A Day at the Beach (Spring Break Pt.2)

On Friday morning everyone (except for Jason who's on a mission in Arizona) met at our house. We divided up into 3 cars and headed to the beach for the day. There were 10 of us counting Brandon's dog Trinity. We drove through Tillamook and then out to Cape Meares Lighthouse. The weather was a bit drizzely but if you're from Oregon then you know we consider all weather related moisture "liquid sunshine"....which also helps to explain why it's always so beautiful and green here. As we headed down the path to see the lighthouse, Ethan and Grandpa paused frequently to explore their surroundings.

Here is sweet Rebecca, our 6 year old granddaughter. She was sooo excited to be at the beach. I love you Becca!!! I wish you wouldn't grow up so fast.


Cape Meares Lighthouse. One of eight lighthouses along the Oregon coast. I happen to love lighthouses but sadly this one isn't haunted. Bummer! I do love the ghost stories that are attached to so many of them. I have always thought it would be fun to be a tour guide at a lighthouse and get to share all the stories and history of the place. Someday?!

Becca, Ryan and Brandon. Looking for whales I think. There was a sign nearby that said "Whale Watching Spoken Here". Every year during Spring Break the whales are ususally migrating north in great numbers and there were several people posted at this lighthouse to help people spot them. Apparently they saw eight the day before but we weren't able to see any because it was too foggy. Murphey's Law.



Danielle is busy snapping pictures and I am trying to figure out if that is actually the ocean I am looking at or just a bunch of fog.



Danielle, Ethan and Matt. Cold. Wet. Having a great time.



After a picnic lunch we drove back in to Tillamook to the "main attraction". Tillamook Cheese Factory. A trip to the beach is never complete without a stop here.



Ethan and his best bud Grandpa posing with the original source for all the yummy things they prepare and sell here. You rock Mama COW!!!



Cheese in the liquid form before it's made into loaves.

Here they are cutting and packaging the cheese. Hey, they EVEN get their own T.V.'s. So what if they only get to watch the "cheese channel"?!

Sample time!! The line was long but it's worth the wait. Yummo.

We bought squeaky cheese for the road and then everyone got some of their delicious ice-cream

in waffle cones they make fresh daily. This was our substitute "birthday cake" for Danielle. She may be requesting this every year now. lol.


Marissa, Becca, Brandon, Ryan and Danielle.
4 Hadley's. 1 Young.

Brandon, me, Marissa, Ethan and Matt.
Say "cheese"!

From Tillamook we drove up to Cannon Beach. We were hoping to play on the beach and even brought chairs along but the weather was not being overly cooperative. Sooo....Brandon, Trinity, Rebecca and Ryan went down on the beach for bit while the rest of us hung out in some of the fun tourist shops they have there. We had fun just wandering around and visiting with each other.

After the "beach bunch" got cleaned up we went to Mos' nearby for warm clam chowder, homemade garlic cheese bread and fish n' chips. They had a big fireplace going not far from our table- very COZY! :)

After warming up and filling up on good food we loaded everyone up and headed back to Portland. We arrived at OMSI just in time to run all the way from the parking lot to the ticket counter. They litterally held the doors for us so we could catch the next Omnimax show. It was about the Grand Canyon. Really good. Ethan wasn't sure what he thought of the screen at first but once he got used to it he was okay. (It's like watching a movie on the inside of an eggshell- the screen just wraps over and around you.)


Ahhhhhhh......a perfect end to a perfect day.
Thanks for the memories everyone. And thank you Danielle for allowing me to "borrow" a few pictures from your blog. ;)