exploring we will go: willapa national wildlife refuge

Willapa National Wildlife Refuge is located on the shores of Willapa Bay in Washington State. The Willapa Interpretive Art Trail is a really amazing hike through art installations and through a wooded trail. This is one of our favorite family hikes on the North Coast.

VIEW THE ENTIRE SERIES OF OUR FAMILY ADVENTURES HERE 

exploring we will go!

Cape Disappointment is is one of the most beautiful, awe inspiring places to experience and photograph!  Situated at the mouth of the Columbia River, it is one of our favorite places to go in the winter when the tides are high and the swell is BIG you can check it out the big waves that I photographed a few years ago HERE but in the spring and summer it's calm and peaceful and so much fun to explore! 

YOU CAN VIEW THE SERIES OF OUR FAMILY ADVENTURES HERE 

family adventures

exploring sisters, oregon

During our little getaway to Central Oregon we wanted to find an in-between point that we could use for coming and going. Since lots of time on the road with a 4 year old can be challenging, we wanted to find a nice location that could be our home base. We looked no further than Sisters, Oregon. 

Sisters is a small and charming town in the foothills of the Cascade Mountains. The name Sisters comes from the three Cascade peaks along the southwest skyline known as the Three Sisters. Fun Fact: The three peaks are nicknamed  Faith, Hope and Charity

Twenty- five minutes from Bend and two hours from the Painted Hills (the big reason we wanted to venture out to this area) made Sisters the perfect home base for our adventures.

While we really enjoy camping in our van, it was Andy's birthday so went all out and booked a room at the Five Pines Lodge. This was a big deal because it was Lucy's first time (since being a baby) staying at a hotel. I've never seen someone so excited for the hotel experience! 

I am crazy picky about hotels and I was SO happy that we picked Five Pines Lodge because is was such a beautiful and relaxing place to stay! They have 25 cabins and then a grand lodge with rooms. They have a beautiful property with lots of walking trails.

It was really nice to come back to lodge in the evenings after driving, hiking and exploring all day.

This trip we kept our meals pretty simple- we brought food for most of our meals but we also  enjoyed take out from Three Creeks Brewing Company, dinner at Rio and YUMMY doughnuts and coffee from Sisters Bakery.

Central Oregon is a playground for outdoor activities and Andy had a blast renting a mountain bike and riding the Peterson Ridge Trails

While Andy was mountain biking Lucy and I had fun strolling around downtown Sisters. A few of our favorite shops- Alpaca by Design, Ken Scotts Imagination, Stitchin' Post, Clearwater Gallery

We had a great stay in Sisters and again, it was the perfect home base for all of our outdoor adventures!

You can check out all of our family adventure HERE