Honeymoon - Newport, OR - Day 5

Last day of our honeymoon. We both woke up very early and noticed that it was raining. Apparently Bozo had been up for a little while and couldn't get back to sleep. Then we opened the sliding glass door to hear the rain and the waves and she was out! lol How are we ever going to sleep at home again??

Up around 9am for breakfast, which wasn't too bad for a larger hotel. They had square egg patties that Bozo made into a little sandwich. The rest was the usual bread, cereal, yogurt, and oatmeal fare with a waffle maker to boot.

During our breakfast we also saw the news about the LAX shooting. We had seen bits and pieces here and there but chose not to listen further until today. We just didn't want to disturb our minds with the information. Our flight today was not impacted and it seems like only flights from home that may connect with LA are impacted. So, we were on schedule. Until there was a mechanical issue and we needed to change planes. But it was only about half an hour delay so that was okay.

Our drive from Newport to the Portland Airport was beautiful. It alternated from sunny to foggy to rainy and back again. We were going through forest much of the time and took a bit longer route through Salem to avoid getting on I-5 quite as quickly. We stopped at a Country Pride restaurant at a truck stop and had a good fried lunch. The server was awesome! Apparently we looked like we were in a hurry so she rushed us along. We weren't in as much of a hurry as we apparently looked. But it was good to have fast service! When we got off at the last exit before the airport for gas, it was raining and started to hail just slightly. I yelled, "NOOOO! We have to get under the gas station cover!" We hadn't gotten any extra insurance for the rental car. lol The last thing we needed was hail in our last 10 minutes with the car! No worries. The hail ended quickly.

No trouble returning the car and the shuttle from Alamo Car Rentals to the Portland International Airport departures was about half the time as it was to get to the car rental. That was a nice surprise! We had planned for at least 20 minutes since that's what it took to get there.

Nothing much different at the airport except TSA had black bands on their badges. There may have been more security but it wasn't overwhelming and getting through was just as fast. Though I have to acknowledge that we are both middle aged white women and have the privilege of not generally being the ones profiled. So others' experiences may have been different during this time particularly.

The flight was mostly uneventful. Just a bit of turbulence that made the flight attendants sit. I kept saying that as long as he was handling coffee, we were okay. Then he sat. Arrgh! Didn't last long though. Because of the plane switch, we missed our city bus and had to wait an extra 45 minutes. No big deal in general but the waiting time was beginning to add up and we were ready to just be home.

Finally home, all was intact… with the pungent smell of burlap still in the air! lol We made a quick trip to the post office and picked up a package…. a gift… from REI! Yes!

The Honeymoon was exactly as a Honeymoon should be! And now we settle back in to our lives!

Remember to move the clocks back an hour tonight!!

View from our room at the Elizabeth Street Inn

Honeymoon - Depoe Bay, OR - Day 1

Up early again… 4:15am. Out the door by 5:00am for gas and to return the rental car. Everything went very smoothly and we were on our plane and flying toward Portland by 7:00am. Soon… time to relax! We arrived on time at 8:30am and got the next rental car. We used National for the wedding guests but this time found a great price on Alamo. But it was quite a ways from the airport on a shuttle (gotta remember that when we return!) and the clerk was in some competition for up selling that did not sit well with two overtired women who who still had their receipts from a very smooth rental the previous 5 days. She just kept arguing that we were wrong when we had our receipts. lol Moving on.

I brought my GPS to help us get where we needed to go. But we also needed some breakfast… preferably from a funky little Portlandish cafe. It's hard to look those up specifically so we were just going to settle for whatever we found in an area full of breakfast places. On our drive we ended up in the Montavilla Neighborhood and decided to stop at a place that looked like it fit the bill. And it did! The Country Cat Dinnerhouse and Bar was great! The food was great and there was plenty of it. But one of the servers also took time with us to look at a map (you know, that paper thing with lines representing roads!) of where we were heading and gave us some excellent suggestions where to stop along the way. On the same street (SE Stark St), was Bipartisan Cafe where we got coffee. Also a funky little place and some pretty good coffee.

We headed out of Portland toward Highway 26, which we took us up toward the coast. This is a much longer way to Channel House in Depoe Bay, OR where we'll be spending the rest of the week. But we thought we'd take the scenic route now in case we don't have time on our way back to the airport. Turns out we were both  a little more tired that we thought and needed to stop at a rest area for a little nap. That worked! Refreshed (sort of), we were definitely safe to drive and ready to move on. We basically circled around the Tillamook State Forest and headed south on Highway 53 toward Highway 101. This was definitely less along the ocean than I expected. But I really love driving through forest as well so it was totally fine. We went through Wheeler and then found a little Mexican Bakery Lunch Stop where we had an excellent burrito and Bozo bought a small loaf of jalapeño bread. I have no idea the name of the place. I took a photo of it but there's no name. Weird! I'd recommend it though! lol

We met a couple at the Mexican Bakery who recommended that we stop in Tillamook at the Cheese Factory for some samples. He said they also make ice cream that is to die for. But when we got there it was SO crowded that we decided to pass it up. We are planning on possibly going back up that direction for a couple different scenic stops during the week so maybe it'll be less crowded at that time.

By this point we were both ready just to be in Depoe Bay. We arrived around 4:30pm and got somewhat settled before heading back out to get some food and snacks to have in the room since we do not plan to leave at all tomorrow. Aside from it being our Honeymoon and that we're both exhausted from planning and having our wedding, I'll put up a photo that will show you why we have no intention of leaving for a day. We went to the little corner store and then got some dinner at BonePile BBQ, which was awesome. I don't know if we're just hungry or if the food we have been finding has actually been consistently excellent. I don't feel that hungry so I think we've just gotten really lucky with our choices and timing!

Back in the room for dinner and a movie, "So This is 40," while we waited for sunset over the ocean. At 8:30pm the movie was over and we were exhausted. So off to bed we went…

This is the view from our jacuzzi and one of the reasons we have no intention of leaving the room tomorrow: