Day 7

Today was all about finding some lesss expensive accomodations, then just relaxing in the Newport-Florence, OR area. We started the day by packing up and getting out of the hotel room, then hitting the road north of Florence to find a campground. We pulled into the first one we could find; it was called Sutton State Park, and it was about 5 minutes north of Florence. We drove around for about 15 minutes until we found a spot, but we soon realized that we didn't have the change needed for the site. The National Park campgrounds work on an honor system. You pull in, pick a spot, then go back and pay cash for your site at a self-serve deposit box. Our site was $10, but all we had were $20's, $50's, and a few $1's. The park caretaker was right there, so she let us set up a bit, then go back into town for change. While we were there, we grabbed some lunch to go at a deli. We resolved to keep a stack of $5's and $10's in the truck for National Park camping site use only.

After lunch, we headed back north to Newport and to the Oregon State Aquarium. It's only 40 miles, but it takes about an hour to get there, with the twisting and tuning Coast Highway. We arrived at about 2 PM, and headed in. At first we were kind of disappointed with what the aquarium had to offer, but then we discovered the Cavern of the Deep. It was a series of glass tunnels with all kinds of fish life swimming around them. It was pretty cool, Rhonda especially liked the sting rays. There were lots of cool jelly fish and a tide pool where we could touch the sea creatures (Brett was kind of scared at first or maybe he was thinking of his mom's be careful warnings..., but managed to overcome his fears and touched most of the creatures). We bought a cool shark pen that lights up in the gift shop.

After the aquarium, we headed further into Newport and found a parking space. We walked down the streets and looked into a few shops. Brett tried his first salt water taffy. Then we went to the Ripley's Believe It Or Not Museum. That was pretty cool with some shrunken heads, but there was one room that was was surrounded with lit up "stars" that made it feel like you were in space. We then ventured into the Wax Museum. To be honest, it was a mix of a lot of goofiness and a little kitschy coolness; it left us with a 'why are we here?' sort of feeling for us. But Brett did get to hang out with Johnny Depp. Last stop was the Undersea Garden. It's actually a 150 foot boat on the dock with a giant aquarium 10 feet below the ocean surface. The viewing gallery is a glass and steel tank immersed inside the aquarium, so you're inside looking out at the aquarium. A diver drops into the aquarium and shows you a bunch of different sea creatures. He'll bring it up to the glass, point things out and play with it for the audience. Brett liked most of it, but Rhonda felt pity for the poor sea creatures. They were being hauled out of their happy places and put on display and even thrown around so that they would swim. Kind of mean I think (I wouldn't like it if someone did that to me. Would you?) Brett only felt pity for the dungeness crab; it looked like the wolf eel was having a lot of fun with the diver.

After that adventure, we headed into Mo's Seafood Reastaurant. They boast the best clam chowder, and they do not lie. The line-up to get in can vary from a 20 minute to 1 hour wait (we waited for about 20 mins). It is well worth it. Brett had a seafood variety platter with a clam chowder starter (shared with Rhonda), and Rhonda had a cod, shrimp, and salmon linguini alfredo. It was delicious. We were seated at a table with another couple (that is how busy the place is.) First they asked if we were nice. We responded with the fact that we are Canadian so who knows if we are nice. They asked one of the typical responses, must be cold there... but they were pretty nice. We both got some dessert to go for later that night by the campfire. Brett is still on the hunt for the best peanut butter dessert in existence.

We returned to the campsite after grabbing some groceries and firewood (and Rhonda's jacket which she left in the previous night's hotel room. And it was at the front desk waiting. Yay Comfort Inn!) , and had a nice, relaxing evening by the campfire. Well, except for the hand dryer in the bathroom that would not shut off, because about 5 women who were camping that wanted to wash and dry their hair. They ran the hand dryer for about 1 1/2 hours, which killed the hand dryer I might add. Rhonda was pretty grossed out by the amount of hair left behind as well. We imagined them to be female bigfoots with lots and lots of hair.

We have left the campground of a much healthier breakfast (bagels, using the new campstove toaster). We just had showers (we had to go to a seperate place from the campground because we have learned that many state campgrounds have no showers). We are off to get the truck's oil changed and more of Mo's chowder (there is a restaurant here too and Rhonda really wants to experience chowder in a homemade breadbowl). Then out of town and back on the road, heading to California.

All is still well with us, and we are still having a lot of fun. The weather is nice and cool, a refreshing change. We put on about 250 km on the Nissan. And everyone is still in the truck.