We got up and started packing up to hit the road. We drove down closer to Haystack Rock to save my feet. We walked along the beach to get to the tide pools. Once again, I was like a little kid on Christmas morning. There was so much sea life to look at and to see. We were there for several hours walking around exploring. It was lightly raining for most of the time too. Then the sun came out and was beautiful.
As we walked around the tide pools, we saw purple, pink and orange starfish, mussels, clams, sea urchins, sea moss and sea anemones. We also saw shorebirds and seabirds, some of which were nesting on Haystack Rock. It was amazing to see in real life and in their natural habitat and not at an aquarium or some other place.
Walking back to the car, Enrique really really wanted to find a sandollar. So he was on a hunt. He kept finding broken ones but never a whole one. I on the other hand found another whole sandollar. I was so excited and was hootin and hollerin and my poor Poppet was not so happy. I told him I found it for him and he said he wanted to find his own...hahaha
We got back in the car and started to our next destination, Tillamook Creamery. The parking lot was full and there were SO many people inside as well. It was a really cool place to tour. They offer a self guided tour. You walk from one giant room, reading all the displays to the next. While we were in the one room rotating from one station to the next, we were asked to take part in a taste testing survey. We said sure and through the doors we went. We got to taste test 3 new flavors they were trying out. It was pretty cool. I kept my spoon and took a few more becuase they were tiny and cute and I knew the kids would love them!
We went back out to the top level of the building to finish the self guided tour. We went the length of the giant buidling reading each step of the process of producing milk, cheese and ice cream. After we read each sign we watched the workers in the plant going about their jobs as hundreds of tourists watch them...that would be super nerve wracking to me. There were also a few video clips shown about the process as well.
The milk comes from independently owned local farmers who sell the milk to Tillamook. Once it is at the creamery, it goes through the different processes to become milk, cheese or ice cream. It was really fascinating process. I have loved all the learning and knowledge that we are gaining on this trip!
Our last part of the creamery was standing in line for samples. We got to pick a few samples and then exit through the gift shop of course. We got our magnet and we were off.
Cape Mears Lighthouse was our next stop. We got to take a tour of it and it was absolutely fascinating! They told us how it is not currently in operation and why it's not. The glass was stolen from it and they recently got it all back and put together. We learned that each lighthouse has it's own unique light it sends out. So as the ships go up and down the coast, they know exactly which lighthouse they are passing by it's light signal and they know exactly which part of the coast they're at. It was so so neat.
I have always been drawn to lighthouses and have been a bit in love with them. I think it has to do with Granny Thal and traveling with her so much as we were kids but I know for sure, it was cemented in on my mission when we went to the Coromandel for a sacrament meeting with a small branch there. The sacrament talk was given about lighthouses and how there is a lower light and a higher light. Then they spoke about the beautiful hymn, "Brightly Beams Our Father's Mercy" and how this beautiful hymn talks about lighthouses.
As we were driving down the coast, we stopped in Depot Bay. It is a charming little bay that has some neat shops and beautiful coast. We walked around the shops and got the kids all something from here.
We then went to the Devil's Punchbowl. It is part of the cliff protruding out into the ocean and there is a giant whole in the middle so you can see the tide come in and out of it from looking down into it. It was low tide so the tide wasn't coming into the center very much. Just a little bit of the tide would slowly go in through the whole and go back out. It was still super impressive though.
We then walked down around to explore the area a bit more. We were looking out into the ocean and we could see whales! We saw REAL LIVE WHALES playing in their pod. We saw some mommys and baby's playing. It was unreal. It was so far off that you could barely see it. You could see them blowing their spouts for air and you could see them diving down into the water again. It was truly mesmerizing. I totally didn't want to leave. After 2 hours of squinting and watching them play, Quique asked to leave. I was shocked! haha I said," why do you want to leave so soon, maybe they will come closer"....he said, "we've been here watching for 2 hours already and they haven't gotten any closer". EEK! 2 hours felt like 10 minutes. See, this man is so patient with me and must really love me a ton to stand there for 2 hours watching whales from far away!
We then got back in the car and drove down the coast some more until we got to the Yaquina Head Lighthouse. Oh. My. Goodness! It was stunning! Absolutely stunning. Talk about looking like it was made for a movie but it was really there in all her striking beauty! We got out and walked around for a while. It was extremely windy and cold while we were here. We found out that they offer tours in the morning so we defintiely were sticking around to do that in the morning.
Since we were going to be sticking around til morning, we decided to go over the the Yaquina Bay Lighthouse. This lightouse is abandoned and locked up so you can't get close to it but it is still beautiful. Then we asked some locals where to go get some fresh crab and they recommeded a certain place. Well it was closed when we got there. So then we went on a hunt for a place for dinner. We found The Taphouse at Nye Creek and it was a pretty cool and yummy food. I got fish and chips and Quique got a pizza....yep, Quique ordered pizza!
Once we finished eating we hit the road to find someplace to sleep....long story, we will be sleeping in the car again. I don't want to and I made it very clear by my grumpiness, but we went to the local chapel and parked up the street a bit in the neighborhood from it. I slept way better this time around. I was parinoid that we'd get into trouble for staying there but we were just fine the whole time.
