Hello and welcome back to Nomad Dad Life! If you haven’t read previous posts please do so here. Today we begin our adventures in Oregon. We finally completed our Oregon trail and were able to unpack our vehicles and get settled into our home for the next 3 months. Even though we had just driven close to 1,800 miles, we wanted to get out and explore the state. After a few days at the new job, Fae had a list of all the” things to do” in Oregon from her new co-workers, and we wanted to see how many we could check off!
Eugene, Oregon
Before we ventured out too far, we wanted to get somewhat familiar with our new town. We lived on a golf course on a dead end street that turned into a bike path so it was quiet most of the time, and it was a great place for Arkyn to continue to learn how to ride his bike! Ayla got a new stroller/trike to be pushed in until she is big enough to pedal it herself. Everything we needed was within walking distance, which was something we weren’t used to!
When we went exploring we always took Fae’s Jeep, as it got better gas mileage than my truck. I filled up my truck when we got to Eugene and didn’t fill it up again until we left 3 months later! If we needed groceries, we would just put the children in their wagon and walk the 4 or 5 blocks to get to the grocery store. Same with parks–we had plenty of options within walking distance. This is Oregon so there was a brewery on pretty much every street, and we could walk to 4 or 5 different ones from our home. They also sell beer and wine at every grocery store and at Target so that was different than what we were used to in Minnesota!
Places we went
Eugene had a lot of great playgrounds for kids of all ages. Amazon Park Playground and Skinner Butte Park were probably the favorites for our kids. Amazon Park is almost 100 acres and had everything a child could dream of for a park. It had ball fields, basketball courts, tennis courts, sand volleyball, skate park, playground, swimming pool, and more. Our kids could have spent all day every day there. Skinner Butte Park has a large playground area, rock climbing area, and a fishing pier on the Willamette River.
Eugene is known for its Saturday Market. It’s the oldest open-air crafts market in the United States. Saturday Market’s famous International Food Court is an outdoor restaurant featuring 15 food booths that represent cuisines from around the world. Each booth prepares food fresh onsite, and many source their ingredients locally from the farmers at Lane County Farmers Market.
The market has live music all day from April through Mid-November with mostly local area musicians performing. Between 150-250 vendors set up their booths every week for the market and sell about $2.5 million worth of goods and produce annually.
Food and Drink
Eugene, of course, has some amazing options for food and drink. We try to mostly cook at home since we must eat at restaurants for most of our meals on the road. Honestly, we get sick of it. We prefer cooking our own meals; it’s a healthier and cheaper option. We did have to try out some of the local places we wouldn’t be able to try anywhere else, though.
One of our favorites was Cornucopia Bar and Burgers. A simple Google search for the best burgers in Eugene had multiple sources pick Cornucopia so we wanted to try it out. They had a large variety, not just burgers, and a lot of healthy options for kids as well. Bo & Vine is another restaurant we would recommend to people visiting the Eugene area. They only have burgers and chicken sandwiches along with sides to go with them, but they have a lot of options.
Florence, Oregon
Our first trip was to head west about 45 minutes to the coastal city of Florence for a beach day. The first destination we got to check off our list was Hobbit Beach, which is north of Florence about 20 minutes. We had to hike the mile long Hobbit Trail through the woods to get to the beach. This is a popular place with the locals so we decided to go during the middle of the week so it wouldn’t be as busy (This will be a familiar theme for our journey.) The kids had a lot of fun with the hike, as there was a lot of wildlife and there were good views to check out. Also, we were carrying them so what wasn’t to like for them?? I’m out of shape so carrying a toddler and our beach stuff for a mile over rough terrain really had me looking forward to relaxing at the beach.
Once we got to the beach we could see why this area was recommended. The woods opened up to a sprawling secluded beach with miles of sandy shore. We found a nice section of beach to get set up, and it was time to enjoy a day at the beach–except we forgot the sunscreen in our vehicle. . .Now if you don’t know me, I’m about as white as a gallon of milk and pretty much get sunburned if I even look at the sun. Our children have the same pale complexion. So instead of getting to relax at the beach right away, I had to hike back up to our vehicle to get the sunscreen.
Video of Hobbit Trail
This was our children’s first experience at the ocean, and it didn’t disappoint. The water was cold, but they were too little to swim in there anyway. They had fun building sandcastles, digging holes, collecting rocks and seashells, and letting the waves come in over their feet. After hours of running around and playing both our children were ready for a nap. They got to nap while we got to hike back to the vehicle. They’ve really got it rough!
Around Town
After the beach we went back to Florence to get some food. We went to The Firehouse Restaurant and Lounge. Arkyn loves firetrucks and wants to be a firefighter like his Uncle Kyle, so we figured it would be the perfect place! They had all sorts of fire department memorabilia and model fire trucks everywhere. Arkyn had to go around the restaurant many times to make sure he didn’t miss anything! He wanted to call his Uncle Kyle and tell him all about it right away. The food was good and reasonably priced for a tourist town. Arkyn had to get a to-go box, as he was too busy looking at everything to take the time to eat.
Musicians were playing in the park across the road, so we enjoyed some live music while we were eating. We walked over after we ate to enjoy it a little more and so that Arkyn could put some money in the donation box. We walked the street a little more before we left. It was a typical tourist town with lots of little shops, restaurants, and walking trails everywhere.
We went back to Florence more times but didn’t explore as much. We mostly went back the days it got to be close to 100 degrees in Eugene because it was always right around 70 degrees in Florence so our children could play at the playground without overheating right away. This was nice, as we could get them outside playing every day.
We will continue our Oregon adventure in the next post. Remember to follow our journey on social media. Click an icon below for updates!
Links
Amazon Park https://www.eugene-or.gov/facilities/facility/details/amazon-park-30
Skinner Butte Park https://www.eugene-or.gov/facilities/facility/details/skinner-butte-park-55
Cornucopia https://www.cornucopiaeugene.com/location/the-corn-on-5th/
Bo & Vine https://boandvine.com/
Hobbit Beach https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g51867-d2229310-Reviews-Hobbit_Trail-Florence_Oregon.html
Firehouse Restaurant https://www.facebook.com/TheFirehouseRestaurant1263
BJ Rylander
March 9, 2023 — 8:04 pm
It was fun to “go on the Hobbit Trail” with you! Thanks for adding the video! The beach looks sooo beautiful and the pictures helped me warm up on this cold day in Minnesota.