I'm Baaaack.....

Wow, well I'm a jerk.  I just got up and left y'all with no goodbye or explanation as to where we were heading.  It has been a busy month and a half and Miss Penny has become quite the traveller for a four month old.  Yes, she is four months already tomorrow! Well four months date wise (born June 19th) but 17.5 weeks if you are counting weeks.  

So where have we been you ask? Well for most of September we were camping our down the Washington and Oregon scenic coast highway 101,  via the Rocky Mountains in Alberta and Vernon and Osoyoos, B.C.   Our original goal was to make it to California but a job interview for Mr. Loonie and Penny's growing hatred for the car seat quickly changed our plans causing us to head back up north only 100km from the California border.  Ahh well, that's life and California will be saved for another trip.  On the way home we booked er' on the 1-5 through Portland, a city I would love to visit again and then through the historic Columbia Gorge bi-way in Washington (gorgeous in the fall!) and then crossing the Canadian border up through Idaho to Alberta.  

Our Set-up.  Drove over 6000km round trip.

The trip was amazing, I don't know how many times we said, "We should move here!".  Everywhere was just so different from our neck of the woods, emphasis on the word "woods"! In Washington we hit the Pacific Ocean at a spot known as Deception's Pass, a strait separating Whidbey Island from Fidalgo Island where the sun was shining both days, the hikes were amazing and the large trees and ferns took over the landscape just off the rocky beaches.  Mr. Loonie and Stryker had their first swim here, Stryker was a little more than surprised at the taste of the salt water! The funny thing was that he never seemed to remember that the water was salty our entire time at the ocean.  We were on the ocean most of the trip camping at beach side campgrounds when available, nothing beats the sounds of waves crashing while lying in bed.  

Deception's Pass - Penny's 1st view of the Pacific Ocean!

We saw mountains, sea lions, a whale, Oregon's largest Spruce tree, the world's longest beach , natural arches and caves in the ocean, a shit load of army bunkers, waterfalls, the world's largest frying pan, sand dunes, ocean sunsets, violent waves and blowholes, amazing bridges and botanical gardens but the best thing was watching Penny change from an infant to our little girl.  The changes we saw in her was awesome.  She was able to hold her steady by the end of our trip and sit in the bumbo comfortably without her head hanging and she is now forward facing in the carrier, a position she prefers so she can see the world! Penny just became more aware during that month, more smiley and talkative and much more comfrtable with both Mr.Loonie and I.

Holding her head up like a champ.

Devil's Churn

Columbia Gorge Waterfall

Long Beach, WA

Ecola State Park, OR (My favorite spot of the trip)

Haystack Rock, Cannon Beach, OR

One of the many ocean sunsets.

Outward in the carrier!

Beach Day!

And hiking.....I love to hike but yeesh no wonder I could fit into my pre-preggo jeans when we got back.  (Let's be honest though....fit with a muffin top). But everyone knows the only way to the best spots is to hike to them.  We did our fair share of geocaching too which lead us to the most amazing locations that only locals would know including ocean lookouts and secluded beaches.  

All in all, it was a great trip.  And for those who thought we were crazy for going with a 3 month old, I agree.  Haha No, it wasn't that bad at all.  It just took some planning and all the right equipment.  I will be posting a camping post to show you how we did it and what we would do differently next time.  

Now, if only Pen Pen could remember it all!! Thankfully, we have the 4000 pictures to show her when she is old enough to care! I also did a nightly journal entry to document our daily acitivities and journey with the coolest little polaroid pics taken with a camera Mr. Loonie got me for my 30th birthday.  Oh yah, remember a few posts back I wrote that I wasn't afraid of turning 30?! Well I guess that was a shit story since I ended up running from my own party.  The gist of it is.....Penny wouldn't take the bottle in time for the party and since I couldn't drink I decided to not go out at all.  So yah, I turned 30 but I still act like a child.