On Tuesday we had big plans to get up early and explore.
But then early came and went, and everybody was still exploring the backside of their eyelids, so I decided to stick with the schedule and go explore myself. My favorite way to explore anywhere is on my bike! I didn't know where to go, so I just started down the road behind our hotel. As good a road as any, right? Better! It was pretty darn awesome! I happened to start peddling on the road the goes around the bay. It couldn't have been a prettier ride!
Water on one side of me, lush green on the other, a wide bike lane, and hardly a car or hill in sight. Biking heaven! Actually, runners might like it too, because mile marker signs all along the road told me that this was the route for the Newport Marathon, so I rode the whole route (in way less time and way more fun than running the thing. Would would do that, anyway?)
Pretty pink orchid-like wildflowers along the route.
They matched my bike so I decorated it.
An crooked old shack engulfed in shrubbery was very charming!
I rode past a place once called Oysterville (there were also historical interpretive markers along the route. I know, right?) The big white building was a dock where lots of fishermen were busy shucking oysters. I couldn't believe it but the whole shore along the bay for about 50 yards was just piles and piles of oyster shells!
While I was standing there I even saw a guy dumping buckets of fresh shells into a wheelbarrow presumably to just dump on the shore later when it was full. I wonder how many years they have been doing that to have so many shells along the shore? I thought it was fascinating and quite pretty. I grabbed a couple huge sun-bleached shells for my boys.
Pretty.
This old shed was just cool. I love the shadows and textures.
What a lovely ride! It couldn't have been more perfect if it was planned! Lot's more fun and interesting than sleeping in. But trying to convince my guys of that is pointless.
Last night's catch, just looking tasty.
When everyone finally got themselves up out of bed, we decided to leave Newport and head north. We were on our way up a windy coastal road toward the Cape Meares lighthouse when we drove past this amazing beach that just seemed to scream at us to stop the car and go run on it! Really. The temptation to run around on this stretch of sand was simply irresistible.
We pulled over the car to just take a look and before we knew it the twins were off running!
Um, guys. Wait!
Then it was Caleb.
Beautiful!
Do you see the draw? Would you run around here?
Don't you just want to splash through those shallow puddles?
They stopped long enough to get their pics...
Then they were off again.
Then Nate and Luke couldn't resist any longer.
Run, everyone, run!
Sometimes they'd stop running, though.
Finally I was able to round them all up once they got the running out of their system, and we headed up the cliff to the car again.
Lighthouse #2 - Cape Meares
A short but pretty tree-lined hike to the lighthouse.
That's a big lens!
Another short hike lead to the "octopus" tree: an ancient pine tree without a central trunk but many offshoot branches. The sign said that it is unknown if it was done by nature of by the ancient native peoples somehow.
A banana slug made it's way onto our path...
and then somehow into Dylan's mouth! EEEWW! What is wrong with that boy?!?!
So many beautiful vistas along the coast! Click, click, click...click.
Then we turned inland to Tillamook County; a land of fields, barns, and lots and lots of cows.
First stop was on Dylan's request: Tillamook County Smoker - a big beef jefky factory. We were disappointed that they did not offer tours, just a little store with a whole lot of dried beef...
...including their famous 2foot beef sticks.
Oh yeah. Boys and beef sticks.
You can eat them in multiples,
You can whip your twin brother with them,
Or you can even do the Lady and the Tramp thing with them.
What could be better than beef sticks?
Well, I can think on one thing...
and it also comes from a cow.
CHEESE!!!
(I'm sure the cows are happier about the cheese than the beef sticks too.)
This is not our first, nor our second, visit to Tillamook. But everyone was still anxious to go. How can you ever get tired of cheese?
Watching the cheese being packed was really interesting.
But even better were the samples! Cheese please!
Yummy stuff!
And what is even better than Tillamook cheese?
Oh yeah!
Tillamook's Marionberry Pie. Thank you Bessie!
I consider myself an ice cream connoisseur.
For the road.
The Blue Heron Cheese Company was also in the tourist books, but this one was also disappointing, especially after Tillamook.
It was basically a store with lots of foodie stuff. But I did get one sample of brie. Just one. Come on.
But they did have a petting zoo.
We drove by the air museum. It is really hard to miss! We went there last time and it is really amazing. It has many WWII aircraft housed inside a WWII airship hanger. It is the largest wood structure in the world, I believe. But we didn't visit it today.
I know they say that happy cows come from California, but if I was a cow, I know where I'd be happy - Oregon!
When we were at Tillamook, I happened to say something about it on Facebook. Soon after I got a text from my childhood friend, Amy, that she and her family had just been at Tillamook not 2 hours before! I didn't even know they were in Oregon! She said they were now flying kites on the beach.
And there they were!
Hello Ivy family!
Before we could turn around several of the boys had scurried down the cliff we were standing on to say hello. Did I mention the Ivys have a teenage daughter?
It turns out they were RV camping not 10 minutes from our hotel, so we invited them over to our place for a BBQ and to try their hand at crabbing.
So they took off to their RV, and the boys had to figure out how to get back up the cliff. Easier said than done.
Dylan, being Dylan, chose to just scale the sheer cliff.
The other boys found a more sensible way.
After a long day of running, lighthouses, octopus trees, banana slugs, beef sticks, cheese, and ice cream, all the boys wanted to do was head back to the crabbing docks.
You bait the net,
toss it into the bay,
and wait. It's really hard.
Amy and her family arrived!
It was so fun to see un unexpected familiar face in a far away place. That kind of thing is what makes a vacation just extra special!
They kids all got along great and had a great time.
Nathan got them to work scraping off mussels.
Then he taught them his crabbing skills he has acquired over the years.
This kid is a natural!
If you are a cute blond 8year old buy named Luke, please stand up!
Dylan has some skills of his own to impress the ladies. Oh yeah - mussel scraping.
We call this flashlight fishing. No idea.
It was so fun to spontaneously get together with whatever we had on hand and have a barbecue while waiting for those silly little crustaceans to get the bait. It is funny how we live less than a mile apart, but it takes running into each other in another state to get together. We all had a great time, and I hope we get together more often - a littler closer to home.
Everybody was tired and ready to hit the sack, but not until everybody got at least a taste of the product of all their labors. But first the crabs had to be cooked.
I don't know about you, but I don't think I'd want an audience as I was being tossed live into a cauldron of boiling water. Just saying.
Bye Mr. Crab. It's been fun. Can't wait to eat you!
The taste test.
Oh yeah. Just plucked from the bay fresh crab! That's what Oregon tastes like.
1 comment:
We had such a great time hanging out with your family. It definitely made our trip more special! Thanks for the bbq and crabbing fun :-)
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