Like I said....it's never a dull moment when we're roadtripping.....
but man this trip lent itself to some gorgeous eye candy.
Witness winter dusk on the beach....
All that cloud cover provided ample opportunity for the aspiring photographer in me. I had a field day with the lighting! Sigh, so much to learn....and even MORE to one day photograph! But I digress....
The kids......Oh the kids were full of it to say the least.
After our early morning lighthouse tour, we had a mission to accomplish.
Jarrod needed me to drive to a town 30 minutes away and find their UPS store. Though it sounded easy enough....it took us 3 hours to find the place, coordinate with Jarrod on where he wanted it shipped, and stop for various bathroom/food breaks. Randomly enough....the UPS store was in the same parking lot of a HUGE Goodwill store. My curiosity paid off and we were rewarded with New With Tags jeans for each of the kids, and a Brand New Oster Blender, all for $20. Not a bad detour if you ask me!
Then it was time to pick up Jarrod from work.
Before we headed to dinner....we thought we would stop by a park to let them 'get out their wiggles.'
I had passed a fantastic city park during the day.....and Jarrod assured me he had seen one near the beach.
His idea of a 'park' turned out to be a couple benches on the beach.
Hilarious miscommunication there babe.
But we utilized that bench for all it was worth:
Though the weather had been gorgeous around....65 degrees all day long....the sun was now setting and it was brisk out there!
The kids were dying to get in the water, so we held them off with a little rock tossing ;)
Then, having dogged inmates AND hypothermia for one day,
it was finally time for dinner.
And what MUST you eat when you're staying beachside?
Seafood of course!
After lobster and some delish wine, it was time for the promised hotel swim at the indoor pool.
The kids exhausted themselves while we sat poolside playing Angry Birds.
IT was the perfect ending to a busy day!
The next morning we were up in time to catch the complimentary breakfast and then back on the road.
Eating, driving, driving, eating....are you seeing a pattern here?
Our goal was to head down the coast to a place called the Trees of Mystery.
On our way we randomly saw signs that pointed to another lighthouse.
What a gem of a stop it turned out to be!
The lighthouse was located on a peninsula.
During high tide the lighthouse location is more of an island....making all the rocky beach in between RIPE for tide pools!
You can see the waves creeping in on the left. At high tide this ramp UP to the lighthouse would be partially covered.
The tide pools were such a gift, as we had studied these little habitats earlier in the year.
These pools were chock full of crabs, both hermit and full sized crabs, starfish, and tiny fish.
It's so amazing for the kids to recount to their daddy what they had learned about each of these creatures.
Not to mention the hands on factor. Though, I love that our four year old was the bravest one.
Completely unafraid to hold the live creature.
Well, she might have been a LITTLE grossed out...but in the end she was bolder than EITHER of her brothers....and especially her mother!
We had a funny Circle of life moment as we walked away from this starfish.
We watched a seagull swoop down and grab something for a snack.
And I practically had to hold back the boys from chasing down the bird.
In the end, we spotted our little starfish friend and relocated it to deeper waters. He survived becoming lunch for one more day. Sorry Mr. Seagull, not on our watch!
Back to the Lighthouse.....smiles seemed hard to come by....
Oh wait....here are a couple:
It was strange walking around the grounds because this lighthouse is actually still occupied.
Though the inside is closed for tours until May, we could peek in and see all their belongings.
It seemed the family was just out running errands. It felt a bit obtrusive. Needless to say, we didn't stay for long. Though it was a beautiful stop!
We still had plenty of road to cover.
My amazing husband had the 9 hour drive to complete with us PLUS another 4 hours to finish before his head hit the pillow that night.
Unfortunately, we decided to cut across Oregon on the windiest road I've EVER been on which added atleast 3 more hours onto our drive.
Jarrod laughs that we are the WORST road trip companions as we force him to stop for potty breaks and we ALL tend to get motion sickness.
Well I say it's HIS fault for dragging us along!
But in the end, as long as we keep popping lemondrops and Dramamine.....
the memories are worth the effort.
I just think it's amazing that he wants to be with us SO much that he'd trade a peaceful, non-stop business trip, for a much interrupted escapade with us.
I can't say enough about what a terrific daddy he is.
Until next time Oregon Coast.
I'm sure we'll pass this way again. Just not across the 35 next time! Ick, I thought my stomach was doing back handsprings!
the End
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