Daddy Head, Bear, Lion and I recently went on a vacation to Oregon. Really, we went there because Daddy Head and I were speaking at a conference (though Bear had her way and made sure I didn’t get to say a word, hehe). We decided that it would be the perfect occasion to stay over a few days for our first vacation just the 4 of us. And it was delightful!
We were specifically in the Portland and Lincoln City areas. Portland is a huge city, right near some magnificent “hills” as they are called there. They were mountains to us, since we are from flat Illinois.

While we were in Portland for 2 ½ days, we decided to go to the Oregon Zoo with my friend, Katelyn Head.  The nice thing about the Oregon Zoo is that it isn’t too expensive to get in, which was different for us since our zoo is free. Bear and Lion got in for free since they were 2 and under. We had a discount since my friend was a zoo member.  They had beautiful exhibits that we don’t have back home. It literally felt like they cut the zoo into a middle of a forest!

After our visit to the zoo, we traveled 1 ½ hours to Lincoln City, OR which is on the coast. It was so pretty driving through the forest and then coming out right at the ocean!

Lincoln City is known for its beach combing.

Every morning, you will find people combing the beach for shells, clams, even the very rare Japanese Glass Floats. You can buy any of these things in the quaint shops along the road side, but why buy when you can find your own for free!

They also had some very cute places to eat, like the Pig ‘N Pancake place that we had a late breakfast/lunch at! Bear loved eating the scrumptious pancakes they had to offer! Daddy Head and I enjoyed a great omelet!

Another nice thing about Lincoln City is its hometown feel! While they have a Tanger Outlet Mall, they also have many small shops and locally ran grocery stores! This helped us to keep our costs down since we had a kitchen in our condo we could cook in!

Lincoln City and Portland have much to offer when it comes to fun. We went off season, so I am sure there is even more to discover during the summer season!