Girls Trip to Lincoln City, Oregon

Several months ago, Kris decided she wanted to organize a girls trip.  I, of course, jumped on board immediately... well at least after she changed the location from Vegas to the Oregon Coast!  This summer seemed to drag as we all anticipated the weekend we would be able to get away and relax on the coast, enjoying the beach and the cooler weather.  That weekend finally arrived last Thursday!  We all had the most amazing time!  I'm posting several posts from the weekend to break things up a bit.

I'll start with the actual trip to the coast:

Brenda and I flew into Portland and rented a car for the weekend to drive to the coast (everyone else drove the 9+ hours from Boise).  I was SO thankful my parents lent me their GPS.  I've never really used a GPS before, but I had so much fun plugging in our destinations and having it tell me step-by-step directions!  I think I might have to buy myself one for Christmas!

Our first stop was breakfast.  I had googled "best breakfast in Portland" and decided to try the Screen Door.  We plugged in the address, only to get there and find out the Screen Door is only open for dinners and brunch on Saturday and Sunday.  Bummer.  So we just checked the GPS for another nearby food location.  I think it took us to a Catholic mission.  Um, not exactly what we were looking for!  We scrolled through more options on the GPS and found a Paradise Bakery - I LOVE Paradise Bakery.  We had to-die-for ham and swiss croissant sandwiches and got a couple dozen cookies to go.  We then had a blast shopping in the mall - I found some adorable shoes (which I bought in two colors!), a dress, and a couple shirts.  We also got facials at Clinique, after which I ended up buying the products they used on me - they really helped reduce the redness in my skin!

After an entire morning of shopping in Portland, we decided to head out to the coast.  We stopped along the way to buy some fresh local blueberries.  Yummy!  We then headed to the Tillamook Cheese Factory.  I love that place!  We had grilled cheese sandwiches and stocked up on some more treats for the trip... cheese cubes, cheese curds, cheese spread with crackers, fresh fudge, and more!

We traveled another hour or so south to our house along the most beautiful highway surrounded by forest.  We were amazed with the gorgeous flowers EVERYWHERE!  They were growing wild along the side of the road and flower baskets hung from almost every house.

I had so much fun traveling with Brenda!  I'm glad she decided to fly with me :-)

Our Beach House

Kris, Mandy, and I spent hours this spring looking through websites trying to find the perfect place to stay... and we succeeded!  Most of the rentals we found required a 5 night stay, unless you were filling in a gap in between two other reservations.  It just so happened that the house we stayed at - the Porthole - had the exact three nights open on the weekend we wanted to travel!  It was a four-bedroom, two-bathroom house that slept 10 people.  It had a wrap-around porch that overlooked the ocean, and less than a minute walk down the path to the beach.  Brenda and I walked up and down the beach and decided it was definitely the best house!  Some of the houses had no direct beach access, others had no privacy, others didn't have a deck.  Ours had everything.  We even had a hot tub on the back porch!

We spent quite a bit of time hanging out at the house... sitting on the deck and watching the seals or sea otters play, listening to the sounds of the waves crashing, playing games, and watching movies.  It was so nice and relaxing.

I wish we could have stayed just another day or two... I will definitely try to reserve the Porthole again on my next trip to the Oregon coast!

There were a bunch of "portholes" throughout the house.

Chilling in the hot tub after a day of playing

Lincoln City Beach

We of course spent plenty of time on the beach!  One of the first things we did when we got to the coast was take a walk on the beach :-)  I had just had a pedicure two days before the trip!

We also took a walk on the beach first thing Friday morning (right after Kris and I worked out - that's why we look so cute!) when the tide was low.  The barnacles on the rock were amazing... and we loved the starfish and "sea cucumbers" (we weren't sure what they were called so that's what we named them!)

I discovered the ocean was a little cold :-)  In fact, my feet got numb a couple times when they got too wet.  Here I am running toward shore when a wave came up further than I expected!  I didn't know Brenda was going to snap a picture... check out the reaction to the cold water on my face!

Brenda and I took thirteen different shots to finally get this one of the surf coming up to our feet...

We had a fire on the beach on Friday night and roasted marshmallows.  It took us a while to get the fire started, but it was lots of fun once we got it going!  Kris and Traci made smores, while Mandy and I enjoyed the roasted marshmallows one browned layer at a time.

And finally - we were excited to see Nye Beach as we were driving south to Newport.  Here I am in a picture with the sign!

Being Tourists on the Coast

Of course we had to do a few "touristy" activities while on the coast!  On Friday afternoon, after spending the morning checking out the little shops in Lincoln City, we headed south and checked out the Devil's Punchbowl.  Nature is just so amazing - how the water and elements have carved out the rock over the years.  As the tide came in, it looked like the water in the "punch bowl" was boiling.

On Saturday, we headed to Newport and went to the Yaquina Head Lighthouse.  We climbed the 111 steps to the top of the lighthouse.  When the lighthouse was first built, oil was burned to keep the light going.  The oil had to be carried from the bottom level up the stairs - usually 2 to 3 gallons a night depending on the length of the night (less in the summer, more in the winter).  The lighthouse operators could only use one hand to carry the oil, as they needed the other to hold on to the railing.  I'm sure the oil got heavy!  The lighthouse is still in operation today... only now the light is powered with electricity!

Checking out the view of the ocean outside the lighthouse...

My Vacation Diet

For some reason I think I can eat whatever I want on vacation.  Well, my scale didn't quite agree with me when I got home!  Oh well, at least I enjoyed every bite of the delicious food I ate on the coast!

The first night in Lincoln City, we went to a nice restaurant right on the beach.  Most of us ordered halibut.  I LOVE halibut.  Kris and I shared a couple different kinds of halibut - one with shrimp and pico, the other that was encrusted with Parmesan cheese and macadamia nuts and was topped with crab.  SO delicious!  I could seriously eat that every night (well, maybe switch back and forth between the halibut and Costa Vida!).

Here's a picture of all six of us at the restaurant - Brenda, Traci, Kris, me, Annie, and Mandy.

We tried out a 50's diner on Saturday for lunch - Flashbacks.  It was so much fun.  The decor was great - and we entertained ourselves with hula hoops while we waited for our lunch to come!

How could we pass up dessert in a place like this?  Mandy and I shared a giant banana split with double whipped cream.  We ate every bite :-)

We also made a couple fun meals at the house - tortilla soup and pulled pork sandwiches.  And when you're on the beach, you've gotta make fun drinks, right?  Kris made me a special virgin strawberry daiquiri.  It was delish.

Exercising on Vacation???

We didn't forget to work out while on vacation!  Brandee would be so proud :-)  On Friday morning, Kris and I did Brandee's medicine ball workout in the back yard of our house as we looked out over the ocean... much more enjoyable than working out in the gym!

Saturday morning we went for a hike in the forest.  It was so beautiful!  We hiked down to a lake, saw a deer (he was so close!!!), ate wild raspberries, and enjoyed the cool weather.

I had hoped to try some surfing, but we ran out of time.  Instead, we pretended to surf :-)  I know... my jeans make this picture look so real!

I'm hoping to try surfing next time I'm on the coast... and maybe crabbing!

Self Portraits

I just got back from the most fabulous weekend - a girls trip to Lincoln City, Oregon.  I will definitely be posting more over the next few days.  Since it's late and I have to work in the morning, I thought I would start with a series of pictures that made Mandy and me laugh and laugh.  I know it wouldn't be that funny to anyone else, but we sure had fun trying to take a picture of ourselves.  Here's the progression!

 Our faces were big and white

I cut the tops of our heads off

Mandy looks cute like a model here... my face is big

I'm looking down

Mandy's looking up

Finally... success!  Not sure how people take such cute pics of themselves!