Oregon Coast

 Sand doesn't taste good

Anyone that knows me knows how much I adore the Oregon Coast.  I absolutely love it.  So somehow I convinced the whole Peterson clan to spend a week at the coast this summer.  We rented a beach house and had tons of fun.  I won't bore you with all the details, but I do have lots of pictures, and will sum up the trip quickly.

Saturday 3:00 AM:  wake up

Saturday 4:00 AM:  leave our house

 

The first time Eve saw the beach and ocean

Make good time all across Utah, Idaho and half of Oregon until our tire COMPLETELY blows out.  We unpack the back of the car only to find that there's no jack!  So we call OHP, they send a tow truck, 2 1/2 hours later we are back on the road. 

We spent the night in Portland with my cousin Kate and her fiance Jason.  Eve was soooooo wound up from being in the car all day long that she nearly drove their poor cat crazy.  We went on to the coast Sunday morning.

Sunday, 2:30 PM: arrive at beach

Sunday, 3:00 PM: check into beach house, which had NOT been cleaned!  We couldn't even open the door because there were 10 bags of garbage in front of it!  Apparently the owner of the house cleans it himself to save money, and he never came down from Portland.  The unfortunate property manager was soooo embarrassed and upset.  She came and cleaned it and was very kind and comped us a free night, but it was still a big hassle.  

 At Tillamook with her cousins.  She loved all their attention that week, and I think she has a crush on her cousin Connor.  He is pretty cute!

The rest of the trip was really fun.  Despite van trouble for my sister-in-law Holly, the rest of the week went off with out a hitch.  The beach was windy and cold, but Eve still loved it.  She would practically swim in the sand.  Richie dug a big hole and subsequently she wanted to dig holes and sit in them all the time.  We flew kites, explored tide pools, went the aquarium (Eve loved the seals), toured the Tillamook Cheese Factory, played on the beach, played board games, and Richie's parents very generously treated everyone to an exploratory harbour and ocean cruise in Newport.  I loved it!  We went off shore and found a grey whale and saw it humping and spouting.  They threw off crab pots and then pulled in crabs and starfish for the kids to see and we also saw tons of birds, harbour seals, California sea lions, and all sorts of fun stuff.  Eve didn't like the wind, but she did like the cruise itself.  The captain even let her steer the boat.  My sister-in-law Karen and I didn't get sea sick and were loving the waves, but it seemed like everyone else did get sick.  Someone even threw up right next to us.  But I think I would make a pretty good sailor, just so you all know.

 Yay for sea lions!

There is a sad footnote to this story: Richard was not on the cruise with us.  For years he has been wanting to go deep sea fishing off the Oregon Coast and finally decided to do it on this trip.  We both went tuna fishing with my dad a long time ago, 75 miles off the coast of San Diego, and never had any seasickness problems.  But the cards were stacked against him from the start.  He was supposed to be at the dock at 6:30.  Halfway there he realized that he'd left the car seat in the car, so had to turn back, and didn't get to the dock until 6:58.  Less than five minutes into the trip he felt queasy, and for the next four hours, vomited regularly every 15 minutes off the side of the boast.  And how many fish did he catch?  One.  The woman next to him?  15 or 20.  The limit was seven per person, but the boat fished until the the limit for everyone was caught, so he still got his seven fish.  But how sad is that?  Poor baby.  I felt so bad.  But the fish was good!

  Neskowin Beach is the best beach in the world!  Look at how gorgeous!

We left the next Saturday and spent the day in Portland again.  The Barkumes had a little reunion.  We stayed with Kate and Jason again, and then drove home on Sunday.  Eve did great in the car.  She got antsy, but she was happy most the of the time.  All in all, it was a wonderful trip.