Here’s a few pictures from this last weekend. I was craving clam chowder so my husband and I headed over to the coast. We’ve gone down to Coos Bay quite a bit, and I love it there, but we decided to drive north this time.  I went on quite a few trips as a kid with my family to Yachats and the area, so it was fun to revisit. Going to the coast means two main things: playing on the beach and eating seafood. We had chowder, fish and chips and found a new place called Tidal Raves at Depoe Bay. We shared seared scallops and cocoanut shrimp there. I LOVE scallops, and those were the best I’ve ever had.

(Of course we had a great time, but this is all research too! When I was writing Point Hope, I went and revisited all my favorite places in Coos Bay so I could include them. The Pancake Mill in Point Hope really is in Coos Bay, and they do have gluten free pancakes. You can also really visit Sunset Bay State Park.)

Can you guess where this is?

It was snapped from the outside viewpoint of the Sea Lion Caves by Florence. The location has this viewpoint, and an elevator that takes you down 200 feet to sea level to look inside the world’s largest sea cave. It’s usually full of see lions that are busy barking and growling at each other.

I took the next picture from inside the caves, looking out over to the Heceta Head lighthouse.

We drove north for a while after that and explored the beaches–we found a great little beach that was sheltered from the wind by a giant rock structure. Here’s me with my dog Deco exploring.

We stayed in a cute little motel, and our room even had books in it! I happened to have some copies of Point Hope with me, so I left one there. 🙂

There are so many special places along the coast. Maybe I can include all of them in a story at some point!