So, this week we packed up the kiddos and went on a good, old fashioned adventure. Chad's sister (and her husband) were moving up to Auburn from Southern California (which is very exciting news for us). They didn't really need any help moving their stuff, but we thought it was an awesome excuse for a road trip. Thusly (I know it's not a word, but it is so stinkin' fun to say. Try it and tell me I'm wrong--I dare you), we undertook a three day road trip down the coasts to the southern-est tip of Oregon and back. It was such a blast. We did some real adventuring. No cutesy bed-and-breakfast types for us. Instead, we looked up all the quirkiest, zaniest stops the Pacific Northwest coast had to offer and hit up as many as we could.
First up, Marsh's Free Museum in Long Beach, Wa. I don't know that's it's a museum as much as it is a toy shop, but it is free to walk around. Their claim to fame is an "authentic" half man/half alligator mummy which they've affectionately named "Jake." It was a great place to get out and stretch, and there was plenty to take pictures of for the ol' scrapbook. Along with Jake, they had some super rad taxidermy specimens, like a two headed calf, a werewolf head, and a jackalope. The kids thought it was great. Right across the street from the "museum" was a huge frying pan and a big oyster that shot out goop every hour on the hour. Great stuff.
Our next stop was the world's biggest sea cave (in Florence, Or). It was pretty fun, but not worth the money in my opinion. You start off at the top of a cliff and then take an elevator down into the cave, which is at sea level. There were tons of sea lions, and the cave was beautiful. I expected to get closer to the sea lions though, and so I was somewhat disappointed. All the same, it was another great spot to get out and stretch.
We slept in Florence the first night. This was the view from the balcony in our hotel room. Pretty nice.
Our next stop was at the West Coast Game Park in Bandon, Oregon. This was my favorite stop by far. It was so much stinkin' fun. It was just this dinky little "zoo" where they let you touch pretty much whatever you want. We held a baby panther, a baby kangaroo, the most cross-eyed possum you'll ever meet, a skunk, a ferret and pet another big cat (cougar?). They also had goats, lambs, llamas, rams, donkeys and turkeys free roaming, which you could both pet and feed. Holy smokes, it was a big, stinky, muddy mess of fun. Natty kissed a llama, a goat ate Mikey's rain coat, and a ram jumped up on me and got his hoof stuck in my back pocket. If you ever find yourself in Bandon, I strongly recommend stopping here.
We slept in Port Orford the next night. The view from that hotel was beautiful too. This is how I like my beach experiences--cold and misty. Aaahhh---so relaxing!!
Our last stop was at the Prehistoric Gardens in Port Orford, Oregon. Apparently some artist decided to build a bunch of life sized replicas of dinosaurs in the middle of this Oregon rain forest. It was amazing. The dinosaurs were HUGE and they looked so natural in the middle of all the huge trees and ferns. It felt like we'd been zapped back into the Cretaceous period. Totally awesome.
The last day we hopped back into the car and drove all the way back up to beautiful Covington. It was a great trip, but I can honestly say that Seattle is my favorite place of them all. The beach is beautiful, but Seattle is perfect and I am happy to be home.
