Oregon Coast 2011: Days 1 & 2

Yeah, this little trip happened two months ago. And I'm finally blogging it. Don't judge.

Our little trip started out on a Tuesday. We got up, loaded the car and were on our way. Ha!! NOT!! I think we had, like, 10 stops before we even left Vancouver. Ok, maybe just 4 or 5. I lost track after going to the grocery store, Sean's work and stopping to get some lunch. We headed down the 5 (I-5, that is) and decided to make an attempt at getting a picture of Long Haul, the decepticon Transformer that watches over a stretch of I-5 just south of Salem. There were several failed attempts - we decided that, since we had the time, to turn around at the next exit and have another go at it. This was the outcome:

Fail.

Fail.

Fail.

Success!! Sorta... If you look closely, you can see the purple decepticon logo on the door. But, whatever, Ethan loves it!

We followed our Google map into Newport and had to laugh at the ridiculous directions. In a small town like that, everything is pretty much right off the main road, unless it's down on the bayfront. And yet, the map took us through about 15 turns in a residential area when, really, we only needed to take a right onto the Coast highway that goes right through town and then a left into our hotel parking lot. Stupid Google. Or maybe it was Yahoo maps. I don't remember. Either way... lame!

We checked into our hotel. Ok, it was a motel. A Travelodge to be exact. Nothing fancy. And the best we could get considering we booked our room just the day before we wanted it and we weren't willing to pay an arm and a leg for a fancy oceanview room. Seriously, everything in that town was full. Or overpriced. But our room was nice and clean and newly updated. The only thing it was lacking was a little more floor space and AC. Say what?! Heat, but no A/C. Hmm. We had a late-night dinner at the Newport Cafe. Definitely not what I would normally gravitate to, but we wanted to go local. Let me tell you, it did not disappoint!! Yummy diner food with huge portions. I had the Newport scramble with eggs, peppers, onions, bacon and roasted potatoes. I ate my fill and then still had plenty of leftovers for breakfast Thursday morning. Sean had a burger - and couldn't finish it. And Ethan had the "kids" pancakes, bacon and scrambled eggs. Supposedly one scrambled egg - yeah, it had to have been at least three eggs!

Full bellies, a long drive and a long day. Think we would've gone right to sleep, right? Wrong! Sean went out just before the Freddies up the street closed and bought a box fan to help cool off our room and give us some white noise to help us sleep. It wasn't really hot, but we were definitely missing the hum of the A/C and prefer a chilled room to a warm one. Ethan slept pretty well, though. Sean convinced him to sleep on the air mattress in his own little "cave" which left the King-sized bed to ourselves. It was comfy.
In the morning we got up, got our free breakfast (slim pickings compared to the Travelodge we stayed at in December in Provo), showered and got ready to go to the Aquarium!
Thank you, Groupon, for the good deal on tickets to the Aquarium! Ok, I'll stop talking for a while and just show pictures - there are a LOT...

* We loved the underwater exhibits - where we got near 360 viewing of the fish and sharks.

{There are so many things I love about this picture.... The shark in the upper right corner, Sean in the middle of everything and Ethan on all fours peering through the window!}

{And I thought this picture was cool because it really gives an underwater effect - kinda looks like sunlight that is giving the outline of the shark.}

Yikes!

* The sea lions are always my favorite.


* And Ethan loved the touch exhibit of the tide pools. Sea anemones, sea stars, sea urchins and sea cucumbers. And get this, I could actually remember quite of few of their names, thanks to my freshman (high school) Marine Bio class! That was 14 years ago!!
* There were lots of cool exhibits inside the main building. Along with the tide pool, we saw jellyfish, more fish w/ kelp and an "Animals of the Amazon" exhibit.

{It took more than one try to get these shots of the jellyfish. No flash and a high ISO are what did the trick, I think.}

* This grossed me out...
* We didn't see much of the otters, but were able to watch them being fed.


* The "play area" was our last stop.

{Our one and only family shot of the day. Enlisted the help of a stranger, so ignore the guy behind my head taking a picture of his kid!}

* And a couple more random pictures from the Aquarium....

{Ethan's first smashed penny!}

{Saw this at the gift shop and Sean couldn't resist taking a picture! I am all about recycling, but this is a bit extreme!!}

{Other than a magnet, some postcards and a little souvenir toy for Ethan (their shirt selection for little boys wasn't that great) we got this book at the gift shop. So cute! I love that all the animals are from the Pacific Northwest.}

After the Aquarium, we went back to our hotel for a late lunch - PB & jelly sandwiches, apple slices, go-gurt, crackers and/or whatever other little snacks we had brought. We had a little down-time and then went out exploring at the Newport bayfront.

{Took this picture for Ethan's friend, Sarah.}



{We love the sea lions - even if their barking is loud!}

{Smashed penny #2!!}

{We couldn't figure out which way the hat was supposed to be worn. Either way, it had us laughing!}

Dinner was just at Burger King (super exciting, I know) and then Ethan went off to bed and Sean and I play another round of Scrabble Apple (I won. Again. :)