and then on down to newport

On Saturday we decided to go to Newport. We haven't been there since my first visit to Oregon. It's a quaint little town {with a nice scrapbook store :) } and it's a nice place to walk around. It's back a ways from the open ocean, so you can walk around the harbor and not feel as if you're going to lose your hair. Newport also has a neat aquarium where Keiko, the killer whale featured in the movie Free Willy lived. (I think he's dead now though.) We parked right along here.

After we walked around a bit (in the pouring rain) we went to Mo's for lunch. Mo's is pretty well-known for its clam chowder. I tried some of Phil's, but I'm not yet a fan. Clams are just a little on the chewy side, so I went for the chicken :) Anyways, as we were eating, I was watching this guy catching crabs right outside the window. When we were done and went out on the pier, I asked him if I could get a picture of it. He said, "Sure. . .wanna hold it?" I passed. Then as I'm getting the camera ready, he starts pushing it toward me, making a creepy sound. Like the thing is out to get me or something. He was a weirdo, but here's his crab. It's missing a claw, poor little guy.

When we were on our way back to the car, I kept hearing all this barking, so we investigated and here's what we saw.

I felt like I was at stinkin' Sea World. Maybe because right there at that pier, it really did stink and I can totally remember the smells of Sea World as a child. It's kind of hard to forget that fresh dead fish scent. (Some of you may not know this, but there was once a Sea World in Aurora, Ohio. It's not there anymore. It was right across a lake from an amusement park called Geauga Lake. That place has changed names numerous times. It's been Six Flags Worlds of Adventure - where they took over the amusement park side and the Sea World side, and I can't remember what else. It's where I rode my first roller coaster with my Aunt Karie. Well, the story goes. . .we were there for a family vacation day. Kids 4 and under got in free. My parents tried to pass me off as being 4, but apparently they had "forgotten" that I had just celebrated my 5th birthday. And at the gate, I let that lady know that I was 5 and not 4. I wasn't about to let her think otherwise. That's what happens when you teach your kids to tell the truth!)

Here are a couple more pictures from Newport.

After we left there, we drove up the coast to the Tillamook Cheese Factory to get some ice cream. Someone at Phil's work said it was a $20 ice cream cone because we probably spent that much in gas to get there. But, if you're at the coast, you must go get some yummy Tillamook marionberry pie ice cream!!! Yes, even if it is freezing cold.