The first 2 weeks in Oregon

So I was holding out on posting anything on the blog until Brad got the pics up from the drive out West from Chicago so that we can stay in chronological order...but I couldn't wait any longer! We've been out here for about 2 weeks now...and boy has it been a busy 2 weeks! We have been cranking on the unpacking - we're pretty much settled in now minus about 7 unpacked boxes. We also finally got a king-size bed! Yay! So now our full-size bed has been moved to the guest bedroom (hint, hint! We're ready for visitors!). Jas (our cat) has adjusted quite nicely here...we have 8 inch windowsills throughout the place, and she's loving being able to sit and watch all the car and pedestrian traffic below us.

We have been very lucky and thankful that Kristina and Matt are out here. They fed us numerous times (which meant we didn't have to go grocery shopping for over a week!) and housed Chris and Brad when they first arrived in Portland. And they have showed us around the city, informed us of where the good asian grocery stores are, and explained the importance of happy hour in this city.

So...now on to some fun pictures! Our first weekend in Oregon, we decided to head to the Oregon coast with Kristina and Matt. It's only about 1.5 hours away from Portland. We first went to Tillamook where we visited the Tillamook Cheese factory and the Blue Heron French Cheese shop (yum!).


If you're wondering - YES...those are huge hunks of cheese - soon to be cheese curds!


So I was asking Brad to take a scenic shot of the mountains with me in it and this sheep hopped into the picture. Hehe jk. This was taken outside of the Blue Heron Cheese shop - they had animals and farm equipment!


After Tillamook, we headed North towards Astoria. Along the way, we had to stop to get a few scenic shots of the Oregon coast.


Here are some fishermen out on the bay - we LOVE that there's fresh seafood out here.


Yes...it really is that gorgeous.



The beaches on the coast are expansive - MUCH longer and wider than Lake Michigan's beaches in Chicago ;)


Ecola or E. Coli? Well either way, their clams, halibut, scallops, and shrimp were really good. This was in Cannon Beach, OR (a very touristy town).



Also in the town, we came across a candy shop where they hand make all of their taffy. This was the freshest taffy I've ever had.



We had originally planned on visiting more in Astoria, but we ended up driving across the Astoria-Megler bridge into Washington state. This bridge was 4.1 miles long and all over the Columbia river. We saw signs for a bridge running race for the next morning - if only I had known...I would have loved to make this my first race in Oregon/Washington. AND after the race, they had a chowder feed for all race participants! What could be better than chowder and running??? Oh well...maybe next year.


So we brought along Zoe, Matt and Kristina's fairly new puppy (french bulldog and pug mix). She was exhausted after all her running around on the beach. I couldn't help it - I had to post this picture on the blog!


Here is a view of the Pacific Ocean in Washington state - the entire Pacific Northwest is just so lush!




While we were in Washington state, we found a lighthouse, so we made a quick pitstop to check it out.


So I guess tsunami's are kind of a big deal out on the coast - we kept seeing this sign everywhere! Brad and I decided to do a tsunami drill to make sure we'd stay safe.


Here we are at the end of our journey on the Oregon/Washington coast. Needless to say, we were a bit disappointed.