2015 Oregon 3 week Christmas trip with the "kids"

 For awhile now the "kids" (son who's 37 and his wife, and our daughter who's 35 and her husband) have been talking about us all going somewhere for Christmas.  So on Thanksgiving of 2014, we decided in 2015 we would do it.   All we had to do was decide where and wait for over a year for the time to come.  After suggesting places like Grand Cayman, Grand Bahamas, Key West, and other assorted warm weather beach places, I mentioned the Oregon coast.  That was it, they didn't even hesitate!  That's where they wanted to go!  No warm beaches, no snorkeling, no t-shirts and shorts!  I've lived in Oregon many years ago and know that in winter it rains A LOT!  But I don't remember being in Oregon for Christmas since I was a kid, so I said, "Why not!?"  So at 13 months out  I went onto the Worldmark site and booked a 3 bedroom condo at Gleneden for 2 weeks. When it got closer to Christmas 2015, I refined our reservations by booking 3 nights at Depoe Bay before the Gleneden stay since Angie, Josh and we flew out earlier to get better airfare and cancelled the 2nd week of Gleneden when the kids had all flown home.  Ken and  I stayed an extra week to get the better airfare back, but my brother and sister-in-law offered us their empty house in nearby Dallas since they wouldn't be making it back for Christmas.  

Dec. 16, 2015---flying out of Ft. Lauderdale

Dec. 17, 2015 --- up to rainy Cannon Beach

Dec. 18, 2015---down the Oregon Coast to Cape Perpetua

Dec. 19, 2015---move to Gleneden Beach and Tim and Faith arrive

Dec. 20, 2015---walk along the beach and Mo's

Dec. 21, 2015---to Rogue distillery and brewery

Dec. 22, 2015---Tim's 37th birthday!

Dec. 23, 2015---heading south towards Newport and Seal Beach

Dec. 24, 2015---more sea foam and White Elephant gift exchange

Dec. 25, 2015---Christmas!

Dec. 26, 2015---sad day, the kids leave :(, but first--Multinomah Falls and Mcmenamins Kennedy school for dinner

Dec. 27, 2015---move inland to Dallas

Dec. 28, 2015---apparently there was nothing I wanted to remember about this day?!


Dec. 29, 2015---Silver Falls and Oregon Gardens

Dec. 30, 2015---riding around in the valley and search for Northern Lights

Dec. 31, 2015---Playing with my new lens, Rogue Farms, and into the coastal range by Falls City

Jan. 1, 2016---hanging around Dallas

Jan. 2, 2016---Senior pictures of my great nephew

Jan. 3, 2016---snow and ice storm and time to leave

After living 3 places in Oregon as a kid (Klamath Falls, Corvalis, and Dallas) for a total of 7 years and spending many years vacationing to Dallas as an adult after my parents retired and moved back there, it was nice going back to a place that felt like home.  A lot happened in the year from Thanksgiving 2014 and Christmas 2015---such as Tim and Faith moved to Knoxville and we moved to South Florida.  But we all still managed to come up with the time and money to make the trip.  Even with the cold and rain, it turned out to be a fun trip!

Oregon---Willamette Valley

Since we've been vacationing in Oregon for over 35 years, I decided to break up my Oregon blog into sections. Not only do we still vacation here (mostly to visit my family), but I lived here for about 7 years as a child. Most of our vacations, though, are during their fabulous July or August months. Can't beat those nearly 90 degree days with low humidity and almost constant sunshine. This blog is of the area I lived in---the Willamette Valley. Most of our vacations were based out of Dallas, Oregon, about 12 miles west of Salem.

First a little education about the area. The Willamette Valley is a fertile plain on either side of the Willamette River in the northwest area of Oregon. It is bound on the west by the Oregon Coast Range and on the east by the Cascade Range. The Missoula Floods some 13,000-15,000 years ago contributed to the agricultural richness of the valley. The majority of the state's population lives within the basin.

The climate in the Willamette Valley is usually cool wet winters and moderate dry summers. Most valley precipitation arrives as rain, about half of which falls between December and February. Growing seasons are long, averaging 150 to 180 days per year in the lowlands with an average of 40" of rain. Temperatures rarely get below 0 in the winter and only above 90 5-15 days per year in the summer.

A fantastic way to see the Willamette Valley is by Amtrak train on the Coast Starlight. It is widely regarded as one of the most spectacular of all train routes. It starts in LA and ends in Seattle. It goes through Oregon in the Willamette Valley. The scenery along the Coast Starlight route is beautiful. We boarded it a couple times here at the Amtrak station in Salem and rode it to Seattle.

Amtrak

We loved sitting in the 2nd level Sightseer Lounge car that has floor-to-ceiling windows for watching the passing scenery go by. There are other trains along this route, too, but none with this impressive viewing car of the Coast Starlight.

Located in the center of the Willamette Valley alongside the Willamette River is the capital of Oregon, Salem. A 2009 estimate placed the metropolitan population at 396,103, the state's second largest metropolitan area, first being Portland by far.

This is the third and current Oregon State Capitol building which was completed in 1938 and is the fourth-newest capitol in the United States. It is adorned by a gold leaf Oregon Pioneer statue atop the capitol dome. The capitol grounds cover three city blocks and include Willson and Capitol parks. Although we've never been in the capital building we've driven by it hundreds of times.

Oregon State Capitol building