Ah, the Oregon Coast

Monday April 25 we woke up to grey, rainy Oregon skies in Corvallis. I had planned for us to go to the Oregon coast, but I wasn't sure the kids were going to have any fun if the weather was bad. I had been given some advice to "just go... the weather may not cooperate during their visit but just try to get it in and maybe there will be enough of a break in the clouds to actually see something". With that in mind, I hit the road with my sister, my niece and nephew. We went to Newport and started the day with lunch at Rogue Brewery - my favorite place to eat in Oregon.

We did Hatfield Marine Science Center. It is like the aquarium, but with a strong emphasis on education and it's free (well, we made a donation, but in theory, it is free). We happened to be there when they were feeding everything... including the octopus. They feed him by putting his food inside a PVC toy (which he has to open - It helps keep their hunting instinct high).

Then we headed to the historic bayfront area of Newport. We were hoping to see seals and sea lions. There were a few, way out in the harbor. (But it worked out: we got to see more when we went to Crescent City on our way to the Redwoods)

Then we decided we had to see the actual Pacific ocean, not just the bay. As expected it was windy and cold so we only stayed long enough to write our names in the sand and take a few photos.

We got some ice cream at the Newport Candy Shoppe. And, since Curtis is studying lighthouses in school, we went to the Yaquina Head Lighthouse and natural area. They charged us $7 to get into the park at 4:00 in the afternoon. The lighthouse closed at 4 (which we didn't know until the went in the visitor's center).

We found a "seal" (statue) at the visitor's center.  He got his picture taken... a lot.

About the time we got out to the end of the rock, the rain hit.... it was that cold, blowing, stinging rain... not the funnest part of the day.

Once we made it back to the car, I asked what the plan was. Curtis said, in a very sweet voice from the backseat, (as we are all drying off and taking off soaked jackets) "let's not do that again". We waited on the rain to stop and we went down to the tidepools and snapped some great photos (and mostly tried to dry out before driving back to Corvallis).

We made the trek back to Corvallis, got out of our wet clothes, and ordered some pizza while we huddled under blankets. It was a good day.