Bowman Family Reunion

every other summer my dad's side of the family has a reunion trip. we have gone to a KOA in Cascade Locks Oregon, rented a huge house in Palm Desert CA, a KOA in Durango Colorado, rented a beautiful home in Idaho and now Sunset Bay State Park, Oregon! We have had some summers with some family unable to attend.  Daniel and I missed the first trip to Oregon, due to me being pregnant with Kolby. Auston went with my dad and had a blast.  the house in Palm Desert was fun, we had a game room, a heated pool, a boxing ring, a little golf range and a large pond with a boat. we met after Christmas.  it has been our only reunion in the winter.  Durango was a BLAST! so beautiful and we had great family time, celebrating my brother's engagement.  Idaho was another beautiful place, we traveled to Yellowstone on our way there (a must return visit). this trip to Oregon (the first since my Auntie died) was one for the books for beauty in the amazing things GOD has created for us to enjoy. we started our trip to Oregon with a few days at Clear Lake in our friends Bass Bungalow. My brother and his family met us there.  we were so blessed to spend some time with them and our niece.  she is truly a blessing to be around.  we enjoyed a day at Soda Bay, swimming & fishing.  two of the days were over 100 and hard to want to go outside.  we had no luck fishing the few days we were there.  the most relaxing day was the night before we left, the boys all tried to fish for catfish.  it was so nice outside that night we all sat on the dock and enjoyed each others company.

here is a picture we took just before we headed out towards Oregon!

on our way to Oregon we stopped in the Redwoods National Park. so beautiful. these tress are amazing. the critters were pretty cool. everything was so moist, moss on everything and just breathtaking.

the rest of our family met us at Sunset Bay State Park, Or. my dad and step mom, my aunt, uncle and cousin from Idaho. my papa bo was on his way when his RV broke down and he had to cancel his trip to meet us =( the first night there we went on a family hike to watch the sunset. let me tell you, were the pine tress meet the ocean is so gorgeous. everyday was breathtaking. our campground was in the trees and walking distance from a beautiful bay. were when the tide was in or out was always changing it's beauty. (although for some reason i didn't take a picture of our beautiful bay in all it's glory) sadness. i will get one from one of my other family members...

we took a family tour of the tide pools located just 5 minutes from us. we had a great guide and saw some awesome animals. lots of star fish (orange & purple), a sea star, a baby giant octopus, gray whales and some other animals I've never seen before or remember what they were called =) and later that day we all went to the beach to kayak, beach comb and play in the water or sand.

on wednesday we decide to take a trip to Coos Bay for their farmers market. lots of yummy fruits that we could taste and buy. we walked the boardwalk and had a nice lunch together before heading back to the campground. on thursday we all took a trip further north to the Sea Lion Caves. It was a good day for this trip, it was misty all day. our weather was in the 60s everyday and most mornings were misty but all in all perfect weather. i didn't mind wearing a jacket or long sleeve everyday while in Oregon. we had sun and those days were high 60s and gorgeous. we had dinners together every night and a campfire to go with it. hanging out laughing at each other is a must on family vacations! just perfect! on our last full day together we went to the local lake and did some fishing, kayaking and a small hike. it was bittersweet knowing we would be going our separate ways the next morning. that morning, Auston, Anj, Audrey and I went back into town and did a little shopping. we had a great time while the rest of the family took a hike to an old WWII bunker and then got a little lesson on all the different kinds of sea lions there. Saturday we all had breakfast together and some of us slowly packed up to head out. Daniel and I were the first to go, followed by my brother and dad, while my uncle and his family started their second week of vacation.

on our way home we stopped by the drive thru tree, which Kolby really enjoyed. we spent another night at the Bass Bungalow before our last stretch home. it was a reunion for the books and i can't wait for the next one.... Maybe New Mexico? 2014