Sunday March 29th was a fairly uneventful driving day. The side effect of driving so late the night before, was that it makes today's drive easier and shorter. We had breakfast at our hotel in Ritzville, Washington and then hit the road by about 9:30AM. The Columbia plateau southwest of Ritzville it pretty flat and barren. Much like the rolling prairie back home in southern Alberta. Soon we dropped down into the Columbia Valley and crossed over the river into Oregon. We followed the mighty Columbia all the way to Portland. From there we branched off across country, towards the coast. We stopped for a late lunch just outside of Portland, and by 3:30 we were back on the road again. The highway out to Lincoln City was very busy. Not in the direction we were going, but with all the traffic heading back in to Portland. I guess it must have been the weekend crowd, heading home for the work week. Finally by late afternoon we arrived in Lincoln City. We made a brief stop at a grocery store, so we would have some food at the house in the morning. I spent some time down here on the Oregon Coast when I was younger, but that was about 25 years ago. I sure has been built up a lot and become much busier than I remember. As we drove past a viewpoint near Depoe Bay I remarked to the girls that it looked familiar and that I think this was the spot where I had seen Pacific Grey Whales 25 years earlier. They looked out at the ocean and much to my surprise, actually spotted several whales as well. I think it must have been about 6:30 by the time we finally rolled up to the rental house just outside of Newport. Much like Lewis and Clark must have felt, it was a huge relief to finally arrive at the Pacific....
The house is huge... and sitting on a property overlooking Agate Beach. The Yaquina Head lighthouse is visible about a mile to the north. The master bedroom must be half the size of our main floor back home. And he ensuite bathroom is about the size of our living room. And there are three large bedrooms downstairs on the lower floor.
We quickly threw all of our luggage out of the truck, and then headed out for a walk on the beach. There is a private path through the woods down to the beach. We walked around on the beach until the light began to fade, and then headed back up to the house. The girls jumped into the hot tub on the deck, and we had something to eat before turning in for the night. Kind of nice to fall asleep with the sound of the crashing surf in the background.....
Here is a shot of Mt. Hood that Hailey took out of the front windshield of the truck. This was as we were bombing along the Interstate, and the south shore of the Columbia River.
This is a beach view of our rental house above Agate Beach, on the outskirts of Newport Oregon. And a view from the base of the trail down to the ocean, looking out to the open Pacific.
The Yaquina Head Lighthouse, about a mile south of our rental house. This landmark would be prominent in many of the photographs that I would take over the coming days...
As we wandered about on Agate Beach, this was one of the few small rock outcrops that was evident. There was not much in the way of marine life on this rock, but at least the gulls seemed to like it.
Only Canadian Girls would venture out onto the beach, in the evening, in March, in shorts and summer wear. The two older girls spent many hours over the upcoming few days splashing in the surf and squealing and shrieking as the waves washed in on them. Most of the locals were fully dressed in much warmer attire...!!
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