Beach Bums

This picture is for all our Nebraska friends...in Oregon it is unlawful to pump your own gas, so I just had to take a picture of our station attendant and Bob overseeing her filling our van. Also, it is unlawful to make a right hand turn on red. Just a little road trivia in case you are planning a trip out here anytime soon! :-) It was absolutely beautiful today. We drove from Lincoln City north to Pacific City, where Bob's grandparents used to live. He took us by all the 'old places' and his Grandpa's home, and had a chance to walk around and remember some happier times here. Then we got to go to the beach, the moment the boys had been waiting for for a long time...about 1500 miles ago long time.

This is Haystack Rock at Cape Kiwanda, Pacific City. The beach really is picturesque and perfect. Ryland had been telling us all about how he was going to swim in the ocean when we finally got there. And we have been telling him all about how he can't swim in this ocean right now because it is too cold, but maybe he could dip a toe in just to see how cold it is.

And then Ryland tripped and fell as he was running from a wave and got buried and soaked - and he loved it and said "I told you I was going to swim in the ocean!" and then went back for more. But, he did take his tie off and asked me to keep it safe for him, in case of future falls.

Braden and Tarver racing with the waves. The game is, you go out as far as you can, wait for a giant wave to break and don't start running until it is just about to reach you. If you can make it up to the beach before the wave gets your feet wet, you have won.

And then Ryland decided to try swimming again. {And again, and again...}

Our guys made great beach bums today...

Mr. Soggy pants here was a literal beach bum. Sorry, I couldn't resist.

From Pacific City we drove Hwy 101 north to Tillamook. This is what most of the trip looked like.

We made a quick stop at the Tillamook cheese factory {this counts for field trip hours, by the way!} and stocked up on some Northwest specific groceries for supper. The cheese factory offers free cheese curds at the end of the tour and Bob and I both have fond memories of 'squeaky cheese' from our many visits to Tillamook when we lived out here. If you have never had cheese curds, then you probably won't understand squeaky cheese, but let's just say it was a hit with the boys.

While in Tillamook, we had the opportunity to visit with Grandpa's friend, Dotty. We have never met her before so we were thrilled to give her a hug in person.

After the beach, cheese factory and a nice visit, we were hungry. We drove north once more, and stopped for lunch and some window shopping in Cannon Beach. I ordered clam chowder, again. It was heavenly.

I wish you could smell this. I wish I could bring some back home to share with you all. But you really need to be near the water to enjoy it to its fullest.

In Cannon Beach we found a kite shop. Ryland found the cutest little kite ever...

And when we landed in Seaside this evening, we walked from our hotel down to the beach to fly it. And boy, can this kiddo fly a kite. Braden and Tarver found all sorts of shells: sand dollars, clams, mussels...and Langston ate sand and had a blast throwing it. And Ryland ran, and ran, and ran, and ran. So much so, that the 2 block walk home almost did him in because his legs had run out.

{My Guys. Seaside, Oregon.}

Our supper tonight: Tillamook cheese, crackers, apple slices and Aplets & Cotlets. I forgot the smoked salmon while we were grocery shopping, otherwise this would have been a square Northwest meal.