For our fourth edition of our Spring Break Spectacular, we would once again revisit Oregon, this time with FRANTS Chandler and Sheila at Mount Hood Meadows, aka SHREDDOWS, and soak in a mountain hot tub for two nights. Following this we would drive out to McMenamin’s Lighthouse Brewpub in Lincoln City, enjoy the tide pools, and then spend two nights at the amazing McMenamin’s Grand Lodge in Forest Grove. The icing on the cake was finishing off Baghdad Theater on Hawthorne, as we didn’t want to watch a terrible movie for the required stamp and were fortunate to screen Ryan Gosling in Operation Hail Mary, a space thriller.
What a trip!! Looking forward to the FIFH (Or Fis-IF??) occasional annual trip right meow!
On night one at the cabin, Chandler made us unbelievably delicious pizza!
PIZZA!!!
Wy ‘East showing off! That’s over a mile above our heads! Shreddows 2026 crew! This was the first time on skis for both Katt and I, representative of both the all-time shitty snow year, but also how busy we both have been with school and work! FRENCH FRIES!Shredding at Shreddows, as much as one can on a March spring day that seemed like June! Hey there!! <3The Hood crew!! What a great day!Considering it was our first day out, no complaints!! On night two, Chandler made us teriyaki! It was SOOOOOO good!! And we played Mad Libs, which holds its own on ridiculousness. Also we soaked in the hot tub both nights, making for one day of skiing and two nights of soaking as of this photo! What a great time, and what a great cabin! *Fourth occasional annual. Tonight we decided our ski and soak Iceland honeymoon was the firstDaryl, Katt, Chandler, and Shiela. FRANTS for life!!
Our initial plan for Day 3 was to drive to Forest Grove, check in, and then go to a movie at the Baghdad that night. The day was so beautiful and we had three hours to kill before check-in, so we drove directly out to the coast and our goal for Saturday, that of grabbing the remaining outlier McMenamin’s stamp, Lighthouse Pub in Lincoln City. Turns out we weren’t the only ones thinking this, as Chandler and Shiela drove until sunset as well!
The major goal on this trip was to finish the McMenamin’s Passport, which I’ve been working on for over 13 years. Driving straight to Lincoln City on the back roads, we ate soup and chowder at the Lighthouse Pub and drank Ruby Ales. Both Katt and I had remembered the lighthouse as part of the building, but it turns out to be separate. Bonkers how memory works, as the last time we had been through this town was waaaaaay back in 200x with the Johnsons on the way to the Redwoods and the Vagavenue of Va-Giants! The lonely Central Oregon Coast McMenamin’s now complete! Following our lunch we hiked the multi-story stairs onto the beach with a happy HA-PUPSWe happened to the beach at low tide, and tide pools were a short walk from parking in Lincoln City, OregonMussel beach!Sea Stars, oh my!!Riley was insane from the wind and kept trying to run to the hillside. We tried to get him to pose for a beach selfie before we headed back to Portland, but this was as calm as he would get, lol Our next stop was Pacific City State airport, Oregon, a place we had flown over and noticed this airport downtown way back in 2011. PFC is an 1800-foot public runway right downtown. Pacific City State (PFC) airport, in case you’d like to plan a trip! This aerial photo is of the Pacific City State (PFC) airport on May 1st, 2011 when we flew the Cessna 152 down the Oregon coast from Warrenton to Florence.Cape Kiwanda Rock, Cape Kiwanda, Pacific City, Oregon on 26 March 2026Standing on the beach at Cape Kiwanda outside of Pelican Brewing. Katt and I had attributed this place as Full Sail in Hood River or some such nonsense, and never articulated what destination it is. Thankfully we were there on Thursday of Spring Break, because it was bonkers as it was! Next year we can’t take my spring break in Oregon, that’s where my school is and everything is bonkers busy!McMenamins Grand Lodge, Forest Grove, Oregon. This was a Masonic lodge for old Masons over 100 years ago. This was our final big property in my Cosmic Tripster quest. Be careful when you get a room at McMenamins with a “private” bathroom – a relative term, as most of their properties utilize communal toiletries. We could pee in here, certainly convenient, but not a great place for dropping deuces… no more paying for this “extra” lolThe trees on the west side of the Grand Lodge were legendaryThe hot pool at Grand Lodge was great. Big enough to not be crowded when we checked it out Friday morning. This is the last of the hot pools after Edgefield, Kennedy School, Old St. Francis School, and the Crystal Hotel. Edgefield reigns #1 with its lazy eight and poolside bar. Crystal is a close second because you can soak after hours as long as you don’t leave. It seems “hidden passageways” are a thing these days; most of the McMenamin’s hotels have them it seems. It’s too bad they advertise where there are, in this case a hidden staircase lit with black light. During the construction of the Grand Lodge’s west wing, when a reflecting pool was present out front, which has since been thankfully removed. Our room is on the 1st floor, the window on the right before the rotunda at the east (right) end. On the second night we went into Portland and saw Ryan Gosling’s space thriller “Project Hail Mary,” thus finally completing the Hawthorne page, which we started on during last year’s Ski and Soak Spring Break Spectacular. Grand Lodge retains much of its character, 100 years later.
With the last empty page in the Pasport complete, this ends our fourth ski and soak, and our next trip will be… where? We are one stamp away (Anderson School in Bothell!) from completing the McMenamin’s Passport, so “stamping” will have to be relegated to Katt’s suggestion, which is our actual Passports! I can’t wait to ski in Japan! Ja-POW!
If you want to check out last year’s trip to Central Oregon and Bend, go here
2 thoughts on “Fourth Occasional Annual Ski and Soak, Stamp and Stoke Spring Break Spectacular, 2026”
Such a fun trip!