Lighthouse Coastal Tour

Greg originally wanted to get started at 6:30am today.  Lucky for me, we couldn't check out of the room until 8am.  An extra hour or so of sleep, yay!  To make up for not being able to leave as early as planned, Greg went out to see some sights and get some pictures.  In the guise of being helpful, he thoughtfully set the alarm on his blackberry.  This is all good and fine, except the damn thing was locked and I had no way to disarm it - the best I could do was snooze for 5 minutes.  When he got back to the room 45 minutes later, it was in pieces.  Fortunately for him, those pieces were the case, the battery, and the device, rather than smashed little bits.  Not the most auspicious way to start the morning for someone who is definitely NOT a morning person.  But the cinnamon roll almost as large as my head and some coffee from a little cafe in Oceanside seemed to help immensely.  =)

The plan for today was to do some sightseeing as we made our way back up to Washington for the geocachers luau, a pre-GeoWoodstock event.  First stop along the way, the Tillamook cheese factory for a tour and lunch.

It was fascinating to see the factory and learn about one of my favorite brands of cheese.  We got to taste several flavors that aren't available back home, and had a most delicious cheese sandwich for lunch.  I have to admit that I was disappointed in the quality and cooking of the bacon (it was thin and floppy, rather than thick and crispy), but the combination of cheeses - extra sharp white, medium, and sharp - was delicious!  Being full from lunch, we didn't get more ice cream.  I'm wishing that I could have that ice cream I skipped on then, right now...

From there, we headed north along the coastal route to see some lighthouses.  Of course, in many of our stops there were caches to be had.  Some were Earth Caches - where we have to find information about a formation or phenomenon - like Haystack Rock.  Greg went to find the cache while Sheri and I visited and wondered why this area has deer that jump through hoops.  I suppose it's good exercise and will keep them on their toes?

We stopped at North Head Lighthouse for a short walk and some nice views.  Then headed to Desperation Point.  Greg did the hike out to the lighthouse while Sheri and I entertained ourselves by chatting and taking pictures of the local flora.

We didn't make it back to Washington in time for the luau.  In fact, we arrived back at Sheri's apartment at 9pm - in time to hook up with Aaron and Chachee again and relax for an evening before more fun tomorrow.  It's GeoWoodstock all day tomorrow.  How fun is that?!?

The Oregon coast is absolutely beautiful.  I really enjoyed our little sightseeing tour, and only regret that we didn't have more time.  I would have liked to see my cousins who live in Beaverton - I just looked it up and am really sad, since we passed so close to them on this trip - and our schedule just didn't work to hook up with Greg's cousin Larry.  Next time we make a coastal trip (that's not all about geocaching), I'm going to make sure that we get more family visits in.