Our Spontaneous Beach Trip

Thursday morning, Mark called me from work and asked if I had to work this weekend. Nope, I had the weekend off. So Mark suggested we go to the beach. And so, the planning began. I made arrangements for my parents to take Zoey, Mark found a nice low priced hotel, Inn at Cannon Beach, and we started the madness that is packing for a family of five.

We left early Saturday morning and headed to the Tillamook area. First stop, Cape Meares, where had the entire park to ourselves. We visited the Octopus Tree and the Cape Meares Lighthouse (the lighthouse was closed, but we checked out the view and watched the birds). Then to one of our favorite beaches, Oceanside, where you can walk through the hole in the rock to another somewhat isolated beach. We managed to hit high tide, and we were walking along the water edge running from each wave. One of the waves startled Trent, he fell, and the wave caught him. The water was no more than an inch deep, yet he managed to get wet up to his shoulder. At that point, it was time to leave and get Trent into new clothes. I am still amazed how he managed to get so wet in so little water. Poor little guy.

Next stop- Tillamook Cheese Factory for cheese samples and my favorite, Tillamook Ice Cream. After eating our fill of ice cream, we bought some cheese and jerky and headed north to our hotel in Cannon Beach. Once we checked in, we ate a gourmet lunch of crackers, cheese and jerky- yummy! By this point, we all were tired and rested for a bit. Around 4p as it was approaching low tide, we went to the beach in search of tide pools. The sun was going down and we found lots of starfish. Once it got dark, we headed back to the hotel, but stopped at Mo's for some clam chowder and shrimp along the way. Finally back at the hotel, it was time to crash and watch WALL-E (which we checked out from the front desk for free). It was a wonderful day, but we were exhausted!! Mark and I figured we walked 3-4 miles taking turns carrying Becca, and sometimes Trent as well. My legs were feeling it.

In the morning, we had a nice breakfast at the hotel, pack up our stuff and headed North on 101 to Seaside. Stopping in Seaside is always a must for any beach trip. The reason- The Candyman store. They have 170 flavors of salt water taffy!! Two and an half pounds of taffy later, we left the Candyman and walked around Seaside, which included a quick ride on the carousel. We didn't stay in Seaside long. We were all still tired (Becca had decided sleeping was overrated and was awake once every hour all night long), so we just headed home.

It was a great little get away. The beach was surprisingly warm and dry for January. There was little to no wind, which made walking on the beach pleasant. I am so glad Mark suggested it. And as you probably notice, a trip to the beach for us- is all about eating!!

Here is a slide show highlighting our trip: