Newport, Oregon

I got up yesterday morning in Mill Creek and got ready, around 8am Sarah and I headed out (I dropped her off at UW). I drove and drove and drove. Yesterday, I drove 337 miles. That was a great drive too! The only hang-up I had was when I finally had to stop for gas off of 99W in Oregon. I forgot that you can't pump your own gas there. I stopped off at the cheapest station I could find (duh) and the gas pump man was asking me for my keys (Floyd has a locking gas door). After a momentary brain-fart I realized why and handed them over. He gave me a ticket that I then had to go inside (to pay), give the man in the arco my ticket, have him color on it, then give it back to the man who pumped my gas before I could go. Ineffecient system. I talked to Kaija about it and she said that its not normal, normally you pay from your car because what's the point of having your gas pumped if you have to get out of the car. Oh well, it was an experience. I'm going to try to wait until I'm in California to fill up again :).

After a few stops along the way I was on the scenic highway 101. I'm really excited to take 101 down the coast, its a beautiful drive. I got to Newport a couple hours before Kaija got off of work so I parked at a beach and wandered around taking all of the pictures you see here. Great day. I really enjoyed my first full day of road tripping.

After Kaija got off of work, we came back to her place, hung out for a while, showed me how AMAZING her apartment is, then we headed out to get something to eat. We split fish and chips then headed to the library to check out a movie. We came back here, watched it (both fell asleep) then went to bed. I was tired from waking up early and driving across states, so I was happy to just get to hang out and then sleep. Now I'm here until Friday morning, exploring Newport. I'm going to be a temporary beach bum! I'll take pictures of any sand castles I make :). That's all for now, enjoy the pictures!!! Who knew it doesn't take as long to upload pictures when you're not at Holden :).


Newport at Sunset. NYE Beach.

Surfer.

This is Kaija's couch where I slept last night.


Kaija and I after we met up.
Floyd enjoying the sunset.

I have a lot of pictures of me trying to get one of myself with the ocean. I'll spare you most of them...here is a sampling.
Gigantic barnacles!! These are bigger than big barnacle (only Diana would understand).


I spent a good half hour freaking the seagulls out...you know, when I wasn't poking at sea creatures.
The Devils Punch Bowl. My family was telling me bout this before I left so when I drove by it, I had to stop. I guess at high tide it fills with water and swirls around (like a toilet?). Unfortunately I was there at low tide and wasn't about to wait around for it to come in. Oh well, it was a nice place to get out and walk around.

The first thing I saw after I passed over the Oregon/Washington border...a bridge going over the Columbia River (which is the natural border). Exciting! Way to start off with a bang Oregon. Haha. The jokes on me though because shortly after this I had to stop at a 7-11 for directions to get to 99W.
I got a little too ambitions with the water and a larger-than-the-rest-of-them-wave blindsided me and got my pants wet.
Obligatory beach photo.
That black dot is the surfer from the earlier picture.