The Quinn's Visit

My sister Tanya and her husband Tom came to visit us for a few days on their way back to Utah. After sitting on the freeway for an hour due to a hay truck catching on fire and setting the surrounding area on fire, seeing a movie to wait out the closed freeway, and eating dinner, they finally arrived! Safe, sound, and very tired.

We were excited to show them around Oregon. Unfortunately for the 2 days they were here, Oregon was having a heat wave. 101 the first day and 103 the second! Okay, to some of you this is just called summer, but here in Oregon, it is a heat wave! So day one was spent playing the Wii, having lunch and riding the Trolley around Oregon City. The Trolley is a summer favorite for a few reasons. The first is that it is free! It is an hour ride around Oregon City and the driver tells you all about the history of OC. We love to get off at various stops sometimes, like McDonald's for ice cream! Another reason we love it is that it is open aired and very antiqued.

We started the day at Mike's Drive-In. A great local joint with seasonal berry shakes. Tom, Tanya and I all had Mike's Special Deluxe. It is a very tasty burger with fresh (I have mine grilled) Walla Walla onions, Thousand Island dressing, lettuce, tomato, bacon, Tillamook cheese, and a fried egg! It is the best ever! Of course, you can fill your arteries clogging, so I only go there when we have guests in town. Oh, they do serve a lot of other great items, but once you have had the Mike's Special Deluxe, there is no going back! It was all washed down with fries and milkshakes!

We stopped at McDonald's for a bathroom break. We stopped on Main St. to ride the elevator. In case you did not know, Oregon City is the only place in the United States with a vertical street! And again, it is free! You get a wonderful view of downtown Oregon City and the Willamette River and Falls. Of course we went in the Coin Collector. It is a wonderful shop full of toys and antiques of various sorts. For someone my age, it is like walking in to the toy closet at my mom's house when I was growing up! They have toys and games and things that I have not seen since I was a little girl! I have really enjoyed taking my sisters there when they come to visit because a new memory always comes back to one of us and we have fun remembering together! When our Trolley journey was done, it was off to 7-11 for Slurpee's'! We went to Tony's Fish Market and Tom and Tanya bought fresh salmon, which Tanya prepared for us for dinner! It was delicious!

At Mike's

The first bite

The Trolley

At the Interpretative Center

Good night song by Uncle Tom

On day 2 we decided to beat the heat and head for the coast! It was supposed to be a beautiful 83 degrees, clear sky and sunny. So we packed our swim suits and headed for Rockaway Beach. It was so nice to leave the 103 degrees that we did not think for one minute to pack sweaters. Well Tillamook and Rockaway were a crisp 62 degrees, foggy and very windy! Oh well, it is the Oregon Coast, was I really expecting Florida?! (Well, yes as a matter of fact!) We had another wonderful day together as we toured the Tillamook factory, ate our cheese sandwiches and ice cream. Then we headed north about 20 minutes to Rockaway Beach. We lasted about an hour and then it was back to the car and hot Portland we went. It was so nice to have the Quinn's come and visit with us. We really enjoyed being with them and hope to see them again soon.

On our way in for ice cream!

Fun in the sand!

Thank heaven for showers!