Sunday, October 16, 2011

Labor Day Weekend - Oregon Coast

We were very excited to have such nice weather in the month of September this year, especially considering the weak-sauce weather we had the rest of the summer.  As Labor Day weekend approached Jaime decided he wanted to take me to the Oregon Coast and I just can't turn that down!  Since Andra was almost at her due-date, I was very hesitant about going 5 hours away and risking not being here for her labor.  Thankfully, the place we were staying understood our situation and let us make reservations knowing that if we had to bail at a moments notice, we wouldn't be charged. 
We also treated this trip as our 7 year anniversary trip even though it wasn't for a couple more weeks. On Friday we headed down to Oregon and decided to stop off and stay the first night in Lake Oswego.  We stayed at the same hotel as we did 7 years ago the night before we got married, right by the Portland Temple.  
After checking in and walking around the temple grounds, we went to dinner at the restaurant (Oswego Grill) that we ate at immediately after our wedding. It was great time to reminisce of our wedding day.

The next morning we continued our trip down the coast to Surfrider Resort just north of Depoe Bay.  I love this place!  I've been her many times even when I was a kid and it is one of my favorite spots along the Oregon Coast.  Our room was just perfect with a spectacular view and I wasted no time putting up my hammock on the balcony.


Once we got situated in our room, we headed down to hang out on the beach for a bit and play in the waves.  We couldn't have asked for better weather!

Staircase down to the beach
I love the Oregon Coast
Waves hitting the rocks

Me playing in the waves. (This is the exact spot a sneaker wave took me out about 24 years ago....and my whole family laughed at me. Now this beach is called "Not-Funny-Beach" because I screamed at them to stop laughing at me and that it wasn't funny!)  Now I try not to turn my back on the ocean. =)
Being cute on the beach
Jaime flinging seaweed at me

Beach smooch
Haha...check out this ghetto gazebo.




Going to check out what's so "dangerous"
Jaime walking on the rocks at Boiler Bay
I LOVE this picture
Holding hands
Coming back onto the "safe" side of the fence
One of the things I love about Surfrider is their restaurant.  It. Is. Amazing!  And reasonably priced too which is hard to find along the coast.  It also has the most amazing view overlooking Fogarty Beach.  We went to an early dinner to assure we'd get a table with a view and we ended up having the restaurant to ourselves.  I got the seafood platter and ate oysters for the first time since I was a kid. So nasty! Thankfully I had tons of other seafood goodies to eat.
After dinner, we drove into Depoe Bay to get some food for the next couple days.....or so I thought.  Once we got out of the car, Jaime went straight to the candy store.  Figures.  We bought enough salt water taffy to last most people 6 months.
Jaime found candy
Then we headed back to our hotel just in time for the sunset.  

One of my favorite places to read in the whole world.
The next day the weather was not as good.  It was super clear when I first got up in the early hours for a morning run on the beach, but by the time Jaime crawled out of bed the fog had moved in.
We decided to go on a drive to try and escape the fog and find a sunny beach somewhere.  No such luck..but we did find some cool spots to hang out at for a while including a beach that had tons of surfers we watched for a while.

Cool deserted beach we found near Devils Punchbowl.
This beach had some pretty cool caves we explored for a while.



After a day of walking around 
After exploring and spending the day at numerous beaches, we were both pretty worn out so we headed back to our room (which had big jacuzzi tub) and enjoyed a nice warm soak while watching a movie.  Then I passed out in front of the fireplace. (It was turned on, but you can't see the flames in the picture for some reason)
I love sleeping by fires
It was a great enjoyable weekend and I can't wait to go back.  Kudos to Jaime for coming up with the idea!

Tuesday, October 11, 2011

Forgotten Post

My last post was an "End of Summer" post and I just found a couple more pictures from the end of summer.  So here they are!

Suntop Lookout
Anyone who knows me really well knows that Suntop Lookout is a very special place to me.  I have very fond memories as a kid going up there in the middle of the night to watch meteor showers, and going up for day trips with my family.  Even as a teenager, I took friends up there (and some dates) to enjoy the amazing views and sunset.  See?? This is what I'm talking about.
Anyways, another reason why this spot is special to me is because this is the spot our family scattered my Grandma Alberta's ashes back in 1999.  She always loved the Cascade Mountains of Washington.  It was a very special day and one that I will never forget.

And the final reason why this spot is special to me is because this is where Jaime proposed to me in August 2004! (also a day I will never forget).....I just realized I've never blogged about the story behind his proposal...so be on the lookout for that post in the near future! It's a good one.

Jaime, Dad, Mom, Donna, Brent, Jerry, and me (Aaron taking the picture)

My Aunt Donna and Uncle Jerry (Mom's siblings) were in town for a while in August so we decided to plan a  quick day trip up to Suntop Lookout to visit the site where my Grandma's ashes are. Coincidentally, this day we chose in the end of August was also the 7 year anniversary of the day Jaime proposed to me up there!  So it was a doubly special trip for me.  We got donuts and chocolate milk (in memory of Grandma Alberta) and had a nice little meal up there and reminisced about her.

Donna, Mom, Dad, Jaime, Me and Jerry.  Donuts and Chocolate milk

Exactly 1 mile above sea-level

Dad enjoying the breeze

HDR - Aaron, Brent, Jerry, Jaime, Me, Donna, Mom, Dad
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After Labor Day the lifeguards quit for the summer, so after work Jaime likes to take his ramp and "lake-jumper" bikes to Lake Wilderness.  He sure draws a crowd of kids and onlookers.

Love the girl in the background. Haha