A Quick Trip to the Coast

This past Friday we headed to Newport, OR. Kevin had a speaking engagement there and we tagged along. (Kevin has become quite the sought-after speaker in his field!) Since Kevin was otherwise engaged, the girls and I headed to the Oregon Coast Aquarium for the day.

I had heard good things about the aquarium and was very impressed. It was part aquarium, part zoo and part children's museum.

I love octopuses and this aquarium had one. The first time we visited it's tank, it was asleep in the corner. Octopuses tend to be nocturnal so it's not common to see them active during the day. But the second time we came over, he swam out of the corner and put on a little display for us.

These photos aren't the best because all I had was my iphone. Still, you can see how the octopus changed colors for us. It happens quickly and it's really cool.

In the evening we went back to the hotel and got Kevin. Then we headed out for dinner. We went to the historic bay front and saw some sea lions on the docks.

And we got dinner. Kayleigh wanted crab and the sign said $11.95 for live crab. So we (very wrongly) assumed this would be the price of one cooked crab. We were a bit shocked when the bill came. And why is it that the closer you are to the ocean, the more expensive the seafood is? Why?!?!?!

We finished the night with a beautiful walk along Agate Beach.

The next morning we headed to the OSU Hatfield Marine Science Center. We got there before it opened and had to wait a bit. It was worth the wait and almost better than the aquarium. They also have an octopus, but it was asleep. But they have an "octo-cam" and we've been checking it periodically to catch a glimpse of the octopus. They feed it at 1pm on Mondays, Thursdays and Saturdays.

Outside the science center sits this large piece of debris that was a Japanese dock....it is part of what has washed up on our shores since the tsunami.

And that's all....now we are back home. Back to school. Back to routine. Back to work. Back to rain.