Last Weekend in my Twenties!

The best friend surprised me with a trip to Oregon for my birthday. What better way to spend the last weekend in my twenties! Life had been hectic and being able to escape to the beach, sounded like just the thing I needed.

We packed the car and made our way down the highway, we had a four hour drive ahead of us! We picked up McDonald's breakfast, ate our weight in donuts, hit a rest stop and three hours later we arrived to our first destination. Fort Stevens State Park is home of the famous Peter Iredale Shipwreck. The wreckage has been on the beach for 98 years! I was not quite sure what to expect...I suppose I thought there would be a large ship with anchor and propeller attached. And that we could climb all over it and pretend to be pirates. In hind sight, it was a big hunk of rusty metal that made me question if my Tetanus shot was up to date. The experience was one I will never forget and the picture opportunity was stunning.

*Note to travelers, do not use the provided public restroom. I am pretty sure I contracted hepatitis as the floors were covered in urine soaked sand.*   

We then made our way to Seaside, a little tourist town not too far from our hotel. Luckily for us, we planned the trip right around spring break! The lines were long and parking was sparse. We managed to enjoy a nice pizza lunch, tour the candy store, eat fried bacon, visit stores and grab sherbet before heading back to the car. We were not able to fit in everything we had intended to do, due to the overwhelming crowds of people. I enjoyed the sun, but would much rather go during off-peak season.

Upon checking into our hotel, we were surprised to see a birthday gift waiting for me on the table.

Wayside! 

We proceeded to open presents before making our way to dinner and the beach.

These rocks have 30 things written on them that describe me. I plan on placing these in a dish and reading them on those days when I feel down about myself. What an amazing gift! 

These came in handy for spying on people at the beach! 

Dinner consisted of some of the best fish and chips we have ever had! The price was a little outrageous, but nothing beats enjoying some fresh fish while visiting the ocean.

We made sure to stock the cooler full of drinks, as you are able to bring alcohol onto the beach! There is something about watching the sun set with a cold drink in hand that makes all the worries of the world disappear. The sand was soft, the breeze was cold and the sound of the waves crashing was like music to my ears.

We had exactly one hour to enjoy the hot tub before it closed for the night. We put on our suits and made our way to the hot awaiting water. We decided to join the people already in there as we did not want to wait around for them to leave. We ended up meeting a nice lady who told us all about her life in the short time that we were in the hot tub. It wasn't much relaxing, but the jets felt wonderful on my sore back. The kind lady finally excused herself so that she could go enjoy a home cooked dinner with her family. They had made pork chops in their room. Lucky them, all we had in our room was a microwave and small fridge in our room! We joked that we should make our way to their room and invite ourselves over for dinner.

After our hot tub excitement, we went back to the room. We got on our pajamas, turned on the fire and played "Never Have I Ever". We laughed until our bellies hurt and had a great time just us girls. It had felt like a long time since we got to have time together like that! Around 10pm we heard a knock on the door. We were sure that it was a complaint from our loud chuckles and the alleged flashing off of our patio. To our surprise...it was the hot tub lady with a plate of dinner!!! Can you believe it?!? That was for sure the highlight of our trip. We didn't end up eating it because we didn't have a fork and let's be honest, would you eat pork chops from your hotel neighbor? Although a nice gesture, it was a little odd.

The next morning started off with a wonderful pancake breakfast at Pigs N Pancake. We had checked the tide schedule before leaving and knew that the tide would be out in the early afternoon. Our hope was to be able to explore Haystack Rock (and take home a starfish!). Upon making our way to the beach, we were excited to see that the water was indeed out and that there was full access to the rock. We saw plenty of star fish, but decided not to take any home. Apparently that is against the law! We also saw hermit grabs and other sea creatures among the rocks.

There were hundred of seagulls atop the large rock. You can imagine our fright when they all started squawking and flying in panic. I was sure we were having an earthquake or gearing up for a major tsunami. All that ran through my mind was that I had no idea where the evacuation route was and that it would take me entirely too long to run through the sand to reach the nearest road. The ocean wouldn't be a bad place to die I suppose. After all, it was no major disaster. There were two eagles flying around the rock! It was a sight to be seen and something I will always remember.

Before heading home, we went back to Seaside to see if we could fit in some stuff that we were unable to do so the day before. It was still crowded, but nothing like it had been. We went to the little aquarium to feed the sea lions! The entire aquarium is roughly the size of my living room and I am pretty sure some of the marine life was near death. PETA would have a hay day with this place. I loved feeding the sea lions, but wish it would have been a little more interactive. All we did was through rotting fish over a steel fence. $28 well spent! I made sure to grab a souvenir to mark our spectacular adventure (a flattened penny).

We visited a few more stores before hopping back into the car. We had four hours ahead of us and no one was looking forward to going back to the "real world". We got Starbucks to put a pep into our step and later had McDonald's for lunch (they sell sherbet there!). Road trips are quite fun when traveling with fun people. Clearly we should try out for American Idol. I am pretty sure not many people can belt out Journey and Notorious B.I.G with such class.

I had an amazing trip and enjoyed myself. C'mon thirty, I am ready for you.