Last day on the Coast

Thursday, October 6

Today we went to the Oregon Coast Aquarium in Newport.  It is not a very big aquarium, but it had Passages of the Deep, which was a shark tunnel.  One of the favorite parts of this tunnel was the floor.  The tank went under the floor, so you had to walk on glass and could look through the floor to see sharks swimming below you. Inside the tanks there were sharks, stingrays, halibut (really interesting to see them swim), and sea stars.   The one down side was the school group that was there at the aquarium (this happened at the Lewis and Clark, too).  The kids were everywhere and made it more crowded. 

The aquarium has octopuses, sea otters (loved watching them swim and hearing about them from the keeper), Japanese Crabs that are humungous!

sea lions and seals (we knew all about the differences between sea lions and seals from the day before, and could see them up close and watch them swim here), an aviary with my favorite: puffins, tide pools to feel sea stars, sea cucumbers, sea urchins. 

The kids loved the old metal diving mask. Their heads fit in it easily, but I could barely get my head in it. I could never have been a deep sea diver when these helmets and suits were in use!!

 

After the aquarium, we played at the beach again (can’t get enough!)  The first time we ever took the kids to the beach, K was 4 and L was1.  It was completely opposite than this time.  The kids were afraid of the water and were content playing in the sand, this time they loved to run and play in the surf – even though it was cold water.  So glad they enjoyed it this time!  For dinner we went to a local place called the Chowder Bowl. We had read reviews about it and it lived up to all the good stuff.  F loves clam chowder and loved the fresh clam chowder they served.  Because we were on vacation after the tourist season had ended, it wasn’t busy.  We heard from friends that had been in this area during the summer had the same weather, but with all the crowds. The next morning, we packed up and headed out towards Boise.  When we reached Boise, we pulled into a free Wi-Fi spot to find a nearby hotel.  After finding the hotel address, we plugged it in the GPS and set go.  The directions were literally turn out of the parking lot, and turn across the street into the hotel parking lot!! We had not seen the hotel in our haste to find a Wi-Fi spot.  The following day we packed up – again- and headed back on the road – again.  We made it home in the early afternoon and were so glad to be home, sleeping in our own beds (K and L were excited to not share a bed), doing laundry and not living out of our bags, depending on either food we had packed or searching for a decent place to eat.  We calculated we drove over 2700 miles.  Too many of the nights, B was up and crying with F and I trying to keep her happy as well as trying to get enough sleep.  We survived all those miles and the 10 days in small quarters, but we had fun with all the sights and experiences we had as a family!