t quite like most of our amazing national park experiences.
Ryan and I got into an argument on the way to the park, another during our time there and then another on the way home. Ugh! Do you ever have one of those days that you just aren’t in a good groove? It was one of those days for us! Thankfully, we’ve worked through our frustrations and can still look back on the good memories we did make on this day!
On Monday we got our van fixed, thankfully! We had to have our spark plugs and coils replaced. They were damaged and causing misfire due to the recommended fuel injector cleaning we had done a couple weeks earlier.
Tuesday afternoon we were happy to securely be back on the road! We drove about an hour and a half from our RV park, Seattle/Tacoma KOA, to Mount Rainier National Park.
Like all national parks, we were able to get in free with Cherish’s 4th grade pass. If you have a 4th grader and want to visit any of the national parks for free, you can get a pass here. I am going to get Liberty one and start using hers soon, as she is now our 4th grader.
We parked at the Sunrise Visitor Center. We weren’t able to go into the visitor center, but there were tables set up outside where our kids were able to get their passport books stamped. We purchased a Christmas ornament and postcards there, picked up a map and got a ranger’s advice on what to see and do.
First, we chose to walk the Silver Forest Trail. It starts at the Sunrise Visitor Center parking lot and is a 2.4 mile hike roundtrip. We were able to push the jog stroller, and it was an overall easy hike.
The views of Mount Rainier, an active volcano, were stunning.
The trail was lined with many different types of flowers on both sides. Our kids enjoyed using a pamphlet to identify flowers.
We felt it necessary to pause and sing a little song here. We couldn’t miss the opportunity, and it made all of us burst into laughter.
We loved the Silver Forest Trail and were very happy that we chose to hike it.
Next, we drove to Tipsoo Lake. We parked and ate some uncrustables and chips for supper. We’ve come up with a few different easy meal options when on the go. Meals and snacks are definitely something we have to think through because it’s not easy to just pick something up or grab a snack for a family of twelve.
After we ate, we walked over to Tipsoo Lake. It was a small lake with beautiful flowers surrounding. We had seen photos with amazing reflections in the water but it didn’t really appear that way in person…until we took a picture.
We were stunned looking at photos after taking few. The reflections were amazing!
We enjoyed walking around the lake, and we were excited when we caught an almost invisible view of Mount Rainier.
By the time we finished our walk around Tipsoo Lake it was after 7PM, so we decided to head home.
It was another great national park experience with so much beauty to behold!
Late Friday evening we made it to our RV park near Seattle. We didn’t do much the first few days as we were waiting to get our van fixed. The van was still drivable, though, so we did decide to drive into Seattle late Sunday afternoon to check out the city.
We drove by the Space Needle, a Seattle icon. And we went to Kerry Park to view the Seattle skyline.
When I googled “what to see in Seattle”, I saw the Gum Wall. I immediately wanted to go. Ha!
There, two alley walls in downtown Seattle are covered in chewed gum.
We stopped by a convenience store on our way to the Gum Wall and picked up five packs of gum.
We drove to a parking spot near the alley. We all picked some gum to chew, popped it in our mouths and headed to the Gum Wall.
Our kids absolutely loved this! They thought it was the funnest, funniest thing.
There were several other people there taking pictures, including a couple getting engagement photos done.
When I posted this experience on Facebook, I loved the different reactions. Some said seeing the chewed gum made them gag and others thought it looked so fun.
What really made me laugh was when one of our kids said to me, “Hey, we saw a post covered in chewed gum at Stone Mountain and you said it was gross and not to touch it.” Haha! That is true. Somehow this felt different to me, like a fun work of art.
We chewed, chewed, chewed. We blew bubbles. We walked around taking fun photos in different places along the wall. We had a blast.
I had the easiest time getting photos because the kids were posing and asking me to take their pictures.
In the end, we contributed our chewed gum to the artwork. Then, we walked back to the van and immediately sanitized all of our hands. Haha!
That was a unique, weird, quirky and fun adventure I’m sure our kids will remember and tell!
What do you think about the Seattle Gum Wall – disgusting, fun or something in between?
We enjoyed our four nights near Spokane. There wasn’t anything major we were hoping or wanting to do, but our days were filled with adventure nonetheless.
Liberty patiently waited 4 months after her 9th birthday to finally get her ears pierced. Our first evening in Spokane, Liberty and I wore our mandatory masks and went to Claire’s for her piercing. The video wasn’t near as exciting with a mask on, not being able to see her reaction well. But hey, she’s pierced and she has an interesting story to tell about her wait. She is so happy, and we are so happy for her!
The next evening, Manning redeemed his 13th birthday dinner date. He and I had planned to go to the Melting Pot in Nashville in March. It shut down a couple days before Manning’s birthday, though.
We were happy to find a Melting Pot in Spokane, and we thoroughly enjoyed our Melting Pot experience. We had a blast talking, cooking and trying different foods. Manning and I are two of the pickiest eaters in our family, so that added for some humor.
After dinner, we walked and met the rest of the family at Riverfront Park.
The kids loved this giant Radio Flyer wagon. There was a ladder to climb up, a slide to slide down and monkey bars underneath.
We walked around for awhile, just looking around and hanging out.
Then we saw Spokane Falls, a waterfall and dam on the Spokane River. It was really pretty!
There, Liberty got stung three times by a bee, twice on the hand and once on her newly pierced ear. It was her first time to be stung, so it really scared her and upset her. We decided to head back to the RV then.
Did I mention it was really hot in Spokane? Like, Texas hot – over 100 degrees during the day. We had gotten used to and thoroughly enjoy cooler temperatures, so we mostly went out during the evenings.
Wednesday evening we drove to Mount Spokane State Park. We hiked a really pretty trail in an area filled with evergreens and flowers as we watched the sun set.
We celebrated Jubilee’s birthday on Thursday, and then, it happened. Ryan went to fill up both vehicles, just as he always does the night before we travel to a new place. He realized 8 gallons too late that he’d been filling our diesel truck with unleaded gas. After googling, we quickly found out that was a very big deal. I told Ryan that I might be mad if I was positive I’d never do such a thing, but fortunately for him, I’ve had so very many human mistake moments that I just couldn’t muster up a bit of anger.
We woke up early the next morning and started calling mechanics. The third one said he could not promise to get the tank flushed by noon, but he would try. That was music to our ears! We had the truck towed and the tank flushed. We picked up our truck around 2PM, attached the RV and set out on our 4 1/2 hour drive to our next destination.
Also, we got our oil changed in Kalispell about a week earlier. It was recommended we have our fuel injectors cleaned. We don’t often go for recommendations, but we decided to do it since we do heavily rely on our vehicles for traveling. Immediately after we noticed our van jerking upon acceleration. It has continued jerking for over a week, and now our check engine light is on and we are getting a cylinder 3 misfire code. Apparently getting fuel injectors cleaned can damage spark plugs and cause misfire. Tomorrow we will be having spark plugs replaced. Thankfully, both vehicle issues we are able to submit to insurance.
One more crazy to top off the week, River got an infected mosquito bite. We’ve had two kids who have had bad infections in the past, so thankfully, I knew pretty early that it was likely infected. I messaged back and forth with our awesome doctor in Texas. She sent in an antibiotic. River’s infection continued to get worse and turn into staph. Our doctor taught me how to drain it and sent in two other prescriptions. It’s finally looking much better! After three kids with major infections from minor things, Ryan and I wonder how on earth we survived our childhoods without even knowing this was a possible problem! Ha.
We love our current lifestyle of travel. We have beautiful photos, wonderful memories and great stories to tell. We, also, have bumps in the road, tricky things to sort through, frustrations, aches and pains. Bee stings, vehicle issues and infected bug bites are all minor issues, and for that we are thankful, but I never want to paint an unrealistic picture that all is perfect in our little corner of the world. There is beauty in the good and there is beauty in the broken – this is the life we live. ♥️
Monday we left Montana and took the prettiest drive through Idaho to Washington. We are staying at an RV park just outside of Spokane.
We’ve been enjoying our week here, and today we had fun celebrating Jubilee’s 8th birthday!
Some new friends taught us a new birthday song, and we love it! Jubilee picked pancake bread and apple cinnamon bread from Trader Joe’s for her special birthday breakfast. We threw in some trick candles for fun!
After breakfast we each read Jubilee what we wrote to her in her journal, and she opened gifts.
She was excited and surprised that Lolli and Pop had sent her a gift in the mail – bean bag toss.
For lunch Jubilee requested a burrito bowl from Chipotle. She usually has a kid’s meal, which she loves, but she really wanted to try what Mommy and Daddy usually get.
She was only able to eat about 1/4 of it before she asked to save the rest for later. She loved it, though.
Jubilee really wanted to go swimming for her birthday. The pool at our RV park is closed due to COVID, so we drove about 45 minutes to Liberty Lake.
It was crowded, but we found a decent spot to swim. The water wasn’t too cold. And the surrounding view was awesome.
This evening we all took showers, ate dinner and then played on the RV park playground. Jubilee had a great day!
Happy 8th birthday, Jubilee Hope! 💗
You’ve grown up so much this year and have become so mature for your age. You are a master organizer, and you enjoy organizing. I think your clothes drawer is the neatest. You are fun-loving, bubbly and always enjoyable to spend time with. Your smile lights up a room, always has. You are a a ray of sunshine, and your name suits you so well. You love school and learning. You enjoy playing games. You love hanging out with your older siblings and playing with your younger siblings. You’ve joined the band, and I love watching you sing and shake your shaker. You live like your life is a musical, busting out in a spontaneous song at any moment. You’d definitely make a great song-writer. You know what you want, and you go after what you want with a strong determination. You are kind-hearted and loving as well. You are a great, one-of-a-kind daughter who brings a a smile to my face everyday. I love you so very much, Jubilee, and I am so happy you are my girl! 💖
Saturday we met up with our full-time RVing friends, the Techau family, once again. We enjoyed a fun afternoon at the beautiful Flathead Lake.
We chose to swim at the Big Arm State Park day use area. It wasn’t crowded and was perfect for what we wanted.
Our kids played in the water, swam, skipped stones and congregated on this stump standing in the lake.
The boys used a 2 X 6 they found in the water to carry heavy rocks onto the land. The girls used some of the rocks and the board to make a seesaw.
River and Bravely had a blast walking in the shallow part of the water and then walking back onto land, over and over again.
Swimming and playing in the water at the lake is not something we’ve done often. I am so glad we spent the time earlier in the week to find life vests for all our kids. It made our day at the lake so much more fun and relaxed than it would have been otherwise – for me anyway! Ha! Around water my brain spins as my eyes search over and over, “1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10.”
All-in-all it was an awesome afternoon at the lake!
We spent the evening showering and relaxing, and the next day we headed back to Glacier National Park.
We drove in knowing what to expect and where we wanted to go. We really wanted to walk Trail of the Cedars, which we hadn’t had time for before.
Trail of the Cedars is a .6 mile loop lined with cedar trees.
About midway through the trail, we veered off heading toward Avalanche Lake. We were told seeing Avalanche Gorge is a must, and I agree!
This is one of the prettiest areas I’ve ever seen. The colors, the gushing and rushing water, the sound…it was all beautiful.
We followed the gorge up a ways, and then we turned around and went back down to Trail of the Cedars.
We continued along the the trail and crossed over a bridge, which allowed us to see Avalanche Gorge in all its beauty from bellow.
After we finished Trail of the Cedars, we drove to an overlook of McDonald Lake for one last view. And then we were satisfied. We loved our whole experience at Glacier National Park, including our crazy trek through the snow!
I’m not even sure where to start. We’ve traveled so many places now, and we’ve seen so many beautiful views. Sometimes pictures and words fail, and I feel that will be true here. I love the unique views each state and each national park have had to offer. There is something pretty magical about Glacier, though.
On Thursday we drove into the west entrance of Glacier National Park, and shortly after entering we saw the beginning of Lake McDonald. This lake goes on and on and on. It is beautiful clear blue water with rock beds and mountains surrounding.
We picked up a map at the entrance and got advice on must-sees. Our first stop off of Going-to-the-Sun Road was to hike Johns Lake Loop Trailhead. This hike visits Johns Lake, Sacred Dancing Cascade and McDonald Falls.
I wore Bravely and Ryan wore River in pouches on our backs. This trail was not stroller friendly. It was hot out, but not miserably hot, and the trail offered plenty of shade.
The waterfalls and streams were stunning. We were able to get right up close.
I could happily live next to running water and never tire of the sound!
Johns Lake Loop Trail is 1.3 miles, but it took us nearly three hours to walk. We stopped to look, stopped for photos, stopped to climb rocks, stopped to feel the water.
It was worth all the time spent and every stop made. It is a trail full of beauty to behold.
After we finished Johns Lake Loop, we happily sat in the air conditioned van and consumed much needed water and snacks.
Then we continued our drive up Going-to-the-Sun Road. I just love that road name! The views along that road are gorgeous. I found myself asking Ryan to pull over every few minutes just to better soak in our current view.
A long way up the mountain, we reached Logan Pass. Logan Pass is the highest elevation reachable by car in the park. There we parked and immediately saw four bighorn sheep walking around eating grass.
We used the restrooms there, and then we started off on the Hidden Lake Trail around 6:30PM. It was going to be quite the trek, but we didn’t know that quite yet!
We were so excited when we saw our first patch of snow off to the side of the trail. We had no idea there was about to be plenty of snow just ahead.
At this point, Ryan and I each had kids in pouches on our backs once again. I was exhausted from the start, but I was excited about this 2.7 mile hike round trip. The trail was made up of a wooden platform and what seemed like an endless amount of stairs. We climbed, and we climbed, and we climbed.
Then, the wooden platform disappeared. All we saw ahead was snow. Snow and occasional yellow trail markers.
We were slipping and sliding everywhere! Thank God for teenage sons who helped me not bust it with Bravely on my back, for Ryan who toted River and helped Treasure, and for our older girls who helped our younger girls. It was quite the site to see! Ha!
After what felt like hours, we made it to Hidden Lake!
The view – every stair climbed and every slippery step taken was worth it for this amazing, breath-taking view!
We admired the view for approximately 3-5 minutes before realizing that we needed to start heading down the mountain immediately if we wanted to make it back before dark. And I was not about to trek through the snow with ten kids in the dark!
We saw a few mountain goats nearby as we started making our way down the mountain.
Here I feel I should insert the song “I wonder as I wander” or something of that nature. Haha.
Now we had kids crying, kids laughing, kids slipping, kids sliding. Kids and adults, I should say. Everyone was cold, hungry and tired. I started motivating with, “Hey! Tomorrow we’ll get Chick-fil-A sandwiches and big chocolate chip cookies. Y’all are awesome. You got this!” The thought of chocolate chip cookies did help.
We eventually made it down the mountain…at 9:52PM! Thank God it stays light out until around 10PM there!
We made our way home to our RV in Kalispell, arriving around midnight. We ate a very late snack super and crashed. We all slept in the next day and woke up mildly complaining about aches and pains. Every kid, except River who rode on Ryan’s back the whole way, said they were glad we did the hike even though it was hard. Perseverance and endurance is usually worth it in the end! Ryan and I both loved it – crazy, hard, beautiful!
Monday we moved from Great Falls to Kalispell. We’ve been here almost a week, and we have loved almost every minute of our time here.
We are staying at a new RV park called Montana Basecamp. It is a nice park surrounded with mountain views. We’ve enjoyed spending time outside and walking the bike trail that runs behind our RV park for miles and miles.
Something that surprised us here is that it is light out until about 10PM. We’ve loved staying out late and sleeping in all week.
If we are planning to stay a week or longer in one place, we often have a down day the day after we arrive in a new location. That’s what we did on Tuesday. We did laundry, paid bills, made calls, worked and just hung around the RV park.
That evening we went for a long walk on the bike trail. Well, actually we had some walking, some roller-blading, some on scooters, some riding ripstiks and a couple in the stroller.
Wednesday we spent about 3 hours driving around to 7, yes SEVEN, different stores trying to find life vests for all of our kids who didn’t own one. We’d find one here, a couple there, and another elsewhere. We finally acquired one for each kid, and we were excited to be set to meet friends at Lake Flathead later in the week.
Wednesday evening we wanted to get out and do something, so we drove to Whitefish to walk The Whitefish Trail. When we arrived we read the warning signs about bears that recommended having bear spray. Did you know there was such a thing? We had no clue. Apparently, it is a spray similar to mace that is used to deter aggressive or charging bears. We had no bear spray, we had no cell service and it was after 8PM and no one else was around.
Because of those reasons, we decided to walk a short loop, the Swift Creek Trailhead.
It was a nice walk that lead to Swift Creek Overlook, which displayed a beautiful view.
We finished walking the loop, and then we drove a short distance to Les Mason State Park. We parked and walked down a path to Whitefish Lake.
There the kids enjoyed skipping stones across the water as we watched the sun set.
It was one of several late nights out this week, and it was a good one!
Just wait until I tell you about the evening we were trying to make it down a snowy mountain after 9PM…
