The Bagleys: 4th of July Oregonian Style

4th of July Weekend! It was spent in Gresham, Oregon with my brother Travis and his wife Katie.

We spent so much time together and I got to see Travis's house he bought last year! It is a beautiful house, I wish I had pictures of it. I can't wait for the time when we buy our first house. So many things to look forward to! Our first night we ate tacos and then headed up to Larch Mountain where we could see all sorts of mountains like Mt. Hood, Mt. St. Helens, and a few others. We had fun taking pictures of the points of the mountains with our fingers. See below.

Beautiful view of the Columbia River

On Saturday morning Katie and I went for a run and I twisted my ankle. Luckily it was minor and it has almost completely healed by now. After breakfast we headed to Canon Beach! But first, we took a detour and went to the Tillamook Cheese Factory. I seriously love their cheese! We got to eat some yummy samples and get a taste of their delicious chocolate milk.

Cannon Beach was about a 20 minute drive north of Tillamook. We first stopped to eat some lunch and then headed to the beach! This was Spencer's first time EVER seeing the ocean. He was pretty impressed and so was I. The view from this beach was incredible!

The water was FREEZING! We did get in the water--head and all a little bit later. It seriously was so cold but we had to do it. We had to walk like 5 minutes into the ocean in order for it to even get us wet above our hips. It was so cold we were too chicken to get our whole bodies wet, so we just crouched down and let the waves go over us. Hehe.

My awesome brother, Travis. If you've ever met him you'd love him! He is one of the funniest and nicest people I know. He and I are really close and have helped each other through a lot of things. It was so fun spending four days with him!

Right before this shot the boys and I had a football throwing contest. I won of course. I wish! I can throw pretty far though since I played football all growing up with my dad and brothers. I guess it's in my blood being a Brown. Go Raiders! My dad had season tickets to The Oakland Raiders for about 8 years while growin up, so we frequently joined him at those crazy games.

Right before we went into the Pacific Ocean! All you Utahns, I bet you're jealous!

Hawaiin Haystack Rock!

So spectacular! There is tons of ocean life that live in this tide. We didn't get to see any though since the best viewing areas were all blocked off.

Journal entry about the first 2 days:

So we have been in Portland for about 2 days now. We left at 6:45am on Friday morning. Our drive went really fast! We listened to a lot of music and ate food we packed for oluserlves. When we got here Friday night we took a tour of Travis's new house. It is such a cool house! I'm so proud of him for buying it. Plus they have fixed it up really nice. I can't wait to have a house of my own!

After dinner we went up to Larch Mountain and it was so beautiful. We saw Mt. Hood, St. Helens and a few more volcanic mountains. That night we stayed up late talking about old memories. We were exhausted that night and slept in until about 8:30am. Katie and I went running together, and I sort of sprained my ankle. It is still swollen but I have been icing it. After we all got ready we went to the Tillamook Cheese Factory and then we went to Cannon Beach. We ate at the Fire House and then walked down to the beach. Travis and Spencer had a football throwing contest and Katie and I laid out and took pictures together.

Then Spence and I treked out into the ocean. and got completely wet. The water was freezing! This was Spencer's first time seeing the ocean. It is such an amazing sight to see! We had so much fin at the beach. We then walked down to Haystack Rock and looked for crustaceans but couldn't find any :(

We then walked a mile back and drove home. We stopped at Dairy Queen and then came home and watched best of Chris Farley.

On Sunday we headed to church at 11am and then came home while everyone but me took a nap. For some reason I wasn't as tired! We had a great barbeque and then headed to a couple waterfalls. The first one is below.

Waterfall #2 is Multnomah Falls.

I've hiked up this a couple different times but it is always worth visiting!

I'm so glad that my brothers get along so well with Spencer!
Travis and Spence had a lot of fun getting to know each other better.

I wrote in my journal about the following day. Here is the entry:

Today was such an awesome day! We woke up, ate cinammon rolls and fruit sald, and packed lunches and headed over to Falls Creek Falls in Washington. The scenery is seriously so amazing there! We had such a wonderful hike together. The water falls are absolutely incredible, like nothing I have ever seen! I had fun talking with Katie and hiking with Travis. It is so cool to see him married. He seems to be really happy which I am so grateful for! I really love Katie, too. She is such a good housekeeper!

After our hike we drove to Hood River and ate some really great Thai food. I ordered the Red Curry which was so delicious! After that we drove back to Cascade Locks and waited in line for 45 minutes to get some really delicious ice cream. After that we sat and played games in anticipation for the Columbia River fireworks show! Once the firewords started I was so stinkin' excited! This is Spencer and my 3rd 4th of July together. The first one was spent at Stadium of Fire. The second was last year at Ruth Ann and Grandpa Harper's clubhouse--swimming, eating, and having loads of fun! This year, however, was definitely my favorite so far. Spencer was so sweet to me and cuddled me and made me feel really special. What a special and wonderful friend he is to me!

Unfortunately, tonight was our last night in Portland. We had the best time here! Tomorrow we leave at 7am and head back to Utah! I really fee like I've experienced Oregon this time. This place is so stinkin' beautiful!

Waterfall #3: Falls Creek Falls Hike