A Year Already!?

Hard to believe that it has been a year since we were in Tahoe for this. It has been a great year full of changes. To celebrate, my wonderful husband planned an Oregon coast get-a-way for us. We left Friday and headed west, stopping in Cannon Beach for lunch. It was such a cute little town with lots of shops and eateries along the main road. It was just a pit stop though as we had to get to Manzanita before 4 to check-in. This was an even cuter and smaller town (actually called a village). We checked-in and headed to our rental house. Isn't it so cute!!


It was a two bedroom with a great kitchen and a hot tub! A wonderful place to get away from everything and not worry about kids being loud in hotel halls or splashing in the pool. We got unpacked and headed to the beach. It was definitely not laying out weather, but it was still the beach.The next day we headed out to Nehalem Bay State Park, just south of Manzanita. It was a very cool park. Not every day you can see the ocean, a river, beach grass and a forest all in one place. We had fun walking around on the ocean side and then decided to head to the bay side of the park. Wandering down the beach on the bay we saw a bunch of elk, deer and racoon tracks but sadly no animals. We thought we would walk all the way around the bay and get back to the ocean. But after quite a while walking we decided it was farther than anticipated and turned around. After a quick picture by the bay we got back in the car and headed to another state park nearby.
Oswald West State Park was another great adventure. This time we got to hike around in a forest and see a waterfall going down to the ocean. I could not believe the size of some of the trees there, they were huge! This beach turned out to be a major surfing spot and there were a ton of people. We walked around a little more and went back to the house to get ready and head to dinner at the Terra Cotta Cafe. It was delicious and the homemade cake was amazing!

Sunday we made our way down to Tillamook. The first stop had to be the cheese factory. The building was massive and I could watch them make that cheese all day. After Jake peeled me away from the viewing window we went back down to the sampling table to try out the cheeses. I love cheese and this did not fail to please. Of course we could not leave without grabbing some ice cream too. Wow! That is all that can be said about it. If you have the option to eat Tillamook ice cream, don't pass it up.

Our next stop was the air museum. This was a really great find. It is on an old Navy base and the whole museum is in an old WWII blimp hangar. The building is massive and makes the planes inside seem miniature in comparison. There was a little theater where they showed a movie about the building and how it was built. They had TONS of war time items, everything from uniforms, radios, service awards, and pictures. And of course planes, some of which are still in flying condition and others are just for display. It was awesome to see all of the planes and read the stories about where they were used.

























After the museum we ventured back to Manzanitza for our last night of vacation. Nothing too exciting, just relaxed and enjoyed our time away from home. Monday we got up, packed up the car and headed back to Beaverton. Again we stopped in Cannon Beach, but this time it was to see Haystack rock. The name may not sound familiar but I am sure most people have seen it before. If you have seen the movie The Goonies, you have seen it! It turned out to be pretty good weathter too, so we walked along the beach and watched all the Puffins who nest on the rock fly around.


One last stop at the candy store in town for some salt water taffy (yum!) and it was on the road again. Our anniversary celebration was rapidly coming to an end. It was a fantastic weekend and I was very sad for it to be over. I have an amazing husband! Love you Jacob! Here's to another new adventurous year.