Home From the Coast

As I mentioned in the previous post, we spent our final night enduring a very unexpected thunderstorm around 4am. It was loud but Owen slept right through it. The dogs were sleeping in the back of the truck and did fine too. A few hours later, we woke up to a little bit of rain but we had managed to stay dry. We quickly packed up our gear and headed out around 9am. The rain stuck around for another 30 minutes or so before the blue sky came back out.

I was looking at the map and noticed another route called the Three Capes Scenic Loop. It strays from 101 for roughly twenty miles, so we decided to take it. We stopped at the Cape Meares lighthouse along the way and walked down to it. Took a few pictures then wandered to the top (not much of a wander, as the lighthouse is pretty short). Owen enjoyed the uphill walk back to the truck.

Once we were back on the loop, we drove back toward 101 and Tillamook. We made the necessary stop at the cheese factory, because I think you have to be dead to not stop there for ice cream and cheese curds. I'd been talking about cheese curds since Redding and promised Chris that I'd shut up about them as soon as we got to Tillamook. (Kept my promise, too!) I think the cheese factory was the highlight of Owen's trip.. you should have seen that kid's eyes light up when he saw the two huge waffle cones we bought. We found a table and he started sticking his tongue out, hinting for a lick or two. I told Owen that he takes after my Grandpa Kreuger. Grandpa was the biggest ice cream fan.

The only other stop that I really cared about was Fort Stevens so we could check out the shipwreck. We've been to Cannon Beach and Seaside a million times so we drove right through. I hadn't been seen the shipwreck since I was little, and I don't think Chris had ever seen it. It looked the same as I remember.

We crossed back into Washington from Astoria and the rain greeted us in a big way. We arrived home around 6:30pm, unpacked, and put things away. During our drive home, Chris and I agreed that this was among the best trips that either of us could remember. The dogs behaved so well and Owen was wonderful. His tent fear must have been a one-time thing because he had no problems this time around. I'm glad we had a chance to get out and have some family fun.