Oregon and Washington trip- Part 4

Monday July 23, 2015

We had a late start to our morning. We were tired and worn out. 

Our first stop was the Cheese factory. We took the tour and saw the cheese and ice cream production

. 

Then obviously ate ice cream again. 

Then we went to Cape Mears to see the Lighthouse. 

There was a trail we had to hike to get to it.  

On the trail Brad had to pee really bad so he decided to drop his drawers and pee in the trees. He got caught by a forest ranger who called him out. We got a good laugh out of that. Poor kid. 

We waited in line so that we could climb up into the lighthouses. It was cool from up top. 

Most of the lighthouses in Oregon were closed to public so this was a treat to be up in the glass light. 

The view of the ocean was gorgeous. 

After the lighthouse we made a quick stop to Netarts. A beach Jenni's mom recommended. It had huge shells and sand dollars hidden under rocks. We also found tons of crabs. 

This was where the kids found the majority of big shells we took home from our trip. 

Our next stop was Cannon beach to see haystack rock. This was the rock that is in the movie Goonies. Randy and I were pretty excited to see it but the kids had no idea what we were talking about. We heard the tide pools were really cool there. We heard you could see starfish.

When we got there there were rangers there who wouldn't let us get close to the rock. They said the tide hadn't gotten low enough that day and that it was too dangerous.

We were bummed about not getting close to the rock but there were still several tide pools surrounding the rock that the kids could explore. 

Cannon beach was so crowded. Randy and Nate had to park really far away. 

We waited so long the kids were bone dry by the time he picked us up. It was perfect. 

Our next stop was at Fort Steven's State Park. It had a shipwreck on the beach during low tide. We got there at really low tide so the ship was completely out of the water. Randy has memories of playing on the ship while it was still underwater.  

The water was pretty shallow so Claire and Lyndsee spent most of the time doing hand stands and cartwheels in the water. At one point H tried to do a summer sault. It didn't turn out so good for him. He got a nose and sinus full of water. After that he stayed on the beach and built sand castles. 

This beach had sand that stuck to the kids really bad. We drove around the campground to find some sort of water to wash off. We finally found a small spout. We took the kids one by one to wash them off. It was quite the production because the ground around the spout was muddy and full of pine needles. Every time one of the kids put their foot down it was muddy. It took forever. Once we got the kids all cleaned up the kids needed to go to the bathroom. Just down the sidewalk we found a restroom. In the restroom we found SHOWERS! We couldn't believe it. 

After all that swimming we were starving. We found a Mexican restaurant that had good reviews on trip advisor. It was a dive but it was really good. The kids ordered a burrito that was the size of their heads. They ate it all though. They were hungry. 

After dinner we headed to Seaside to search for sand dollars during low tide. You had to beat the birds to get whole dollars. We found lots and lots of pecked and broken sand dollars but none that were whole. The sunset was beautiful. We walked clear across the beach to the end. It was a nice walk as a family. 

Oregon and Washington trip- Part 3

Sunday July 25th 1015

On Sunday we headed South. Nate's brother Andrew and his wife Jenna were in Lincoln so we stopped and picked them up. 

Our first stop was the Oregon Aquarium. The kids loved it. They ran from exhibit to exhibit. 

One of H's favorites was the jellyfish tank. We had to literally pull him away from it. 

Checking out the tide pools. 

The touching pool was the all time highlight of the visit. We spent at least an hour in this room alone. the kids LOVED touching all the sea creatures. 

They were so curious and loved learning about all the different anemone and urchins. 

Another highlight was the puffin birds exhibit. The birds were so interactive. They were completely aware that they were surrounded by people and loved getting a reaction out of splashing the kids and making all kinds of sounds. 

The shark tank was pretty cool to walk through. 

My overall thoughts of the Aquarium experience were different than I expected. I thought my kids would love the big whales, sea lions and sharks. What they couldn't enough of were the small creatures that they had never seen before. It was so fun to watch them experience life under the ocean for the first time. 

For lunch we stopped at the South Beach Market. Poor Jenni hates seafood but she was a champ and went along with it. 

This place was highly recommended by locals and travelers. We knew it had to be good because it was packed and the line was out the door. 

I got the halibut that was amazing. Randy ordered the crab sandwich and clam chowder. Brad was the only brave one of our kids and ordered shrimp. It was all amazing. 

They had huge pots of crabs boiling. They kids were totally entertained by the atmosphere. 

Our next stop was devil's punch bowl. The Lamonyon's in our ward used to live in Oregon and highly recommended seeing it. Most people go at high tide. From up top the bowl swirls around in the cove. Nancy recommended going at low tide so you could explore inside the cove. She was right!!! It was amazing and beautiful. Nothing like anything I had ever seen. 

Visiting the aquarium first was perfect since the kids learned how to pick up crabs and how to touch sea life properly. They weren't afraid to touch or pick anything up. They were low tide pool heaven. 

I can't even describe how amazing it all was. I never want to forget how overwhelmed I felt as I watched my kids experience the ocean. They ran from pool to pool touching urchins, tickling anemone and chasing crabs, 

Searching for creatures hidden in the cracks. 

Trying to drag the seaweed back to the ocean without any luck. 

On the way back to the beach house we stopped at the Yaquina Head Lighthouse

After exploring the visitor's center we watched the ocean. There were a bunch of sea lions on the rocks and we could see them from a spotting scope. 

After being patient we spotted a whale breaching the surface. We were so excited! It was so fun to watch. I barely got a glimpse of it with the camera. 

H and carter used their pretend binoculars to whale watch. It was cute. 

On the way home we stopped at Beverly Beach State Park. They had a campground there that was so amazing. It was right off the beach.  It's on my bucket list to drag the trailer and camp there one day. 

We made it back to the beach house just in time to witness this beautiful sunset. 

Gorgeous!

We made dinner at the beach house. We cooked the artichokes we picked up at a roadside stand. Andrew works at a Cattle Ranch and brought these giant steaks to share. It was all delicious. 

After dinner we ate ice cream we bought from the Tillimok factory. 

Such a great day!