TIDEPOOLS, STYROFOAM CUPS AND CHOWDER BY THE SEA

Cape Perpetua: Where the forest meets the sea. And it's true. We started our day off in this breathtaking, wild section of 101 yesterday. The forecast said rain, but the day was a brilliant blue.

On the advice of a park ranger we bought a 5 day state and federal park pass, even though we we're only going to be here for 2 days. It was $10, but we quickly realized it was the smart way to go. If we would have paid separately for parking for all of the areas we went yesterday we would have spent $13, and we plan to visit 2 more today. We spent the day exploring Cape Perpetua , hiking around tidepools and hopping over rocks. We took the day use area road up to the very top and stood in the Rock Shelter, which was just stunning.

Down the road from our hotel is a beautiful ocean front resort called the Adobe. We didn't stay there, but we did decided to visit the lounge in the late afternoon. What I loved about this was that we didn't pay the high prices we would have paid in the hotel restaurant, but we enjoyed a quiet table with an expansive view of the ocean and devoured an amazing bowl of chowder for $5.

Our hotel has private access to the beach, and there are a few scattered benches overlooking the water. We packed a little picnic and watched the sun set, drinking our Anniversary wine out of styrofoam cups. We forgot our wine glasses and coffee mugs on this trip, and I can honestly say that is my only regret. But it was a perfect evening. We watched these 3 little brothers play down in the water, and thought of our own boys all grown up and felt kind of old. But happy. And at peace.

We head home today, with plans to take a couple of hikes and say goodbye to the ocean with a picnic in the fresh air. But for now I'm still in my pj's enjoying some hot coffee and listening to the waves outside my window. It's been a great weekend.