Mom in Brookings

Up until a few weeks ago, I hadn't seen my mom in just about 2 years.  Unacceptable.  But she came out to see us at the end of February, and I've roped her into coming in September too since she'll have another grandchild to see.  We spent 2 days here in Brookings and we did some cool stuff.

Brett was able to get us on a ride on one of the Coast Guard boats.  The gear is less than attractive, but it will keep you warm if you fall overboard.

We rode out to a lighthouse about 12 miles off shore.  I didn't get sick until we stopped near the lighthouse.  Although the sea was calm, you never would have known it by looking at that lighthouse.  The water was swelling so drastically it was scary - and beautiful at the same time.  There was a family of sea lions that were practically swimming on top of each other in the swells too, which was awesome to watch.

Here's Brett and the crew in full gear.  If you ever get stranded and need the Coast Guard to rescue you, this is what they'll look like.  Hard to miss in bright orange.



On the way back home, we got a chance to drive the boat.  Here's mom.

And then me.  I drove for quite a while and was completely paranoid the whole time that I would hit a bunch of crab pots.  They are really hard to see, especially with the wind blowing in your contact-wearing eyes.  We had gone to the beach that morning, so with these two activities we covered one of Brookings' best features: the ocean.  The next day we covered the second one: trees.

We went down to Trees of Mystery in California to walk through the redwoods.  It's a beautiful drive with trees on one side and ocean on the other.  Then, while you're walking through the trees, it's like you could never imagine being only a few miles away from the beach.

Us in the scary gondola that nobody else was scared of.  Those things never seem stable to me and I'm very afraid that it will plunge us to our deaths 100 feet below.  Needless to say, I don't think I'll ever go skiing.

Mom took this awesome picture of Kennedy and Noah sitting on a carved wooden snake.  They are both smiling.  At the same time!!  Next installment will be our trip to Portland that we took with mom.  Stay tuned!