Newport, Oregon

Aaaaah...relaxing! Jeff and I were able to spend a couple of days at the beach. We found a great internet deal at the Hallmark Resort. It was a storm watching special ! We were really disappointed when we found out we were going to miss the storm!
This is a view of our hotel from a park near the Newport Bridge.

The Hallmark from the beach at sunset.

Beautiful sunset. The weather was incredible, just a light breeze, no jackets needed. Later in the evening we sat and watched the stars from our room's private patio. We saw several shooting stars and something that looked like a firework exploding way too high. (We asked our home teacher, Dave, about it when he came over today and he gave us a better explanation!)

From our patio early Saturday morning. The sun was just rising and the sky had a pink glow to it, the whitecaps were illuminated against the fading darkness. It was magical.

"Look at the moon!" That's one of my favorite lines from The Kid... and WOW! Look at it... I'm just in awe of the creation and the order of nature.



We enjoyed a couple of good walks on the beach. We're smiling at our good fortune with Winter beach trips and great weather!

We had fun walking out on this rocky outcropping. Some cute little sandpipers were bathing in the tidal pools.


We had fun exploring the shops, galleries, and sights in the Nye Beach area. We decided to try the Chowder Bowl for lunch. It was recommended by two different chefs as the best clam chowder on the Oregon Coast, and was also featured on one of the morning news shows. We had to agree. Jeff got the sourdough bread bowl of 'chowda', as they called it, and I got a Cobb salad with a cup of 'chowda'. Delicious...and huuuuge bowl of salad. It was like a serving bowl for a family meal...I made a dent!

Look at us in the outdoor seating in the middle of November!

After lunch, we headed on down toward the historic bayfront. We stopped and toured the original Yaquina lighthouse.

We went down to the marina area and walked out on the dock under the big bridge. It was packed with people crabbing.

I like the structure of this bridge.



There were several very large murals in the bayfront area. This was one of my favorites.

We had a great couple of days away. I even talked Jeff into stopping at Bridgeport Village and the Deseret Bookstore for a little Christmas shopping on the way home. He was a good sport and we ended our day with dinner at my new favorite Thai restaraunt, the Thai Basil, in the same complex as the bookstore.