Oregon Road Trip!

I've never been a big fan of traveling or road trips, but I just came back from a two and a half day excursion to Rockaway, Oregon, and I feel fantastic. I think a day on the beach with friends is just what I needed. No work, no cell phones, no obligations, and actually not too many people around (glad we didn't make Canon Beach our primary destination). Here's a link to photos I took from the event. Each photo has been geocoded (for the most part accurately) so you can see the path we took.

Oregon Road Trip

Loose summary was this:
Friday:

• Left Seattle at about 4:30 PM, heading down I-5 south. Stopped in Chehalis to have dinner at the Country Cousin restaurant . Got to the inn at Rockaway at about 11:20 PM, with the final time to check in being midnight.
  
• Despite not having any alcohol, I ended up extremely close to puking. Instead of taking swigs of alcohol during Kings, I had a 1/3 (narrowed to 1/4, and then to sips) cup of juice concoction plus candy. Most of us went to sleep that first night feeling terrible.

Saturday

• Had breakfast at a local eatery called Morning Glory. It was a disaster. The food took extremely long to get to us, and when it did I was missing the single strip of bacon that was supposed to be part of my breakfast, and Kevin was missing fruit he had ordered. An older couple sitting close to us actually walked out after they got their food. We met them later at the beach, and they told us that their order had first gone to the wrong table, and then taken back to the kitchen. It wasn't until 10 minutes later that their food was delivered to their table, cold, despite having been ready the whole time. Needless to say, Morning Glory might not be there next time I visit. That being said, they did make me a really good peach smoothie that was served mere minutes after I ordered it.
  
• We went immediately to the beach, and stayed there for most of the day. While it was sunny it was also extremely foggy, which was great -- not too hot, not too bright. Activities included Trevor trying to fly a kite, Kevin tanning, and Hsiao splashing water on aforementioned tanning Kevin. After looking at a sand castle close to us, Hsiao and I decided to build something ourselves. The result can be seen in the above album, but it broke apart we could complete it. The loose sand was used to completely entomb Trevor (or at least everything but his face).
  
• We drove out to Tillamook in search of dinner. We passed the cheese factory, but did not have a chance to go in. We backtracked and had dinner at a place called the Pirate's Cove in Garibaldi. Exeptional seafood. I paid $31 for a of crab dish and it was definetely one of the best meals I've ever had (if not the most expensive). Back to Rockaway for ice cream (Tillamook of course).
• Got back in time to the hotel to see most of the fourth quarter of the Seahawks game, as well as the end. Justin Forsett is a machine! I turned down free tickets to this game to go on the road trip -- that's just simply how much I value my friends.
  

Sunday

• Got up and checked out. Left to find a McDonald's for breakfast, but was unable to driving up Highway 101. We ended up at Canon Beach and decided to look for breakfast there, settling at a place called the Pig'n Pancake. After a twenty minute wait, I indulged in the best pancakes I've ever had.
  
• We made a small stint to the beach, where Hsiao finally tried out a small water board he bought. The water was freezing, and innevitably Hsiao fell over. Lots of photo opportunities, despite it being gray and slightly rainy. Afterwards, we had to walk three blocks from the beach to find a water fountain in a park to wash off our feet.
  
• Drove back to Seattle, and encountered an extreme amount of traffic. Kinda unusual for a Sunday, we thought. Arrived safely back at my apartment at about 8PM, and enjoyed a few games of Madden '09 to round out my weekend.

Despite knowing that there was no sales tax in the state, I felt like I discovered Oregon this weekend -- not unlike Lewis and Clark. Perhaps another excursion is in our future?