A couple of weeks ago we took a quick trip up to Oregon. It was a celebratory and exploratory trip rolled up into one. Since we drove, it was a trip our family felt comfortable taking and it was a much needed respite after months of SIP and general nationwide uncertainty.
We missed out on a Spring Break trip with the kids this year and we have been discussing our travel options for the summer. This trip allowed us to explore Master M’s future home for 4 years and to celebrate Miss M’s sweet sixteen birthday in an exciting, new venue.
Yes, Master M, Sebastian, was a high school senior this past year, and his acceptances to colleges started rolling in pretty much right before SIP hit our area. University of Oregon was his first choice which brings me to part of the reason for this trip.
He will hopefully be attending University of Oregon in the Fall {fingers crossed classes will be live in class and not on-line}. He was accepted and he has registered to attend but we are waiting to see what that will look like once September 29th approaches.
We visited Eugene, Oregon and it seems like a fun town to explore but we mainly focused on the U of O campus. We hope to be able to explore more in the future if Master M’s {Sebastian’s} scholastic experience can remain traditional with all the campus experiences it brings. If they announce it will only be a virtual experience we might have a fork in the road and we will cross that bridge when we come to it.
Since Sebastian was accepted around the same time SIP was instituted we never had an opportunity to go visit the campus before he accepted the offer. We decided to go visit now although as we suspected the campus was pretty much buttoned up and none of the buildings were open for exploration. The campus was truly beautiful and all the sports arenas and facilities were incredible. It seems like an amazing place to go to college and we hope Sebastian gets the opportunity to experience it.
For the entire visit though, we stayed in a little coastal town named Florence, Oregon which is directly due west of Eugene. We loved Florence and fell in love with the Oregon coast. It was beautiful and very laid back as we suspected. Florence is about 1/2 way up the Oregon Coast and we explored several coastal towns in that region but Florence really captured my heart.
We rented a condo that was the perfect size for our family of four. It had such an incredible location! The front looked over the downtown Main Street while the back sits on the river that goes right out to the ocean. It reminded me of a whaler’s village on the East coast. {I know, even though I love our California life style you can never take the East coast out of me}.
Basically one step out our front door and we were in the center of town with shops, restaurants, the pier and more while when we retired to the back of the condo we had a private deck with amazing views of the river and the forest across the way. It was the best of both worlds.
The condo was super spacious and the unit next door attaches through the balcony so we could visit in the future with more family or friends. While we were there Miss M turned sixteen. 
That’s right! Lexi celebrated her sweet sixteen by the beach with a seafood boil as per her request. It was so nice to take a trip just the four of us, the way we did so often when the kids were younger and happy to just be with mom and dad.
We had a ton of fun exploring, playing games, listening to music and enjoying each other’s company. Although we’ve been doing much of this during SIP it was nice to do it at a remote location, on vacation where it seems appropriate.
I highly recommend Florence as a destination. We stayed there Tuesday through Saturday with a day trip to Eugene on Friday. It was about one hour commute and it was a beautiful drive. It actually worked out perfectly since I was a bit nervous when I was making all the arrangements not really knowing the lay of the land.
The weather can be moody since it is the Pacific Northwest but it added to the experience and the character of the location. I could have stayed a few more days in Florence and I look forward to visiting again in the future.
I really hope the U of O and schools across the country can figure this out for our kids come Fall. Lexi will be starting her Junior year in High School and I am not sure what that will look like either. I am pretty sure there will not be a football season, which means little Miss M will not be on the cheer squad. She would have been on Varsity this year, which I know she is disappointed that it won’t likely happen.
I am really trying to focus on the positive and I am extremely happy my family is healthy and happy.
