Tagging Along

 August 2019

For work, Jacob sometimes has to meet with attorneys in WA and OR. He had to go to Portland for a meeting and since Riley was still off for summer break we tagged along. 

One day out of the blue, the a/c in my Tahoe stopped working ... during the hottest month of summer no less. And to make things even more challenging the temperature over this weekend that we went to Portland was a hot one. It got up to 100 degrees! Oh boy, it was tough.

We made a quick stop at Jamba Juice to get something refreshing to drink on the road. As we were on our way South on the 5 we got stuck in traffic. Being stuck in traffic on a 100 degree day with no a/c? Yeah, not ideal, and although I had a headache because of the heat I wasn't going to let this heat steal my joy. Besides, I knew we would be staying in Portland for one day, the following day we would be making our way to the Oregon coast!

As soon as we got to Portland we stopped by an enterprise to get Jacob a rental. We didn't know how long the meeting with the attorney would be, this way he would have his own car to drive himself to the meeting, and I needed my Tahoe for the following day to head out for breakfast.

Jacob and Riley remembered to pack their swimming trunks. Riley always looks forward to taking a splash in the pool whenever we go on a road trip. 

The following day Jacob left early for his meeting. After Riley and I got ready I drove to Cracker Barrel for breakfast. I like this place, the store and the food.

Jacob got out of the meeting around 11:40 am. We dropped the rental off and headed West through the Tillamook State Forest. This was our first time driving through here, it was quite pleasant. 

About 45 minutes into our drive the weather changed. Ah, what a relief! I had woken up with a headache again but once we got near the coast my headache disappeared, almost immediately.

We got to Tillamook by 1:40 pm. Stopped for some Mexican and had a late lunch. 

Silly boy! He's always making faces. Takes after his tia Claudia.

And of course our mandatory stop at Tillamook Cheese Factory. I got a coffee almond fudge ice cream cone. So good!

Continuing our drive up the coast, North, on our way to Seaside.

But first, we made a stop at Cannon Beach. Whenever we take a road trip to the Oregon Coast we usually stop at Cannon Beach. The beach is so vast and the rock formations on the beach are spectacular, especially given that Haystack Rock is here (you know, the big rock from Goonies?!). It's quite a sight to see.

We stayed the night in Seaside and now on the road again to Warrenton which is minutes from Astoria. Warrenton is where The Wreck of the Peter Iredale is. We've been here a couple of times and each time we've seen wildlife. We saw an owl and this last time we saw elk. If I remember correctly, we saw three elk, just this one wandered off on its own for a bit.

The few time we've been here the beach has never been crowded even if the parking lot was. The beach is such a place to ponder and contemplate on life and the many blessings God bestows on us daily. We just have to have the eyes to see them and God knows I do. 

I always see different types of jellyfish every single visit to the beach. I think they are very interesting. How can a mass of see through blob have life? There are so many mysterious and interesting creatures in this world especially in the ocean. 

The steel hull is what's left of the Peter Iredale wreck. It was a four masted steel barque sailing vessel that ran ashore October 25, 1906, on the Oregon Coast en route to the Columbia River.

Happiness consists more in small conveniences or pleasures that occur every day,

than in great pieces of good fortune that happen but seldom to a man in the course of his life.

-Benjamin Franklin

The 4th on the Oregon Coast (2019)

A favorite holiday of ours is Independence Day. Naturally, we like to honor it while having fun doing so.

We began our Independence day mini road trip the day before, July 3rd.

The anticipation on getting on the road is exciting to me. I like to journal our experience and usually begin it with the time we left home and the temperature. 

We left home at 9:00 am, on a cloudy 62 degree Wednesday. We stopped for breakfast in Tacoma. Our first sightseeing stop was in Astoria just before 1:00 pm. One day while researching things to do I came across this long set of stairs that I thought would be cool to walk up and down.

This type of stairs are called "pigeon steps", they are found between Jerome and 11th Street. Walking down these steps wasn't hard but walking back up was somewhat challenging. First because it is a steep hill and second because the grips are so close together which makes it challenging for an adult to walk up the stairs.

Pretty views of the Columbia River.

Easy walk down. 

I was going to post a video I took of us walking back up these steps but it wouldn't load. I didn't stop to catch my breath until a little past halfway. Riley did too. Jacob made it all the way up without stopping but he said once at the top his heart felt like it was gonna explode, lol. It doesn't look challenging to walk up until you try it yourself.

Next visit was to the jail house that came out in The Goonies. Although we had stopped here before we didn't go inside the museum. This time we did.

Riley's mugshot. 

Data's clothes and bike.

They had a list of all the movies that were filmed in Oregon which was pretty cool to see. I hadn't realized that Coraline's setting was Ashland, in Southern Oregon, with many scenes depicting familiar mountains, houses and neighborhoods. Coraline is a favorite movie of mine. 

Whenever we go on road trips especially to Oregon we make sure to buy bottled water in WA because OR charge double for their bottled water. It's ridiculous! Anyway, our next stop was Warrenton which is a few minutes from Astoria. We ate lunch and were back on the road.

On my notes I wrote down an interesting observation, one that I hadn't noticed before. I wrote "traveling along the 101 smells like mold and vegetation, which reminds me of the Pirates of the Caribbean ride". Thought this was funny. Interesting because this type of smell is not always apparent to me along this road. Must be a summer smell? Who knows.

 

We like to pull over at Neahkahnie viewpoint in Arch Cape. It has such beautiful views.

If I'm not mistaken, this pretty area is in Wheeler. Wheeler is a very small town. The most recent census is from 2010 which recorded a population of 414. Whenever we drive past here I can't help but admire the brown of the dormant grass, the green of the pine trees and the gray skies. I like this combination. There's this small motel that sits right on Nehalem River. I would love to go kayaking there. 

We arrived at the Tillamook Creamery at 4:23 pm. I'm pretty sure I've mentioned this before but this building is new, about a few years old only. It's a pretty building. This place is a must stop when you're traveling on the 101. And what makes it even cooler is that they also sell food, so one can kill two birds with one stone. 

They have lots of ice cream flavors but given that they are so popular they often run out of flavors which is disappointing. So it's always hit and miss.

Now, with a satisfied sweet tooth we continued with our sightseeing.

One day I was scrolling through Instagram and came across a picture of partially buried tree stumps with low clouds in the background. I asked the person where the picture was taken and he said Neskowin Oregon. I had not heard of Neskowin, not even seen a sign for it when we've driven on the 101 so I looked it up. Sure enough I found it and made it a point to stop and visit next time we drove to the Oregon Coast.

This time I told Jacob to drive slow so we wouldn't miss it and was excited to see a Neskowin exit sign on the side of the road. There's a parking lot with restrooms. That's always a good thing. You have to walk a little bit to get to the beach and the first thing you see is Proposal Rock.  

To the left of Proposal Rock you'll see the petrified forest stumps. It's quite a sight but it's even a better sight if you go during the winter when the weather is moody. Those are the best kind of pictures to take of nature in my opinion.

This place quickly became a favorite of mine. I'm sure we'll visit many more times. 

And like expected the ocean water was cold. It is safe to say that beaches on the West Coast/PNW are always freezing. Seeing people in the water makes me shiver but they must be some brave souls risking hypothermia and getting stung by stingrays, at least in Southern CA. My daughter was stung twice by the same stingray one 4th of July many years ago in Coronado.

Have to make sure we remember to take pictures of the two of us together for memories sake.

Sightseeing is abundant along the Oregon Coast ... so many places to stop and experience. It sure makes time speed on by which is always a bummer.

By early evening we were tired and hungry. We stayed the night in Newport. In the mood for some comforting food so we looked up Mexican food and found a decent taco shop where I ordered rolled tacos and an horchata. Yum! We arrived at our hotel tired and grateful for a good nights sleep.

This was our view from our hotel room.

Grateful too to be able to experience sunsets at the beach. Such a pretty sight.

The sea, once it casts its spell, holds one in its net of wonder forever.

-Jacques Cousteau

Oregon Coast Road Trip

February 2019


During Riley's second Winter break we took a trip down the North Oregon coast. He had had the flu for about four days before heading out, with fever and headaches. We alternated between Motrin and Tylenol. By the time we got on the road he was doing better but still had a slight fever. After several days of being cooped up at home we decided that being out would be a relief for him ... breathing fresh ocean air and taking in all the pretty scenery. He also slept a lot which helped with recovery.

Driving across this bridge into Oregon is always exciting!

By the time we reached Astoria it's usually time for us to eat lunch. Grabbed some take out and ate our food along the water. I love it! I love the smell of the ocean.
That's WA in the background and the tip there is Cape Disappointment. One can usually count on the weather to be chilly, windy and cloudy. It is truly an exciting experience.

We were on our way to Fort Stevens State Park when we spotted this cute owl.

This state park is where the 1906 shipwreck of the Peter Iredale is found. This was our first time to visit this beach. (We've stopped here several times since.)
Cold day but gorgeous just the same.

The first time I saw pictures of this shipwreck was on Instagram and I remember telling Jacob that next time we drive down to the OR coast that we need to stop and check it out.
It's pretty cool to see in person.

As we were driving out of Fort Stevens State Park we came across several elk. I love when we encounter elk, deer, fowl, small creatures ... I just hope we don't even come across a bobcat or a bear. That would be so scary! This is why we're very apprehensive about hiking the Olympic Mountain range or anywhere where it's too secluded for that matter.

And what's a Northern Oregon coast without stopping at Tillamook Cheese Factory? Sucky that's what! So it is tradition for us to make sure we stop here for ice cream however, when we reached the factory it was dinner time. We're glad that they sell food too but can you believe they don't sell nachos? Now that just doesn't make any sense! Nachos should be a staple here since it's a CHEESE FACTORY!!

By late afternoon Riley was in better spirits. He ate chicken strips and enjoyed some delicious Tillamook ice cream of course! I am so thankful that he was almost over the flu.

We continued on for an hour and fifteen minutes until we reached The Salishan where we spent the night. We love this resort. The way the rooms are situated makes the stay more relaxed and enjoyable ... at least it does for us. One has to drive to their room and you get to park right in front of your room. The views are so pretty and rooms have tall ceilings which help keep the room well ventilated (there's nothing worse than staying in a smelly stuffy room) and they are spacious ... with fireplaces!!!


The following day we left The Salishan just before 10:00 am. It was 42 degrees, nice and cold!
We stopped at several cool spots along the coast; Boiler Bay, Depoe Bay, Cape Foulweather ....

Devil's Punchbowl

And then we stopped for breakfast in Newport ... priorities people!!!

After a yummy breakfast we stopped at South Beach to walk it all of.
Such a pretty scene don't you think?

I like that the beaches are empty of people in the winter. That's Riley being silly.

We typically drive down to Florence and then go East from there to hop onto the I-5 however this time after our walk on the beach in Newport we headed East past Corvallis and hoped on I-5 to stay the night in Tualatin.
It may seem from past visits down the Oregon Coast that we do the same things ... I do have my favorite spots and I like to stop and enjoy their beauty every time but we also stop at new touristy spots as well. It keeps our trips exciting! And of course when it comes to eating at one of our favorite restaurants we make sure we stop and eat there every single time.
We are SO happy that we can now enjoy a comforting traditional home cooked style meal at Cracker Barrel up here in the PNW. There are several in Oregon. Not sure what's taking WA so long to welcome them into our state.

After we're done eating I like to browse the store and purchase nostalgic candy and a few decorations for our home. They always have pretty things for the home.

Once we had full bellies we made our way back home. Riley usually misses home, his things after being on the road for two days, lol. All three of my children are homebodies. They do like to spend time with friends but mostly they're at home (not sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing, lol).

I like to experience new things however, road trips taken along the W (PNW) Coast are my

favorite. These roads along the ocean are perfect for enjoying a slower and less 

pressured way of life. It definitely refreshes one's spirit.