Monday, July 4, 2016

Day 17: Seattle to Gold Beach, OR

Day 17 marks the official halfway point of the 2016 Grand Western Tour. Time flies when you are having fun, and this trip is passing at lightning speed!

Early this morning, we departed sleepy Seattle and spent the majority of the day driving through Washington and Oregon. Most of the students slept for the first couple of hours, as expected. After the first rest stop, we watched a patriotic movie called "Independence Day" in light of the 4th of July.

We took a lunch break in Cottage Grove, Oregon. The group ate at a local restaurant called The Vintage or at a string fast food chains. 




Forrest Gump was the next movie as we tried to pass the time until we reached the Oregon coast. Once we got close to Gold Beach, the group was shocked to see such stunning cliffs that dropped straight down to the Pacific Ocean from the highway. It's gorgeous! 



We arrived at Jot's Fishing Resort around 5PM, just in time to settle in before our 4th of July celebration. Our hotel had the perfect view of the Rogue River and few of the students were lucky enough to spot seal or two from their balcony!





Tonight the group indulged in a outdoor barbecue dinner of chicken and ribs, Caesar salad, baked beans and rolls. We also celebrated the birthdays occurring on the tour. Loflin, Caroline, and Amber all have had or will have birthdays while we are on the trip. The group sang "Happy Birthday" loud enough for the entire resort to hear! We also consumed two large cakes that were prepared by a local baker (tasty, might I add)! Let's just say the group ate well tonight.







Soon after dinner, a DJ started up a dance and karaoke party to help kick off the evening of festivities. We had some entertaining performances to say the least! The song choices ranged from Journey to Justin Bieber.






Later on we walked down to the beach and jetty to experience a windy and chilly Pacific coast sunset.









The 4th of July wouldn't be complete without fireworks. The group made it back to the resort and had the perfect view of Gold Beach's show across the river. We couldn't have asked for a better place to celebrate our country's independence. Happy 4th of July from the GWT to all of our families at home.



Next stop, California! 



No comments:

Post a Comment