The Oregon Coast

One would think that having lived in the PNW for 5 years now that we would have made it down to the gorgeous Oregon Coast at least a couple of times by now.  If you thought that than you’re wrong.  Between work schedules and finances we NEVER made it to the Oregon Coast.  Usually when we go to Oregon we’re going to see family and have a limited amount of time.  So we picked a weekend and said “THAT’S IT!  WE’RE GOING TO THE COAST!”  Or maybe it wasn’t exactly like that but we managed to carve out a weekend to get away.  The Man wanted to take us where he used to go as a kid, so we headed to the Seaside/Astoria portion of the Oregon Coast.  I was not disappointed at all…it’s just as beautiful as everyone told me!



We didn’t do much the first night as we tried to stop by the beach in Seaside but Munchkin had other ideas as she decided to throw up her dinner just as we were pulling up.  Daddy was AMAZING and got her out of the mess and cleaned up the car seat while I cleaned up the kiddo.  That was the first time she had ever really thrown up and she was fine after.  We think she just had a few too many French fries!  Just to be on the safe side we relaxed at the hotel and enjoyed being together as a family (The Man had spent the previous week in Arizona for work…rough life!)  The next morning we got up and headed to Fort Stevens.  The Man has great memories of going there as a kid.  The Man and I enjoy exploring forts and it’s something we started doing while we were dating.  It’s fun to walk around the remains and learn more about the history of the area and our country.

There was barely anyone around when we got there.  We had a great time walking around the batteries.  We had brought the pups (something we used to do a lot but haven’t in awhile) and they were having a great time too, even Molly.  It had recently rained and Molly was loving all the puddles. We were exploring and walked up some steps and BAM!  There were a couple of Elk.  We stopped and watched them and then took a few more steps forward.  Then we saw the rest of herd.  There were at least a dozen elk, all of them looking at us.  Joey really wanted to go and make friends with them but we knew that was a really BAD idea so we turned around and went a different way. 

We walked around some more and enjoyed the outdoors.  I always try to imagine what it was like here while it was an active Fort.  Sometimes it can be hard to imagine in the stillness.  There would have been soldiers walking and driving around, guns being fired for practice and all sorts of other activity.  Fort Stevens was still in use during WWII (it was the only Fort on the west coast to take enemy fire, and the first mainland one to take enemy fire since 1812) so it really wasn’t that long ago.  It’s amazing how quickly nature tries to reclaim the land. 

It was fun walk around and explore.  We’re hoping this kind of exposure early and often will help Munchkin love history like her daddy and I do.