Mama Gone Green is a blog dedicated to raising happy children and reducing our impact on the Earth. My name is Taryn and I am the mother of 2 young kids and an environmental studies instructor at a community college in Portland, Oregon. Please join me as I journey through life as a mama, teacher, knitter, photographer, gardener, and environmentalist!

Saturday, March 28, 2015

Spring Break Post #2: Exploring Bandon


This year, we spent spring break in Bandon, Oregon. We arrived late afternoon on Monday in the midst of a terrible storm. The rain was pounding and the wind gusts were huge. The door to our rental home would not stay fully closed, and a small lake began to form in the kitchen. The screen from a window flew into the bathtub, and I spent most of Monday night not sleeping because the floor of the upstairs bedroom where we were sleeping was shaking. I am a bit of a weather wimp and I am generally not a fan of the wind.. I was so relieved to wake up Tuesday morning to calm.
Although the weather was not terrible again, we had mostly cool and overcast days. Not exactly the beach weather I had hoped for. Despite this, Phoebe still managed to get wet just about every time we went to the beach.
We spent a morning tidepooling, which in my opinion, was the best part of the trip. We also enjoyed beach combing, wandering the town and relaxing on the sand. We also visited the Washed Ashore art gallery. The gallery and art work is all about raising awareness about the mass amounts of plastic that ends up in our oceans and how it harms wildlife. There is some amazing art made from found plastic, and it is such a great organization.
I also made sure to go to the Bandon National Wildlife Refuge, as I had heard so much about it, but all we saw there were two geese. The trip was not without wildlife though. We saw elk on the drive down, some harbor seals, an otter, lots of water birds, and of course, all of the critters we found in the tide pools.
We drove up the coast on the way home and made a quick stop at the Oregon Dunes and another at the Hatfield Marine Science Center. I was impressed. As a donation-based facility, the had a lot of great displays. Well worth the visit!
We are all glad to be home again, settling in and finding our routine once again.




















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16 comments:

  1. Sorry about the storm that greeted you on your arrival, and happy to hear it moved on quickly. Goodness Phoebe looks like she was having the best time!!!!

    Enjoy being home and settling back in.

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    1. I was happy it moved on quickly as well! Phoebe is always having the best time... especially when water is involved!!

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  2. Looks like a fun trip, even if the weather wasn't great. You do such fun and educational things with your children - reminds me of the kind of things we did with our kids when they were young! Enjoy your springtime!

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  3. you live in a beautiful area and I'm glad you were able to have a good time. The beach is the best place ever.

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  4. Beautiful photos and your daughters little blue sweater is just precious!

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  5. Oh isn't it stunning - it reminds me of Ireland or the coast of north Devon - and that sand art is just fantastic!

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    1. I wish I knew who made the sand art-- it was amazing!

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  6. Oregon is so pretty. I have explored some of it, but haven't been to Bandon. And the sand art is fantastic! I have never seen that before! :)

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  7. Bandon looks like an amazing place - wild and beautiful! Really enjoying all the pictures. :)

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  8. What a great photos!!!! all of them, but the one with your little girl lying in the water, oh my god!! looks like she was having fun but even through the screen it has made me feel cold brrr. ..

    Lluisa xoxo

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  9. I'm also a bit of a wimp when it comes to storms! Last time we were on the coast the wind was blaring so loud in our hotel room I just didn't sleep... haha ;) Bandon is one of our favorite places to visit!

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