After we left Tillamook, we headed down the coast to Newport, Oregon. We had a very busy week there. We went to the Hatfield Marine Science Center, which had lots of cool hands-on exhibits. At one, I made a Lego house that survived a mini tsunami. We also spent a lot of time looking at the different types of fish, and feeling anemones in the touch tank.

The beach at our campground was awesome. Giant waves tossed strange and beautiful things up onto the huge sand beach. There were rocks with holes in them, small rounded rocks, and smooth worn down shells. We also saw a huge log that looked like a dog from the distance. The beach ended at a long jetty that protected the bay in front of Newport. We played in the sand dunes that lined the beach.

We also went to Yaquina Head Outstanding Natural Area. (Yes, that is the official name!) We climbed to the top of Yaquina Head Lighthouse, the tallest lighthouse in Oregon. It was only 93 feet tall though. After climbing the lighthouse, we headed to the rock beach below it. We explored the tide pools, feeling giant green anemones, purple urchins, and strange sea stars. On the small rock islands just off shore, thousands of seals lay in the sun to warm up.

While we were at Yaquina Head Outstanding Natural Area, we met someone who told us about a place in town where there were a few floating docks for sea lions to rest on. The next day, we went to the sea lion docks. Eight or so small square docks were tied together next to a pier that we watched from. The docks were covered with sea lions barking their heads off. They fought for every inch of space on the docks, but nobody even tried to get on the dock that was almost empty (only two sea lions on it!). I really don’t get how the dock space privileges work with sea lions. Sea lions were swimming in the water, trying to climb onto docks with seven sea lions already on them. It was just plain old insane.

Since we love Tillamook Cheese, of course we had to visit the factory in Tillamook, Oregon. It was cool to see where our cheese is made. We saw the cheese being pushed through a machine that put a wrapper on it, and another machine (“with blue spinning pipes!” says Little Kid) that sealed the wrappers. We had a very cheesy lunch at the cheese factory (grilled cheese and mac and cheese), and of course, for dessert, we ate delicious ice cream, which they also make there.

The cheese factory was fun, but we spent most of our time at the beach in front of our campground, Cape Lookout State Park. The beach was very wide and long. The giant waves tossed huge jellyfish and broken sand dollars up onto the sand. We played Kadima and Frisbee, and Little Kid had fun digging and pouring sand. I also had fun throwing my boomerang.

We stopped in the town of Silverton for a few days to visit Emma and Claire, my friends from Tucson who had moved to Oregon. We had dinner at their house, and I had fun playing with them. We jumped on their trampoline, ate Halloween candy, and played games.

The next day, while Emma and Claire were at school, we went on a hike in Silver Falls State Park, where we were staying. The trail went behind two waterfalls. It was amazing!

That afternoon, Emma and Claire came over to the RV after school. I showed them the RV, and we played Uno, and of course, we ate more Halloween candy.

Because there was going to be tons of rain on the coast, where we had planned to trick or treat, we did some research and found a city called The Dalles (Yes, the The is part of the name), located in the rain shadow of the Cascade Mountains. We decided to celebrate Halloween there because we didn’t want to trick or treat in pouring rain.

Because trick or treating is so much fun, we decided to do it twice. The day before Halloween, the stores in downtown The Dalles gave out candy. So Little Kid and I put on our costumes and joined the fun.

When we went trick or treating downtown, I wore a witch costume with a hat, and wig, but it was so windy that I spent half my time trying to keep my hat on. So, on Halloween, I put on the hood from my cape. The hood had a part that went over my face.

On Halloween, we found a neighborhood to trick or treat in. We got lots of candy, and had tons of fun.

If there is a heaven, I imagine it looks something like Powell’s City of Books in Portland, Oregon. The world’s largest independent bookstore is a city block, with four stories. When we arrived we grabbed a map of the store … and then spent several hours exploring! The four of us each found something irresistible – and left with two shopping bags filled to the top with books.

The rest of the afternoon we spent wandering downtown, seeing the usual tourist spots … Pioneer Square, the waterfront, the beautiful library, the cultural area, etc., etc.

As far as cities go, Portland is great … but we are all ready to return to country life!