Oregon Coast

We headed to Oregon this past Thursday. We went to visit my newly married sister Steph and her husband Dave. We helped them clean out their garage and get some things organized. We had quite the adventure. We left in the early evening. We estimated we would get there around 2 in the morning. Well; plans changed when Jaron got wrapped around in the seat belt and got stuck. He was sleeping and somehow twisted himself in it and it kept getting tighter and tighter. We pulled over and tried ourselves...didn't work; we stopped by a fire station; nobody there...we stopped at several hotels..no luck with finding the right tool. We couldn't find a 24 hour store anywhere..it was a pretty small town we stopped at. We finally found a 24 hour gas station-we had to cross a scary metal see-through toll bridge to get to it...we finally found made it to the gas station; and lucky for us..there were two cops there getting late night treats. Jaron was stripped to his underwear by this point because he was getting claustrophobic. We showed the cops our predicament...they were so kind and took us to a city maintenance building and got the correct tool to loosen the seatbelt. If they hadn't been there we would have just cut the seat belt off with Toby's leather men. But we were trying to save the seat belt since we were on a long trip and needed it. So we got back on our way. I have never seen so many trees in my life..hanging over the road..curvy roads..in the dark; I was ready to be out of the van by the time we arrived. We arrived at 5:00 a.m. at Steph & Dave's house. Toby had a head/chest cold...I drove most the way. The kids did really well traveling. They slept a lot of the way; except for the seat belt ordeal. Jaron slept very well after he was worked up being stuck in the seat belt. The next day we spent time catching up on sleep; and the kids playing with their cousins Carson and Shaelie. They had a blast! They were all so good the whole time we were there...they do so well playing with one another. Dave & Steph showed us around the house..it's gorgeous! My mom and dad showed up Friday night. We went to Marie Calendars for dinner. It was fun! We all went to bed soon after. Saturday morning we all got on our work clothes and tackled their garage...it took most of the day; but hopefully it helped them out. We had so much fun working together. At the end of a yummy spaghetti dinner; I was putting some toys away and I hit my head so hard that I saw stars. I was dizzy and nauseous for the rest of that night and the next day. I started feeling better Monday; the day we came home. Sunday we headed to the Oregon Coast with Dave and Steph and their 5 kids. On our drive Toby and I saw a girl driving a jeep swerve and over correct herself; and the jeep flipped several times in the air and landed on the side of the road. We saw it all happen, and was very grateful it didn't hit us too. Toby stopped and helped the girl..she was crawling out of her jeep once we got to her. Called 911 and waited for them to arrive. Several other people helped..one being a retired fire fighter. So after that; we got back on our way. We arrived at our destination and realized it was a pretty windy, cold day...but it was still fun. Brielle loved it for about 20 minutes or so; and then she was done with the sand hitting her legs and hurting them. Mikenna and Jaron loved it! We found sand crabs that were fun to play with. We stopped along the coastline a couple times during our drive...it was so pretty!!! We said our goodbyes to Dave and Steph there; and headed to Portland that night after dinner and stayed in a hotel for the night. The next morning we let the kids jump in the pool for awhile before we headed home. On our way home I ran over some wire that was on the road and got stuck up underneath the van that made a weird noise on the road when I was driving. We stopped and Toby pulled it out with his leather man. Luckily no damage. We were about 30 miles away from home; and I started noticing that the van was swerving more and more..and there was no wind that day. So I pulled over at the next exit -and we had a flat tire...we could hear the hissing air coming from it...it was a pretty big leak. Toby pulled out his leather man again...and pulled a huge piece of steel from the tire. We went to get our spare tire...and no tire. We have no idea what happened to it?? So we were stuck at the exit for 3 hours. Dave saved the day; by calling his friends dad that lives in Hermiston. He came; got Toby and took him to go buy a new tire; while the girls and I stayed with the van. We made it back home...thankful to be home after a fun; kinda crazy trip!!