Looking back at my childhood, some of the richest and most treasured memories are the adventures in the outdoors with my family. My parents took my brother and I on all kinds of great excursions near and far, in wilderness and in places wild in their own right. As adults, my brother and I recognized the importance of these experiences and decided to continue the tradition with our own annual family camping trips. We picked February as a time of year life isn’t quite so busy, and we’ve reserved yurts at Oregon coast State Parks so we could get out there in the storms and still have a warm place to dry off and visit. I’ve written about a couple of our sibling adventures in past years; On Siblings, Camping and Cape Lookout State Park, and Go Fly a Kite: A Cape Lookout Camping Adventure. On our past trips, my kids were the next generation to share these experiences with, but this year the next generation got just a little bigger with the addition of my Niece, Lyla Bea on her first camping trip!
With the addition of a baby to the family, we decided to upgrade the creature comforts a little for this trip, and try out the Deluxe Cabins with mini kitchens and bathrooms. These are apparently a coveted commodity, because they were all booked at Cape Lookout. This forced us to branch out, and Fort Stevens State Park on the North Oregon Coast looked like a great spot with 4200 acres to explore, including trails, beaches, Coffenbury Lake, historical military bunkers and a shipwreck. It was also a little shorter drive for my brother’s family, and with a baby, this becomes a thing of great importance. I’ve been there times two!
My cup of tea is always going to be roughing it out in the most remote wilderness I can find, but for winter camping with kids along, I value comfort. We were impressed by how fancy the cabins were compared to the yurts, and still for less than the cost of a hotel room per night. With huge winter storms hitting the coast that weekend, we appreciated all the extra space, like a separate bedroom for the kids, and the little indoor kitchen area so everyone could hang out in comfort during meal times. Not having to go out in the storm during the night for trips to the bathroom was also greatly appreciated. With nice gas grills outside the cabins, the guys managed to brave the weather and cooked up some delicious meals for us to enjoy inside the warm, cozy cabin.
I enjoyed seeing how our new generation of Colley campers each enjoyed the trip in their own individual way. My daughter spent most of the time hibernating with her book. This is pretty much exactly how I remember enjoying my family vacations at twelve years old.
Miss Lyla Bea got to enjoy all sorts of new experiences ranging from first camping trip and first beach experience, to first time out in a big winter storm. Now she was all set for trying her first solid food when they got back home.
Even though she opted out of some naps, I think she had fun, and I enjoyed watching my little brother and his wife being awesome parents.
My son had a blast with exciting things like the Shipwreck of the Peter Iredale and military bunkers to explore with his daring Uncle Dan.
I nearly had a heart attack when they decided to climb up the shipwreck and hang on for dear life as the waves came in, but I suppose that scaring your mother is part of what makes uncles so much fun.
I am happy to say they made it back unscathed.
With the storm kicking up and Lyla Bea not enjoying the cold wind and rain, we didn’t spend a tremendous amount of time exploring the old military bunkers, but spent long enough for some expeditions with a flashlight into the underground tunnels and chambers (which I personally thought were a little creepy, but this is probably what makes them so much fun for a twelve-year-old.)
There were underground tunnels, ladders and stairs to explore everywhere you looked, and I imagine you could spend a whole day taking it all in.
While Lyla Bea had an afternoon rest, Corey and I took our kids into Astoria. Anyone else who grew up in the 80’s will probably associate the locale with one of the most epic cult adventure movies ever made, The Goonies. I can’t even tell you how many times my brother and I watched that movie. It was a major sibling bonding experience. I decided this too was a tradition that ought to be carried on, so we watched it with the kids before leaving on the trip. They didn’t quite “get” 80’s hair and Cyndi Lauper, but enjoyed it nonetheless. When we got to Astoria, we decided to track down the Goonies House which is a privately owned residence with self walk-up tours welcome. It wasn’t hard to find, and I discovered there is a whole Goonies tourism scene in Astoria. I came across this great website: http://thegoonies.org/, with all kinds of behind the scenes info, news and articles. They have an entire page of locations from the film to help you create your own tour: Locations, Maps and Addresses, including the Goonies House at 368 38th Street. I must say, seeing the Goondocks in person took me right back to 1985.
As we all stood out on the beach for a family photo by the shipwreck of the Peter Iredale, it was somehow reminiscent of the Goonies out on the beach at the end of their big adventure. After all, we’re just a bunch of kids (and kids at heart) having all sorts of fun and seeking treasures less tangible, minus police chases and villains. Good times together with family, excursions in the outdoors, camping out (even in a fancy cabin), carrying on traditions and the memories we carry away and keep are all rich stuff.
I am looking forward to many more family adventures with the next generation.
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