Fun in the Sun !!

We were a little worried when we first arrived here on Monday. It had rained and rained and rained all the way from Salem, and then it continued to do so through the night. The power had gone off in the whole city about the time we arrived and if was off for two hours. Most of the businesses shut down--I thought we were going to starve. But luckily, the Chinese place in the Carousel Mall (yes, there is a carousel with all different kinds of animals to ride) opened up again and we were able to get dinner. And then, miracle of miracles, Tuesday morning we woke up and there were blue skies and the sun was out. We couldn't wait to get out to the beach--our resort sits facing it. It was early and so we were of the few to be out. Just perfect. We walked as far north as we could--taking pictures all the way--and then we walked all the way back. We saw a crane land in an inlet and go fishing--your dad took a video of it. That was cool. We checked out all the shops within walking distance. There is a candy store that has over 50 different kinds of salt water taffy--no kidding--so we picked up two of each of the ones that were new to us--about 30 kinds--we have them lined up on the kitchen counter in pairs and we are trying them out together and then rating them 1 to 5. Fun, huh? :) We'll let you know our favorites. We had steak for dinner at one of the local restaurants--we walk everywhere we want to go practically--it's great. The steak was very good. We rented movies from Hollywood--one for each night--when it gets dark, its cold, and we want to be in anyway.

Wednesday was cloudy most of the day--but we went out on the beach and walked the other direction. There have been people out in the water stamping with their shovel handles and we were trying to figure out what they were doing. There was an older lady on the beach and she also had a shovel, plus a steel tube thing. When I asked her what they were doing, she said they were digging for fresh clams. And then she showed us how she was doing it on the beach. There is a circular mark in the sand where a clam is, and then you start digging, it causes the clam to dig deeper, but you use the steel tube thing to go deeper too, cover the hole to create a vacuum, and pull up the dirt with the clam in it. They were alot bigger than what you find in a can of clams. So cool. Then we drove north to Astoria, Oregon. It's amazing--its where the Columbia River empties into the ocean. We saw a bald eagle sitting on the post in the middle of the river on the way into town. We went down by the wharf--there were huge ships in the water and Coast Guard ships in port. We drove up to one of the highest points--it has the Astoria Column--a tall tower with historical information etched on it. Lewis and Clark came through the area and also somebody called Robert Gray--don't know much about him yet but will look into it. Anyway, you could see 360 degrees and it was beautiful. Then we came back to Seaside and did the outlet mall and had Pizza Hut for dinner. Miracle number two is that the clouds cleared out and we were able to watch an ocean sunset. We took our folding chairs and planted them on the beach and watched until the sun went behind the last clouds on the horizon. What a glorious day!! Who knows whats in store for tomorrow, but I'm sure it will be wonderful!