Oregon sunshine

This morning was a beautiful sunny morning, so we decided to head out to the South Slough Estuary & Interpretive Center. We invited a couple neighborhood boys to come with us, so by the time we actually left, it was about 12:30. The South Slough is a 30-minute drive of twisty road, and poor Marie gets carsick, so she was feeling pretty miserable by the time we got there.

We walked around the interpretive center first, looking at the mounted stuffed porcupine, cougar, and bobcat, and gave everyone a chance to use the bathroom before we headed down the trail.

By the time we were ready to begin our hike, the sun had taken a hike of its own, and was nowhere to be seen. (Although according to Elisa's science lesson, it was still there, even if we couldn't see it through the clouds.) Just as we got out of the van at the trailhead, it began to sprinkle....and the sprinkle turned into a light rain--with lots of dark clouds in the distance.

We hadn't driven all that way for nothing, so we headed out on the trail anyway. Most of the trail was somewhat sheltered from the rain by the tall trees, and it's a good thing, because it was raining for our entire 3-mile hike. We had a great time anyway.

We returned to the van to find two messages on my cell phone, both warning us that rain was on the way. Thanks. I had to give Betsy a thorough bath when we got home, and for the first time, she needed shampooed twice.

It was lots of fun though, and I think this is the kind of family adventure that the kids will look back on as one of the best of family memories.