Oregon Coast - Day 3: Cape Mears Lighthouse

After lunch we enjoyed a scenic drive along the bay and out to the Pacific, where we visited Cape Mears Lighthouse.

Looking out over the ocean....

The lighthouse

Beautiful morning glories

Below, one of Gary's lovely photos

I love daisies!

And I love this guy ~ Handsome!

We took a little hike through the forest to see "The Octopus Tree." I took a couple photos of it, but they didn't really capture the size and intrigue of it, plus the light was working against me. You'll have to go see it with your own eyes - it's pretty cool. ☺

Another great adventure, among several on this fun-filled day!

Oregon Coast - Day 3: Lunch!

We hit a lot of the same stops that we did on our coastal trip last year - including Pacific Seafood in Bay City. Delicious lunch and an opportunity to see oysters being shucked and bottled for sale in grocery markets. Unlike last year, we timed it right to where we were able to see a ship load of fresh oysters come in, go through the cleaning assembly line, and be put into bottles and labeled for sale. Cool!

Though the menu has changed a little in its appearance, we ordered much the same as we did last year.

I had the delicious oyster stew again, this time with a side salad topped with bay shrimp.
Check out the size of that oyster in my stew! It was scrumptious.

The boys split a grilled cheese stuffed with crab meat and shrimp inside.

They both loved every bite.

Gary had such fond memories of his bread bowl with clam chowder from last year, he opted to enjoy the same lunch again this year. We're creatures of habit, I guess.

We loved knowing of great places to visit again this year, and Pacific Seafood (The Fish Peddler) was among them.

Oregon Coast - Day 3: Tide Pool!

We had such a great time at the tide pool last year, we decided to go again this year. Although with a baby in tow, we didn't get to the pool as early as we'd planned, so the tide wasn't quite as low as it was last year - but we still saw many creatures and had a super time!

Before arriving at the tide pool, we made a quick stop at the Nehalem Bay General Store for a pair of water shoes for Gordon - his flip flops just weren't going to cut it for this outing. Gary snapped this picture on their way back out to the Tahoe - so cute!

Here we are, heading down the trail to the tide pool - picking blackberries along the way.

Our time on the coast last year was a little bit later in August, so the blackberries this year weren't quite as ripe as they had been last year - but we still managed to find a good handful each of delicious blackberries to snack on.

There were so many beautiful flowers in bloom this year.

Daddy snapped this picture of Mommy & a very smiley baby girl!

Here comes the choo-choo train!

After climbing down the rocks, we began our search for tide pool treasures.

Starfish, anemones, and other creatures were seen out on these rocks where Gary carried the boys in turn. (No pictures this year - I forgot to send my camera out with them).

There were crabs of plenty under almost every overturned rock.

Gordy is becoming quite the expert in picking up these pinchy little critters.

Grayson still prefers to just look at the crabs.

It was so fun to have our little princess in my arms this year! Last year I was in our 1st trimester of pregnancy during our coastal adventure.

Gary grabbed this cool shot of a crab, right up close.

After spending a couple of hours finding sea glass, cool rocks, sea shells, and creatures - our tummies were telling us it was time for lunch.

Oregon Coast - Monday on the Beach

Our first full day at the coast was relaxing. After breakfast, we set out for the beach.

We played,

enjoyed a beautiful day,

looked for treasures,

and smiled a lot.

Yes, many happy faces.

After some beach time, we had a little bite to eat in Manzanita - some Mexican food. Then we came back to the camper and had some quiet time. The guys watched a movie while Mommy & Greta took a little nap.

Later, we decided to head back into Manzanita for dinner - we'd noticed a nice little pizza place that was only open later in the day. On our way into town, we stopped to see this Coast Guard helicopter. Nehalem Bay State Park provided educational opportunities such as this each evening.

Marzano's Pizza is a popular dinner spot, and so we were put on a half hour waiting list, which was fine -- it gave us some time to walk down to the beach and enjoy the evening sun.

What a beautiful evening!

This was such an enjoyable evening, one I'll always remember.

Our table was ready when we returned to Marzano's - and boy, did we have an incredible dinner! We ordered two scrumptious pizzas and had a wonderful time together.