Portland Vacation: Day 3, Exploring the Coast

We left off after a second beautiful day in Portland… food & wine festival –> BBQ –> Groceries –> homemade deep dish pizza…

Ericka had mentioned to me that we may be doing some significant walking the following day, so I made sure to wear my favorite flip flops for our trek out to the Oregon coast. Most people would’ve worn gym shoes of some sort, but not me… flip flops all the way! (Random, I know…)

After a quick breakfast at home, Ericka, her boyfriend Joel and I set out for the Oregon coast. Please note: in Oregon, they don’t call it the beach, or the shore, or the ocean. It’s the coast. The drive was beautiful, and before I knew it, the coast was outside my window! We parked at a trailhead, and walked down a gravel path for about 3/4 of a mile.

And then there it was… the Pacific ocean!

We had landed at Oswald West State Park, a beachy area on the coast very popular with surfers and scenery lovers.

We sprawled out on the sand (on towels of course) and enjoyed some lovely relaxation. I swear, the ocean makes me the calmest of anywhere…

Ericka and I decided to walk the shore a bit and explore the tide pools. The colors were unlike anything I’ve seen!

A bit of slipping and sliding down the moss and algae-covered rocks, some frozen toes due to the 50° water, and we decided to head back…but not before more photos!

I know, lots of photos… you should know this about me by now! On our way back up the trail (much harder than the way down, by the way) we encountered some “lovely” wildlife… banana slugs. They’re gross. And huge. And leave iridescent trails of slime. And they’re huge.

After a brief drive in the car, we ended up in the cute town of Seaside

for a late lunch (which included local dungeoness crab) at Finn’s Restaurant,

Chocolate-covered odd things and lots of salt water taffy at The Buzz Candy

Then, a bit of shopping and loads of skee-ball and arcade Wheel of Fortune at Funland!

We were all exhausted from the sun, sand, and immense amount of walking, so all of us headed to bed early… I had lots of things planned for the following day!

Only one more Portland post, I swear!

Tagged as: friends, fun, photos, Portland, travel