Weekend Getaway

David and I had been talking for months about going away for a weekend. At first we thought about heading into Portland because we'd be nice and close if anything happened to our kids. We'd be able to get home quick. But I really wanted to relax. So we headed to the coast. The Oregon coast is simply breath taking. We kind of took our chances heading there in the middle of February, but were pleasantly surprised by the weather. Highs of around 60 degrees, little to no wind, and not a cloud in the sky. Some of you may think the 60 is cold, but I assure you it was absolutely perfect.

We took off Friday evening after David got off of work. When we got into Tillamook we at at The Pacific House Restaurant and it was great. David and I both got the fish and chips and it was the best we'd ever had. After dinner we headed north into Garibaldi and stayed at The Garibaldi House Inn. At first it looked and felt like any other hotel, but as we were checking in at the front desk the owner (Eugene Tish) made it more than just ordinary. He was a cute, older man who had retired but worked the entire time we were there. He was the nicest guy who wanted to make this our home away from home. He told us that it was our place and we made up the rules. If we needed breakfast to last longer, he'd make it happen. If we wanted the pool to stay open longer, we just had to tell him and it'd be done. He even upgraded our room at no extra cost. So we went to our room and RELAXED!

Saturday started early. We were so excited to be able to sleep in, that we weren't able to sleep in at all. We woke up bright and early - about 6:30! It worked out well, though. We got up, ate breakfast and headed out to do some clamming. It was so fun! We walked down to a little marina shop to get my shell fish licence and then headed out onto the sand to start diggin'.

  <-- At the Marina shop. Those dogs were so cute! All they wanted to do was to play fetch. When you'd throw the stick in the water, they went to the edge of the doc and just pawed at the water not wanting to go in. Desperation got the best of them and they ended up jumping in after it every time.

  <-- On the pier. There were quite a few people crabbing off of the pier. One group was using salmon for bait and ended up catching that seal. Twice! Not sure why they used salmon, but they quickly learned and started using chicken after that. 

  <-- Our treasures that we found while digging. It was annoying because we found millions of those tiny clams. EVERYWHERE. They're so small that you can't keep them. Finally, after a ton of this...

(shells only)

...He was able to find this...

 

Just ONE! And barely big enough to keep. Needless to say, we put it back.

There was another guy out there with us who only found one also. The biggest one (in the picture). David found the second biggest two, and I found the smallest one. David did most of the digging. I did some, but I was mostly taking pictures of him digging. We was just doing so well!

After quite a few hours of clamming, we headed back up to our room, got showered, and walked around checking out antique shops and looking for a place to eat.

One of the treasures we found at the shop. . .

  (we also found a cute pitcher, but I didn't take a picture of it)

Our friends were staying up in Seaside for the weekend and were headed down to Tillamook so we all decided to head down together for some lunch and some ice cream. After all, you can't be that close to Tillamook without going to the cheese factory!

We also visited the Blue Heron Cheese company and visited their petting zoo. After that we drove down a little further to Cape Lookout to try to catch the sunset. We were a little too late but got in a few pictures anyway. We went back to The Pacific House Restaurant for dinner because when we asked the locals, they pointed us right back to it. David got their clams and I got a burger. Again, really good! We swam for a bit back at the hotel and then crashed! Who knew a day filled with no schedule could be so exhausting!?

Sunday started bright and early too. 7:15 rolled around and we decided to get up, pack, eat breakfast and head out. We found a great camp ground in Barview that has great beach access and wasn't very busy at all! Then again, it was February. We plan to go back during the summer to check it out. A little further north we stopped at Twin Rocks and walked around a bit before heading up to Cannon Beach. Cannon Beach is like Tillamook in the sense that you can't be that close to it at not go there. Actually, the main reason for the stop over in Cannon Beach was . . . you guessed it. Bruce's Candy Kitchen. They have the best - everything. (in my opinion)

  <-- At the jetty

<-- Twin Rocks

 

We got back into town around 2 o'clock, dropped some of our stuff off at our house and picked up the kids from my moms (thanks mom!!) to head even more north to Battle Ground, WA. We have some great friends up there and their little girl turned one on the 10th. It was fun to see and celebrate with them.

<-- Crossing over into Washington

<-- Their beautiful little girl. My camera battery died so we only got this one picture.

Before heading home, we made a pit stop at the in-laws to say hello and then finally came home. Everyone went right to bed and had a GREAT night's sleep. It was pretty much the best weekend we've had in a L.O.N.G time.