Driving down the Oregon coast

My mom came down to spend a long weekend with us. It was also the end of my birthday week, and the beginning of hers, so it was a great week! Throughout the whole weekend we had some great food, but the highlight was my birthday corned beef, carrots, potatoes and cabbage. YAY, thanks to mom that was very yummy and it was great to have Russ and Jaci there to join us!

Today we woke up very early.... got some energy from corned beef hash. And then went on our way toward the coast. After a windy drive over the Coastal Range we ended up at the Tillamook Cheese Factory. Justin has already been here once, when he took a trip to Oregon six years ago with Gwen and Russ, but it was a first for me and my mom. The highlight... eating cheese and ice cream of course! Justin even got a prize block of cheese for home and we all shared some snacking cheese for the car ride. For the rest of the journey we stuck to 101 or the coastal road. We saw many signs for tsunami evacuation routes, thats a new one for me. They don't have those on the East coast.

We stopped at a couple sites, Cape Meares, Cape Lookout and Oceanside beach. I even got to stick my hands into the Pacific for the first time! Unfortunately our camera was being a little funny so we don't have any pictures to prove it. Cape Meares was great and had some amazing views from the cliff looking down onto the waves. It also has a lighthouse that you can walk inside and stand right next to the Fresnel lens.

Justin was quite a trooper with all the driving, I think some of the time both my mom and I fell asleep in the car! We had dinner at Mo's in Lincoln City. It was good- at least I give the grilled cheese sandwich 2 thumbs up. Best part of dinner was not the food, but watching the seals play in the water just outside of our window. I'm not really sure what they were doing, it looked like too much fun to be looking for food. They kept slapping the water and twisting and sticking their tail fins in the air. After that we headed back home, but there is still lots more coast line for us to explore- so I know we will be taking a few more trips there as soon as we can.

• Oregon coast photos