Seattle and the Oregon Coast

We wanted to do something different for our family.  So after much thought and research we settled on the Oregon Coast.  At the last minute, we decided to tack on a few extra days and visit Seattle first. We left the night that Makayla got out of school, June 4th.  Here we are on our way to the airport.

The flight to Seattle was fine. It was the picking up bags that had a snag.  We were missing a large blue bag with green ribbon tied to it! This had never happened to us before.  So the airport staff found another blue bag with red ribbons tied to it that was unclaimed and called the lady 20 times before she answered. She had grabbed our bag by mistake! She was already driving away in a rental car, so we had to wait for her to bring it back, which ended up taking an additional hour.  Geez lady, colorblind? And it was already 11:30pm, so that made it closer to 12:45am by the time she came back.  And she was snotty about it, so that didn't help.  At least our bag was returned and not stolen!

Our Seattle rental was a nice looking, muggy smelling 2 bedroom, 2 bathroom, with kitchen place.  The kids sure loved the loft area and happily threw parachute guys and stuffed animals down it during our stay.

Day 1 we went to the Museum of Flight.  This is a popular aircraft museum with several different parts to it.  We spent at least an hour in one part and on our way out to leave, we discovered several other parts of the museum: The Boeing Factory area, World War 1 area, the tarmac, and the NASA shuttle area.  So we spent a few more hours happily looking about.

Next, the Children's Museum was a big hit with our family.  It is right inside a mall, and although small in square footage, they pack so much fun in.  All of us couldn't get enough of the water play stations. You could make music, build tunnels, channel rivers, beat drums, all with water.

Day 2 we ventured to the Pacific Science Museum. This museum was enourmous and had several buildings on the block.  Part of it included bugs and butterflies, other parts included science experiments and machines.

One area showed us how we will look aged to 70 vs. if we are obese and 70.  We got a kick out of our photos.

We then went on Argosy Cruises on a Seattle harbor cruise.  We got some great views of a freight boat from Germany dropping off some cargo.  And it was relaxing looking at the Seattle shoreline.

Pike's Place, one of Seattle's most popular stops, was next on our agenda. There were hundreds of stores and stands to buy something.  Scott bought a few magic tricks, I bought Mick's roasted red pepper jelly, and everyone picked out some cheese or beef jerky.

Day 3 we had to rush to make it to the train station.  And what better way to arrive than by limo?  After shopping around for a ride, it was only a little more to do the limo, so we agreed.

We checked in and boarded our train bound for Portland, Oregon.  Amtrak trains are so roomy and nicer than you would think. And the ocean scenery made for a beautiful trip. Three and a half hours went by quickly.  We took a cab from the train station to Budget Car Rental and picked up our Ford Taurus for the week.  Scott had a bad taste for Fords, but it really turned out to be a comfy ride.  We drove the 2.5 hours to the condo and checked in then got enough groceries for the week.

Our condo was very nice, with 2 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, and a kitchen. Plus, the ocean was right out the window, probably 50 feet away including a cliff.

We walked around the resort and checked out the rocks.

Day 4 we took it easy and explored around the coast.  We couldn't get enough of the waves crashing on the rocks right outside our sliding door.  We packed a picnic and headed for a sandy beach to enjoy.  The ocean water was frigid, so no beach swimming was to be had on this trip, but we did wade in the water.  The picnic was extremely windy and sand blew all over our food and drinks. And some seagulls stole our unopened bag of potato chips and pecked it open and sand rapidly swept inside.  Just being by the ocean was marvelous though.

We took a stroll around our ocean front condo. It was just awesome watching the tide roll in.

Day 5 we headed up to Tillamook, Oregon, where the famous cheese factory stands.  We took a tour, tried some samples, and bought some ice cream and cheese to enjoy.

We randomly found a fish hatchery on our drive back.

We also found Cape Meares Lighthouse and took a hike down there. And then visited the octopus tree.

 Then we headed to Monmouth Falls, a kid friendly hike up to a pretty waterfall.

Day 6 we went whale watching! We took a boat ride to find some whales, and wouldn't you know it, all the whales were hanging out right by our condo! If we would have known what to look for, we could have seen plenty more from the land side.  My camera was too slow to get a good shot, but we saw a few whales.  We then hung out in Newport and scoped out the places to go crabbing.

Day 7 we visited the Oregon Coast Aquarium.  We had a good time there seeing all the wild sea creatures.

Then we found some cool pirate shops.  These shops were fun and had some cool souvenirs.

Then we hung out at the ocean and enjoyed the tide coming in while hunting for seashells.

Day 8 was crabbing day.  We rented gear and went to Newport to find us some crabs in the ocean.  The only problem was it was raining like crazy.  So we were literally soaked to the bone and the water just kept on pouring down.  The kids and I waited in the car during an hour of it, but overall, the process was very entertaining.  You rent crab nets, and buy mink (or chicken), then strap the meat in the middle, and throw the nets in, wait 5 minutes, and pull them up and see the crabs eating the meat. Then you measure them with the special ruler, and keep the ones that are big enough and throw back the smaller guys.  We ended up keeping six big ones out of 40 crabs and drove to the condo to boil them up.

Day 9 was lighthouse day.  First we hit the Yaquina Head lighthouse and visited the center.  Then we saw the Devil's Punch Bowl. We hit the Heceta Head lighthouse and hiked up to that.  We took another hike down to the rocky shore where the waves fiercely splashed off the rocks.

We visited the Sea Lion Caves as well.  You take an elevator down 20 stories and look at the natural habitat where the sea lions live. Minus the smell, it was pretty neat.

Day 10 was the end of our trip.  We had to drive back to Portland to catch our airplane.  We found the OMSI (Oregon Museum of Science and Industry) on our way and happily enjoyed that.  We didn't really have enough time to thoroughly take in everything, but it was fun.  My favorite exhibit was the fetal one where they have real once alive embryos encased for all to see their week by week development. Very fascinating, but no photos allowed there.  We also liked the machines and dinosaur hall.

Before long, it was already time to come home.  What a wonderful trip that was! Something different enough that we really just loved it.  One best part of the trip was buying a Clark Planetarium Pass beforehand because they are part of the National Museum Exchange, which allowed us in to most of the museums for free, just by presenting our passes.  Another great part was the crabbing, such a fun memory of catching and holding the crabs.  The ocean was just marvelous!  Being on the coast is just relaxing and makes you think about and appreciate God's beautiful creations.  Just being with our own family was perfect too.