We started out this trip in Bend and we were able to post a blog update soon thereafter … but ever since then we’ve been on the go, Ryan’s been working, and we’ve been generally scheduled morning-to-night that we’ve neglected getting anything up on the site. So this will serve as a bit of a summary. We fly home tomorrow and go up to Seattle today to celebrate our 9th anniversary, so our trip is quickly coming to a close.

So here’s a little recap …

First off was a Fourth of July vacation at the Oregon Coast with Ryan’s parents and his sister, Kathy, and her husband, Dean.

After Bend, we headed over to the coast and the little seaside town of Yachats. Ryan’s grandparents’ grave sites are there and this is just a few miles south of where they lived and Ryan vacationed frequently as a kid. The weather continued to cooperate and we had rare sunny Oregon Coast days.

Squint! The sun was bright … but nice!

Kathy and Dean setting the crab rings up. We used mink and chicken to lure our crabs, yet the catch was rather slim: 1 Dungeness and 1 red rock crab.

We crabbed in Newport and the bay’s water was like glass on the morning of the 4th.

Here’s our little (VERY little) red rock crab that we kept. The claws are the only meaty part on this guy.

Our catch was supplemented with the help of a Kathy and Dean buying three Dungeness from a boat crabber.

From the coast, it was north to Portland to visit friends Louis & Steve and Carol & Ken. We spent a few days in Portland enjoying good friends, food, and weather.

Portland’s weather was equally fantastic.

Here Louis & Clint wait for the Portland OHSU tram, the top of which can be seen behind them. We took the tram from OHSU to the riverfront and then a streetcar to NW 23rd. Portland is a great area for public transit.

Maybe the Northwest humidity combined with the warm temps made us a bit grouchy? Clint shakes his finger at Ryan … but that’s probably a two-way street.

From Portland it was north and on to Washington State our old home. Ryan’s a Washington native and Clint is no stranger to it either. There’s always a tugging at the heartstrings that occurs when we’re back in Washington. We do love it there. Olympia was a first stop to have lunch with Ryan’s friends and former co-workers. Then we made our way to Tacoma, where we stayed for four nights visiting friends, enjoying our former home city, and having a great time. Of course one of the biggest draws of the South Sound is being with Teigen and Ryan. We had a great time visiting with them.

Clint’s glamour shot in front of the Hotel Murano, our home for our four day stay in Tacoma. The Murano is filled with glass art and there’s a huge green glass sculpture in front of the hotel, which served as the backdrop for this shot.

Ryan had to have a glamour shot, too.

Dinner at our friends’, John & Jim, house in Tacoma afforded spectacular views of Mt. Rainier and the Tacoma Dome.

Having lived in the Tacoma and the surrounding area for years, we (especially Clint) were always anxiously anticipating the LeMay car museum being built. It was built after we left and just opened last month, so we were excited to get to visit it. Tacoma has really turned into a city of unique museums.

The LeMay museum’s space is very cool with four levels of cars on display in a modern structure. Here’s a ’61 Chrysler 300G that caught Ryan’s eye.

Cars of nearly every era are on display. Clint was in heaven.

There we are … “Clint and Ryan James” (lol) … on the charter member board inside the museum. Cool! We didn’t expect to see that.

The museum also affords a really nice view of downtown Tacoma.

Off to Seattle we go today to celebrate … more photos to come.