because the coast had no idea it's january

Are you sick of pictures yet?

No?

Thank God, because here are like 50 more from our day along the Oregon Coast last weekend... Punctuality is another strong point that could use some exercising. 

After Robin, Frankie, Matty, the guys' friend Heather and I piled into the car last Sunday morning and drove a couple hours down 99W, we landed snug along the coast at Depoe Bay for some whale watching. 

You'll have to trust me on this one. We did see whales. Grey whales. Migrating pods in search of warmer waters (doesn't that describe all of us in the Pacific Northwest this time of year?). 

The whales though were a few miles off the coast so binoculars were about all we could rely on to see the blowhole spouts in the distance. 

But seriously, we could not have ordered a better day than if we had been flipping through a catalog of desirable weather patterns. 

Hello high 60's, we'd almost forgotten what you looked like! 

Then, thanks be to Robin and an insatiable lust for lighthouses (there's probably a joke there somewhere), we stopped at the Yaquina Head Lighthouse.  

Oh, and while we were there we saw this bald eagle just chillin' a few hundred feet away. 

Damn.

Seeing that thing was beyond words. Have you ever seen one in the wild in real life?

Outrageous. 

And the lighthouse was incredible! We were all completely captivated by the architecture and majesty. 

And by captivated, I mean completely freaked out at the prospect of climbing this spiral staircase (one at a time, because that was the rule and because that's incredibly reassuring when thinking about the thing's structural integrity).

And below? Cobble Beach.

Absolutely gorgeous, if not a little tedious (you gotta commit to every. single. step. on those bloody rocks or you will fall and you will die).

*I am not overly dramatic at all*

Being challenged in the "don't-fall-to-your-death" department, this photo nicely illustrates my careful foot placement on the rocks. 

See? Calm and excited on the outside - just happy to stand still on the inside. 

Matty is more adventurous than I am. 

Frankie & Matty are so cute it just slays me. 

After our mini-excursion, we made it to Newport and had a phenomenal pub lunch at Nana's Irish Pub (black & tans and an Irish Breakfast are a fine way to spend an afternoon, just throwing that out there)

Laziest sea lion alive. 

And finally, the real reason we went to the coast in the first place: crabbing!

Frankie and Matty have all the equipment needed to catch the little crustaceans so we happily went along for that ride. 

Newport, Oregon is a happy, happy place. 

Salt water taffy! 

We all tried our hand at tossing the net out...

But as our patience ran out - and the sun went down - we got cold and decided to pass the time with a cup of clam chowder from Mo's.

Then, lo and behold, SUCCESS! 

Kinda. 

We caught one little Sebastian (and proceeded to pose with him while he tried in vain to pinch the hell out of us) (ha! foiled!)

Not enough for the crab feast we were hoping for, so we threw him back and decided to call it done!

And with a sunset like that to guide us home, how could we be mad about not getting crabs?

Most people would consider that a pretty good day.