We’re baaaaack! We arrived home last night around 9, sticky from the humid Oregon weather and worn out from the drive, but intact! One week spent: in Portland, down to Lincoln City, up to Manzanita and Cannon Beach, back down to Newport (twice), and then over to Eddyville! Plenty of driving, dogs, beaches, and wind on this trip. So let’s get on with the 520 photos I took, eh?

First stop last Sunday was my cousin Erika’s new house in Portland. I don’t know what setting I had the camera on, but about 5% of the photos taken at her house turned out in focus–everything else looks like this. Heavy sigh.

Normally I wouldn’t post these shots but they are the ONLY shots, so there you have it. Camera fail! Erika gave birth to sweet little Cash four months ago. He is a happy, quiet little baby–he currently has a reflux issue, but other than the spitting and slobbering he was an angel. I got several long whiffs of baby head, my favorite.

I handed the camera to Josh, and evidently he didn’t notice the pictures were all out of focus either, grrrr! We really need to tryyyyy, just a little bit harderrrr…Note the quilt on the couch–I made that quilt for Erika and her husband for their wedding gift two years ago. She said it gets a lot of use, which makes me happy.

I’m crazy about all of her dark wood furniture. The house they moved into is not new–built in the 50’s, but they did a great job of remodeling the kitchen with all new cupboards and tile. Made me jealous–I can’t wait until the day that we are no longer renting. Hooray for paint on walls!

The art was great too. I’m thinking a Liz painting would fit right in with their décor.

Erika gave us a little starter plant that will someday grow to be as large as the one in her living room (that leafy blur you see above). She made a fantastic dinner featuring Greek salad and a fabulous moussaka with beef and lamb. My aunt came over to the house and brought my cousin Aimee’s twins with her, who I met for the first time. Erika’s mother-in-law brought Erika’s stepson back home from a weekend with granny and they joined us for dinner as well.

After dinner, Little Matt (as I call him–to differentiate between Erika’s husband Matt and her brother Matt–oy vey that’s a lot of Matts) hooped for me. He has skills!

Josh playing with Little Matt and the twins after dinner. Nice butt!

It was a lovely start to our vacation. I brought Erika flowers and some Lindor chocolate balls, which are special because when her family lived in Switzerland they used to ship them over to my family all the time, and we all love them. Erika made a fabulous dinner and it was wonderful seeing her new house and spending time with her and her family. Portland is a mere 3 hour drive from where we live, and I am definitely going back–soon, hopefully.

After dinner and visiting we were ready to embark on our drive down to Lincoln City–about two a half hours away. Stay tuned for part 2…exploring Lincoln City! IN FOCUS!