Trip to Pacific Northwest 2017: Day 4/8

Good Morning

We did a lot more than originally planned for this day.

We got up at the ungodly hour of 6:30am. We showered before breakfast this time, to wake up whatever brain cells would come to life this early and without coffee. We got dressed for the day, grabbed everything we wanted to take with us for our trip, and headed downstairs for breakfast.

Jeremiah had biscuits and gravy. I had a waffle, a donut hole, and an apple strudel. I gave Jeremiah a donut hole, and he ended up eating a quarter of my waffle as well.

After a little bit of crabbiness on my part due to my socks not wanting to stay up in my boots, Jeremy came to the rescue as usual and gave me one of his pairs of socks to wear. I was much more comfortable after that. 

Rebecca and Jeremy

On the Road

Jeremy Driving to Astoria, Oregon

We started our road trip down to Astoria, Oregon.

As with all of our drives so far, this one was full of lush scenery. We chuckled at the name of this small town we drove through: Kelso. We crossed the Washington/Oregon border. There was a viewpoint not too far along after this and we stopped to take in the view of Washington across the water, with the industrial smoke stacks creating clouds in the morning air, and the long bridge we had just crossed in the background.

Borders of Washington and Oregon

We were driving down the mountains, away from the viewpoint, when we came across a sign that said “Entering Tsunami Hazard Zone”. I snapped a photo of it for our own amusement.

Tsunami Hazard Zone

Astoria, Oregon

​We arrived in Astoria, Oregon and headed straight for the house from The Goonies, specifically Mikes House. The owner of the house must be sick of tourists because he doesn’t let anyone near his property. That’s okay. We stood down the block and snapped pictures of the house.

Mikey's House from The Goonies

​On our way back to the main road, we passed a store that said “Goonies Gift Shop”. We parked down by the grocery store with the intention of walking along the water until we were down by the shop. We hopped on the trail and started walking.

​We could hear sea lions barking, but it took us a bit to figure out where exactly the sea lions were. There was a clearing in the bushes and we were able to see them out on the docks. We went out on the main platform and we were able to see, photographs and video all of the sea lions. Jeremy estimated there to be about 100.

Sea Lions

Sea Lions

Sea Lion

After giggling and just being really happy to have seen sea lions, we finally made it to the Goonies Gift Shop, which was really a coffee joint with a few Goonies
products. We ended up getting coffees and a Goonies shot glass.

Goonie Store

Seaside, Oregon

We got back in the car and headed down to Seaside, Oregon. We wanted to go to lunch right away when we arrived, and my coworker Rachael Bridges had suggested we go to Norma’s in Seaside.

Norma’s restaurant was in this little lighthouse shaped building right where all of the shops were along the beach. We stopped in and we each ordered the seafood combo which included scallops, oysters, prawns, Halibut, and squid. It was delectable, and the clam chowder that came with it was just as good.

Jeremy in front of Norma's

We went and walked the shops. They were, of course, very touristy shops. We ended up getting a shot glass for Jeremy’s collection, candy, two pairs of socks, and two freshly screen printed T-shirt’s that said, you guessed it, “Seaside Oregon”. The man who owned the shirt shop was very friendly. He chatted with us for a bit, and then when he found out we wanted to walk the beach, he gave us directions to a different area of the beach where we would be away from all of the tourists.

We went and parked down by the beach where the man had told us to go. He was right, hardly anyone was down on this section of the beach. We made our way along the rocks to the sand and started collecting sea shells. The sand was glazed over with a thin layer of water which caused a mirror like reflection and resulted in some really cool photographs. We ended up collecting a sand dollar, a lot of oyster shells, and a crab husk. We witnessed a crab get pulled out of the sand by a seagull, but we were too late to rescue the shelled creature.

Jeremy on the beach in Seaside, Oregon

Rebecca and Jeremy in Seaside, Oregon

Seagulls eating a crab

Rogue Crab Leg

Crab

We spent quite a bit of time on the beach, enjoying the salty air, the ocean view, and, of course, each other’s company. I discovered that this was Jeremy’s second time being around the ocean, the first time being the trip to the Bahamas when he was younger.

Cannon Beach, Oregon

We got back in the car and drove down a little ways to Cannon Beach, Oregon. Here we drove straight to the beachside and parked. Jeremy stripped down in the parking lot, much to my amusement, to shorts and sandals. We walked down to the sand and saw that Haystack Rock was to our right. We headed that direction. Jeremy walked along the water, collecting shells and poking at creatures living in the sand. We eventually made it over to Haystack Rock.there were a lot of anemone and other sea creatures living in the pools around Haystack Rock. It was very neat to see.

Cannon Beach, Oregon

Haystack Rock on Cannon Beach, Oregon

Jeremy collecting sea shells down by the sea shore

Jeremy and I in front of Haystack Rock on Cannon Beach

Sunshine on the water at Cannon Beach, Oregon

We looked back and realized that we didn’t know where we had left the vehicle, but we knew what the stairs looked like going down to the beach. We found the stairs, got in the vehicle and headed to Portland. By this time it was after 4.

Portland, Oregon

We arrived in Portland and went looking for this place called The Witches Castle. By the time we located it, it was after dark and the trail going down to it was closed. We decided to not risk our safety in the night and went to dinner at this place called Clarklewis. It was fancy! Jeremy ordered tagliatelle and I got a ribeye.

We headed over the bridge to downtown Portland and walked around. The city was very clean, beautiful, and modernized. We really enjoyed this big, brick plaza and this small park that ran between the streets. We ended the night at Starbucks on the plaza.

Theater downtown Portland, Oregon

Downtown Portland, Oregon

Rebecca, downtown Portland, Oregon

Goodnight

We headed back to the hotel. I wished Jeremy a happy birthday as the clock struck midnight, and gave him a birthday kiss as soon as we parked the vehicle.