Stop 15: Newport, Oregon (has cold beaches)

Oregon has some lovely curves. The drive to Newport, Oregon alternated between coastline curves and forests filled with tall redwood trees. We curved our way up the west coast and enjoyed so many gorgeous views. I did a lot of the driving. Sarah slept. She also drove for a little bit but the roads were so curvy and the wind was so, so strong that it made me nervous watching her struggle to keep the van in check that I switched with her. Andy sat in the back for a good portion so he could stretch out his legs. Alex wasn't happy about this seating arrangement switch-up; he loves sitting in the back with Charlotte so moving to the lone middle seat brought a bout of tears but he eventually came around and learned to like it.

We turned around to capture this sign since there wasn't one when we actually entered CA.

These shops are much more prevalent in Oregon--one is literally yards from the state sign border sign.
Regulations must be much less restrictive in OR than in CA. 

 

We swayed back and forth along the shoreline, and Andy swayed back and forth in the car as his back/leg pain got increasingly worse with each mile. By the time we reached our destination, he was no longer able to stand upright. He struggled to walk without bending over. It was so out of character for him to be so stationary--sitting on a bench at the beach, waiting in the car at the grocery store. But sometimes a guy just needs a break and he had certainly earned one (just wish for his sake it hadn't come at this expense).

We dropped our things off at our next AirBNB rental. This time was half a double across from the ocean. It was spacious and clean. We did notice quickly that there were very few outlets and for a family with lots of things to charge, this worried us. In the end we made it work but we prefer many more outlets than this place offered. The kind host met us at the door and told us about some local restaurants down on the docks that might interest us. We decided to check them out but we were in a hurry to see the beach.

We grabbed a quick drive-thru dinner and headed to Nye Beach because the sun looked gorgeous and we wanted to get our feet in some sand. The wind was really whipping (blowing sand into our faces) and that made the 56-degree temps feel much colder. The sand was so cold that my toes were tingling within minutes. But it was so pretty that I stayed out there for much longer than I would have otherwise. Andy squatted around to get some video footage but couldn't stand up for long so he headed for the bench and eventually retreated to the van until sunset. The girls, who had been getting along famously for much of the latter part of the day (the is unusual fashion for them, they typically repel one another in recent years) walked around together for more than an hour. The beach was very pretty and I spent much of my alone time walking around, praying, and being thankful for this time together as a family.

Way out there is Yaquina Lighthouse we'd planned to visit.
It was closed so we went to this beach instead.

We left the beach and headed to the grocery store for more breakfast/lunch basics. Alex and I shopped while the others waited in the lot. Oregon has better gas prices than California but their grocery prices weren't as impressive. $4.59 for a pound of grapes? YIKES! But we gotta have 'em so we got 'em (along with a sad faced-Mama). And their equally-expensive banana selection wasn't anything to write home about. Wait...

We went back to the house and settled in for the night. MY back started hurting worse, too. Sympathy pains for Andy? Maybe. But I've had sciatic issues for a while so we're wondering if it's the different beds we're sleeping on or the different activities we're doing? Who knows. But mine isn't nearly as bad as his and I'm accustomed to it after all these years. So we'll see how we fare for the next 10 days before we hit Ohio soil again.

I was hoping morning would bring relief for us both but that didn't happen. Andy was still hunched over and my pain had spread down my leg. Getting old is for the birds.

We packed up and headed out with two more Oregon spots to visits: Yaquina Lighthouse and Devil's Punchbowl. Both were on my original dossier and were on the way out of town. The lighthouse was closer so we went there first. It was SO, SO, SO windy and very cold but the views were incredible. The waves, large ocean rock formations, and flocks of birds were really cool to see. And as a bonus, we were able to see a couple pods of whales swimming breaching the surface for air throughout our visit to the lighthouse. Andy really likes lighthouses and tried his best to enjoy it but he was in real pain.

The girls' hair looks like it's holding "hands" above Alex's head.

Can you spot the whale "blow mist" in this photo?

Here it is, all circled for you. How did  you not see that before? HA!

There was a slight breeze at our backs.

Then we moved on to Devil's Punchbowl. Fortunately we could drive pretty much right up to this gem and I could let Andy out to see it. When I returned with the car a little while later, I found the poor bloke sitting in the sand by the railing. He's always been so stable that it's sad to see him so feeble.

By this time, we were all ready to just get truckin' to Washington so we pointed the van toward Seattle and put the pedal to the metal. We'll be happy to pump our own gas in Washington and beyond (although we've enjoyed the lower fuel prices here compared to Arizona and California where is was pushing $5/gal--it'll be nice when gas prices start with a 2 again. Oregon allllmost got there but not quite). Emerald City, here we come!