~Keithley Family Visit~

Last week was a fun week! My brother, sister-in-law, niece, and nephew came out from Nebraska to visit us. We packed the week with a ton of fun and made the most of their time out here. Not sure when they will be able to visit us again like this. I am soooo thankful that I have family who is willing to travel to see us....and so we can see them and watch these kiddos grow. The list of everything we did is so long that I will just list some of the things I can remember...and the rest you will see in the pictures below.

• Hike Multnomah Falls and drive to Timberline Lodge at Mt. Hood


• The boys golfed and the girls picked blueberries


• Lots of Nike shopping - Employee Store and Factory Outlet Stores


• Dinner at the golf course at sunset


• Walks to the park and around the neighborhood


• Ate lots of delicous food


• Josh and Kari did wine tasting in Newberg while I babysat the kiddos


• A sunny day at Cannon Beach, which included a stop at the icecream shop


• Haysledding at the Eischen farm with some of our wonderful friends


• Family photos on the Eastside


• A birthday celebration for our BIG GIRL niece who turned two on the 23rd!
  

~Tour de 101: 2011 style~

Well, the 2nd Annual Tour de 101 Bike Trip is in the books...and in the books as an absolute blast and a must-do for next summer. We seriously have so much fun on this trip - the guys enjoy the riding (for the most part!), the girls have a blast being the support crew and driving the cars along the highway, and the fellowship that we all share together. We get to see some beautiful spots along the Oregon Coast. And this year, the boys started on the other side of the Astoria bridge (on the Washington side) and rode all the way down to the California border. Way to go boys - 367 total miles in just over 4 days. and while they do the hard riding, us gals aren't slacking either. We are busy prepping food, setting up camp, and keeping these guys fed and hydrated along the way. It really is a ton of fun for all of us...this year there were 7 of us total. Next year we need the Binghams to return and bring us back to 9! We missed Chris and Nichole!!!!

Day 1: We packed the 4-runner to.the.brim! Jon, Shannon, Alex, Dustin, and myself plus all of our gear, our luggaage, and 4 bikes (Trevor sent his ahead). It was a bit tight, but made the trip all the more fun. Shannon and I dropped the boys off, drove ahead to the downhill of the long bridge to take a few pics, and then headed down to Manzanita to set up camp. We managed to get all 3 tents set up and dinner prepared before the boys rolled in on their bikes around 10 pm.

Day 2: The three boys left Nehalam Bay State Park in the morning. We snapped a few pics before meeting up with them at a sandy spot in Pacific City, which is a super cute town by the way. We also met up with the Rollingers, so that Trevor could join in on the riding fun. The rode a total of 95 miles on Friday, ending up at Beverly Beach State Park. Just like last year, we walked to the ocean so they could ice down their legs and bodies. It was a wee-bit cold, but I think their bodies appreciated it. Us gals had fun with the cameras taking pictures in the beautiful sunset. Shan's camera has a ton more amazing photos, which I'll try to post once I get them. We then headed back to camp for a yummy dinner - supposed to be sausage and beef kabobs, but ended up being more of a stir fry. Either way - it was yummy!

Day 3: After we ate breakfast, the boys left Beverly Beach State Park (Newport area) and set out for another beautiful day of riding. They did about 67 miles on Saturday. Us gals had a little fun of our own...and detoured off the "support crew course" a bit to celebrate Shannon's birthday with a little beach town fun. Megs put together a photo scavenger hunt for her to do along with a strict list of rules to follow. :) I havea few pictures of a few of her task (more to come!). All in all, it was such a fun way for us gals to spend enjoying the Oregon coast. We took a little break for the fun to meet up with the boys for lunch and make sure it was ready and waiting for them when they arrived. That was our main job for the weekend, so we didn't want to mess up. We then met up with the guys at Honeymann State Park where we stayed Saturday night. After some icecream in Old Town Florence, we went back to camp to enjoy yummy carne asada tacos. Then we took a hike...a serious hike...through a jungle and over the sanddunes to make it to the lake at Honeymann. We made it just in time to catch a gorgeous sunset.

Day 4: I think all the riding was starting to wear on the guys...by Sunday morning they were losing a little of the excitement they had before. But I think some of that had to do with the dreary weather. Sunday was the only day it wasn't absolutely gorgeous, but thank the Lord there was still no rain. This would be another 60-ish mile day for the guys and would conclude the trip for Trevor and Alex as they both had to get back for work (and Alex for a trip to China!). We didn't snap too many pictures that day; I was busy listening to some awesome DVD's by Debbie, Judy, and Paula about godly parenting. :) No, I'm not preggo, but just getting a good foundation started for when we do have our own little kiddos. Anyways, the ride ended at Bullards Beach State Park, just north of Bandon. They took off, we walked to the beach but the boys opted not to get in the water, and then we ate a yummy dinner of brats and burgers.

Day 5: Being the last day, the guys were ready to be done, complete the task, and get that dreaded drive back to Portland over with. They busted out 95 miles on the last day to take them across the California state line. Shannon and I grabbed coffee (like we did every morning!!!! - that was our treat on the trip) at a cute little bakery in Bandon, caught a few shots of surfers, a lighthouse, and the beautiful scenery before headed down the coast to meet up with the guys. We stopped for lunch in Gold Beach and had the most beautiful weather. This leg of the trip was seriously the most beautiful. None of us had really been along this part of Hwy 101 so it was new for all of us. We could definitely spend some more time back down there. The views were amazing and reminded me of what I think the Ireland coast might look like. Notice I said "might" because I've never been there, but would love to visit someday. Anyways, the boys finished the ride, we ate some fish and chips in Bandon and made the long drive back to Portland. Dustin and I made it back to Hillsboro around 1 AM.