Eight Hours of Blue Skies

We woke up our first morning at the beach to the sound of waves and this view.  

I was meant to wake up to this every morning.  I'm gonna have to figure out how to make that my true destiny.  I might have to move back to Guam someday.

I knew the blue sky most likely wouldn't last the whole day.  We needed to make the most of it.
While Matt, Josh, and I went out for a 4 mile run, Chelsea took these pictures of Emma having fun.

After breakfast and getting cleaned up, we went back out for some more beach time.

Mid-day came and we needed to head out and get some lunch before doing some site seeing.  We drove down to Depoe Bay and found the little gem Tidal Raves.  Thanks to Matt's ever-handy iPhone, we discovered that it certainly gets "raves" about it's seafood.  Urbanspoon readers voted it Best Seafood on the Oregon Coast.  Now, you have to know that 4 out of the 5 family members aren't big fans of seafood.  Partly due to lack of trying (kids) and due to texture sensitivity i.e. gag reflex (mom).  But "when in Rome"... we had to get over it and eat it.

After each of us (except Josh) tried an appetizer of Pan Fried Oysters, this is what I had for lunch.  Spicy Fried Mahi Mahi Fish Tacos with Roasted Pepper Rice and Black Beans.  They were SOOOOO good.  I stuffed myself.

Matt had the Pacific Oyster Stew with Garlic Bread.

Josh and Emma both had Fish and Chips.  Both enjoyed it.  Josh could have eaten more.  Is it okay that they loved the beer batter?

What a great lunch with a gorgeous view out of the huge windows.

Depoe Bay is one of the best places along the coast to whale watch.  We were right in the middle of grey whale northern migration.  We went to the Whale Watching Center with our new binoculars (Gotta love REI yearly rebates! We only paid $1.00 for them!)  in hopes that we would get to see some whale action.  But guess what rolled in instead?  Clouds and rain and wind.  So it was just about impossible to see anything out in the water.

Back on the coast highway we went.  Next stop was the Yaquina Bay Lighthouse.  I was excited to get to go inside and climb the stairs to the top.  We went to the visitor's center there and then onto the lighthouse.  The wind was really whipping out there at the point.  We put up our hoods and zipped up tight as we braved the weather to stand in line to go inside.  But the line wasn't moving.  They weren't letting people in until people came out.  We huddled together and laughed as we compared ourselves to the emperor penguins at the South Pole.  After 10 minutes of barely moving in line, I gave in and said that we could leave, but that we HAD to come back tomorrow.  Off we ran to the Burb.

Here's what Chelsea and I looked like at that point.

Here are pics from the next day at Yaquina.  It was still windy and rained a little, but the line wasn't as long, and we quickly got in.  It was very cool going up the winding staircase.  I can't imagine having to carry heavy buckets of hot oil up those stairs every day like they used to do.

To end the day, we headed over to the local theater to see the movie "Hunger Games".  Very fun for all of us.  I loved going to bed listening to the sound of the stormy sea and rain hitting the roof.  Such a nice break from the norm.