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Road Trip: Pacific City and Cape Kiwanda

A month ago, for Valentine's Day (our anniversary), we loaded up the dogs and headed straight for Pacific City. In Pacific City, Your Little Beach Town as they call it and beautiful all its own, there's a place called Cape Kiwanda. It's a small area, but such a lovely place. Although, the area is absolutely breathtaking in summer, going in the winter months made us appreciate a different side of the area. We have been here before, and driven past it many times headed to Tillamook and other places, but we've never stopped until now. We stayed at the Inn at Cape Kiwanda and our room was on the second floor, which is kind of the third floor from how the building was situated on the land. We had a sliding glass door that lead to a balcony off our room and slept with it open the entire time. We were directly across from the Pelican Pub & Brewery and smelled the wonderful smells of their food all weekend long. The view of the ocean that weekend was amazing!




Three days before our trip The Mr.'s phone alarm went off for the reminder of the trip and it got us all excited to take off.






A few of the other cafes and restaurants around the area. We loved the Grateful Bread & Bakery for morning breakfast.











This area of the Cape is almost like a little village town with it's own life going on. Surfers headed out to catch a wave, even this time of year. It was such a nice getaway and it only rained on us a few times, but it was perfect timing when we were in the room watching a movie we rented from the lobby, or eating lunch. The Bean enjoyed taking the dogs out to walk around the property and the Mr. and I enjoyed sitting on the balcony watching the seagulls, The Bean, the tourist, or even when it was so quiet you could only hear the ocean waves.

I can't help but show the room off. It was set up so pretty and there was chocolates on the pillows and a nice anniversary gift from the staff waiting on us.

  

  
We had champagne and champagne glasses on the table with a lovely note from the staff that read, "Happy Anniversary." It was the first time, in 13-years, the Mr. and I actually got a nice anniversary note on a trip and it made me tear up a bit. Of course, this is the first year of our annual anniversary trips to come. We've decided to take an annual trip in February every year.  It is something I am going to look forward to so much!

    
There was a kitchenette and the bathroom was in a modern beach decor theme. 





We walked along the beach a lot, but the view from our balcony was really wonderful. I can't keep talking about the wonderful aromas coming from the Pelican Pub & Brewery across the way. Seriously, it was the most wonderful smells drifting around in our rooms all day and all night.

Baz and PITA enjoyed the getaway too. Baz was always eager to go out on the balcony and sniff the air and PITA was fascinated with the black bunnies that were hopping around the property of the Inn. The Inn had little bags of bunny food you could by in the lobby to feed them and The Bean loved feeding them from our room balcony.  







This edge of the cliff here is a hang glider launch spot and the plaque on the ground was dedicated to well known hang gliding pilot named Dick Gammon. Respectively this launch point is named Gammon Launch in his memory.

In Ocean City the houses on the hill were interesting. All along the Pacific Coast there's houses up on the edge of the ocean side. I am always fascinated by these houses because it seems that there's so many houses in one area, facing the water. Everyone is wanting to have an ocean view, it seems.







One drive we made during our trip was to the Tillamook Cheese Factory. We just had to get our hands on a few bags of squeaky cheese.



And the sunsets each night were different each time, but so pretty and bright each time. I still miss those sunsets.


On our drive back we drove on the Old Pacific Coast Highway along Otter Crest Loop. It's an interesting stretch of road because it's only one lane. It takes you over the bridge pictured called Ben Jones Bridge





We also drove through Depoe Bay and Newport because well, why not? If you're a follower of SNS you'll remember that Depoe Bay is the same town where the annual Pirate Treasure Hunt takes place. Every time we head to the coast we take a pass through the bay fronts of both places. There such great areas.





Views of the Pacific Ocean from Whale Cove. This viewpoint is a great place to watch whales during their mating season in the fall.




  
Water spouts in Depoe Bay, Oregon. It was fun to sit and watch the waves come into the divots in the rocks and watch it spout up like a whale spout. The Bean enjoyed it a lot and we were all were sprayed with sea water as we watched. The spray gave just enough mist to create tiny rainbows all around where we were standing.


We were happy to see the sunshine when we got into Depoe Bay. It rained on us a little on the drive there, but the sun was shining hard and bright once we arrived. We stopped and got us some caramel corn and some taffy for the ride home. Depoe Bay always has the best caramel corn and salt water taffy, in my opinion.  

I can't help by mention the nice Valentine's Day gift we received from Grandma Cheryl when we returned. She always throws in some of the cutest items and the popcorn mix was heavenly!




Five simple things

Wow, this week has been crazy for weather.  One day we got rain, just straight rain all day, no letting up and the following day we had sunshine all day.  The next day was scattered showers and then a huge thunderstorm rolled through overnight.  It was nice to fall asleep by, but the rain hammering the windows sounded like little beads hitting the glass.  We aren't the only ones with rain issues though.  Talking with my sister on Thursday night and they were getting quite a downpour in Arkansas too.  And poor Louisiana.  I am ready to see some springtime sunshine for longer than 24 hours and I'm ready to get outside and get to work on our gardens. Here are the things that made this week awesome, as we were stuck inside on rainy days.

1.  This Sign of Spring.

We didn't get a chance to go to the Daffodil Farm this year, mainly because of the rain, but we do see signs of spring making an appearance.  Daffodils are always my first sign of spring, along with the cherry tree in the backyard showing white blooms.  The cherry tree blooms aren't quite in full display, but next week I will share it's wonderful snow-like performance.  

2.  This House.

This house is called a Spite House and it's located near Rockaway Beach, Oregon.  Spite Houses are homes build out of spite, such as land issues, spacing issues, blocking light, or another building, or even out of spite of someone else.  I think they are awesome for their size, but there reasoning is a bit hilarious.  You can read about Spite Houses here.  

3.  This Rainy Window.

We've had a lot of rain this week.  Some storms rolling through, but it looks like it may be letting up.  I'm ready for spring and to see the sunshine a bit here and there.  No matter where you live, or who you are, constant rain is a bit annoying after awhile-Even if you're British.  

4.  This New Growth.

Our living Christmas tree, the Colorado Spruce, has new growth signs showing this year.  We are pretty excited to see them too.  We are hoping to plant this beauty in the ground once we move to a new location with some land.  We've been babying this little tree and The Bean's Japanese Maple too.  Both are potted right now.

5.  These Aprons.

These aprons are still for sale at The Peppermint Bee and ready to ship.  They are hand-painted and the green one is perfect for Saint. Patrick's Day.  They come ironed and pressed and ready to give as a gift, or keep for yourself.  Check out the wonderful aprons here.

Extras:

  1. Chest pain; Could be anxiety.  If you have this, you aren't alone.
  2. Astrid, what a cute name.
  3. Concrete Table Top.  Very doable and might be something we tackle soon.
  4. Our Secretary Desk we bought for our classroom is back in stock at World Market.
  5. We are looking to downgrade our refrigerator from a full-size to a small-size.  We are looking into stainless steel options to match our oven.  Thoughts?
  6. On a hunt for the Forrest Gump Soundtrack.
  7. This cow print.
  8. This boat cleat will work perfectly as a hook outside near the pool for towels.
  9. This.  I've already started my seeds this year, but next year, for sure!
  10. Clever, clever.  This is going to work wonderfully for math problems too.


Have a wonderful weekend.


Five simple things

Boooo, the rain is back.  So ready for spring here.  It was a nice day yesterday and the Mr. and I worked in the yard.  We planted some seeds in our "make-shift" greenhouse in the house.  Just a sunny room off the kitchen where the classroom used to be.  We have a lot of new seeds to try out this year and things are moving along with our garden plans this year-can't wait to share them soon.  Hopefully the rain will let up a little this weekend and we can do more cleanup outside.  So here are the things that made my week awesome!

1. This Bottle Tree.

This bottle tree is a southern tradition.  It's used to keep out bad spirits and bad karma.  I've wanted one for awhile, but I could never find one that would hold up to the Oregon rain and wind.  I finally found one after years of searching.  I love it so much that I decided to purchase another one for the front yard.  If you're curious, this is the one we purchased.  It's well-made and holds 12 bottles.

2. These March Printables.


Every month will be something new here at SNS for printables.  Check the link above titled:  "Printables" and snag what's new for the month.

3.  This Geocache.

If you follow me on Instagram you know that we are avid Geocachers.  This Geocache was found in a town called Idanha, Oregon along a the side of a creek.  The town is small with less than 200 residents and is just a spot you drive through on your way from east to west in Oregon.  This Geocache was a nice way to bring attention to the town and the area.  It was part of the Leap Day event from February 27-29.  We found this geocache during that time to earn a souvenir.  



4.  This Building.

If you follow me on Facebook you've seen this photo as my cover photo for the last week, or so.  It's a photo of a building in a town called Crabtree, Oregon.  There's a lot of buildings throughout the Crabtree area that are supposedly haunted and this one is one of them.  I won't tell you what it is, but you can read a lot about the haunted areas throughout the Crabtree, Oregon area here and see if you're own town made the list for anything that's haunted.  I'm not sure if I believe this stuff, but it sure is fun to go and check out these old places.  Some will make the hair on the back of your neck stand up.



Being in Oregon, which is kind of the north of Arkansas, I always laugh when people make fun of the way I talk, or how I pronounce things.  My southern accent is what makes me different than most here.  I've been told that southerners are slow with their words, or that people might start talking like me if they're around me long enough, or even had people repeat my words in a more southern tone, making fun of it.  I just think, how silly of them and bless their heart.  Ha!


Extras: