Some R&R at the beach

As a Christmas gift in 2009, Jared's super generous boss gave all of his staff members a gift certificate to go towards an overnight stay at the Surfsand Resort in Cannon Beach. It only took these two staff members 2 years and 11 months to use it!

If we were going to use our gift certificate, Friday, Nov. 9th was the only available day we had before it expired. The stars aligned because Jared's mom was able to fly up for a quick weekend trip and stay with us Thursday night through Monday, and watch the kids for us while we were away. We are SO grateful for her sacrifice of time and money to do that for us.

We were unable to check in until 4pm and it's only about an hour away, but we left Friday morning and headed to the temple to do a session together. I feel extremely fortunate to be married to a man who not only took me to the temple to be married, but takes me back every month. It's our "first" date for the month. Once that has been fulfilled and there's time and resources left, then he'll take me on a "second" (temporal) date--like to a movie or dinner. I know there are men out there who don't feel that being at the temple with their wives is much of a date. But I can't think of a better way to spend time together--renewing temple covenants and partaking of the Spirit that dwells in the Lord's holy house. It's the perfect date!

Before our temple service, however, we had breakfast at Denny's. Jared was excited to learn just a few weeks prior that Denny's offers free refills on hot chocolate. :)

After our temple session, we headed to Cannon Beach via Highway 26. I don't know that I've ever taken this route to the beach before. It's usually the 6 I think, going to Tillamook--a very winding, twisty-turny drive, that I'm finding, in my old age, makes me a little sick. Even when I'm in the front seat! So highway 26 was a wonderful, wide alternative and didn't even feel like we were headed to the coast. We enjoyed seeing the beautiful fall leaves and much to our surprise...sun breaks and blue sky!

We found the hotel and even though we were a couple hours early, I went to the front desk to do as much of the check-in as I could. As it turns out, our room was almost ready. They got Jared's cell number and said they'd call when the room was done. We parked around the back where we thought our beachfront room would be and took some pictures. We were basically nextdoor to Haystack Rock.

This is a view to the right (north) from the "boardwalk" area outside the hotel. If you look closely (or click on the picture) you can see a lighthouse in the center left. That's the Tillamook Lighthouse known as "Terrible Tilly" in Ecola State Park.

This is a view straight out in front of the boardwalk. Obviously it was low tide when we arrived.

This is a little left from the boardwalk. That's not us out there walking hand in hand on the beach, but we can pretend if you'd like. I had no desire to get sand on my shoes which would then, in turn, get sand in my suburban which had just been recently detailed. It's all about the 'burb, baby.

Here's Haystack!

And a picture of me.

We wandered back to the front desk so we could use the facilities. That's when I was informed that our room was ready. Yay!

Room #1304. 2nd floor, smack dab in the middle...right above where we stood to take pictures.

Here's the room description we got in our reservation confirmation:
The beach front one bedroom suite we have reserved for you will accommodate up to 4. It has a private bedroom with a king size TempurPedic bed and flat screen LCD TV. The living room features a double size sofa sleeper, arm chair, gas fireplace, flat screen LCD TV and a courtesy center that includes a snack size refrigerator, microwave, and a coffee maker. The spacious bathroom includes a large soaking tub, step in shower and a flat screen LCD TV. From inside you have a direct ocean view and a private balcony with a panoramic view.

I promised we'd take pictures of the hotel room to show the kids. Jake heard there was a TV in the bathroom and his jaw fell to the floor. Dream on boys!

I actually used the video camera when we first got there to get shots of the hotel room. It wasn't until we were about to leave that I forgot about regular pictures. Dang it. So...I made the bed 10 minutes before check-out. Jared walked in to get our bags and he exclaimed, "You made the bed!" Yeeaah. I explained I forgot to get a picture of it the day before. He said, "Well, if you ever need a job, you could work here in Housekeeping. It looks great!" Interestingly enough, Jared has been trying to persuade me to think about a TempurPedic bed for a couple of years now. We just got a brand new mattress...5 years ago. But still...we should have a few more good years out of it before we need another. I've laid on his parents' TempurPedic bed for a couple of minutes when they lived in Illinois and it felt like I was laying on wet sand--firm with a very slight give. I wasn't impressed. So I was cautiously optimistic about the opportunity to give this mattress a test run. Survey says: I thought it was great and can see a future with TempurPedic in it! Jared, however, woke up...sore of all things! His back was sore before our trip though, so we'll let that slide.

Here's the spacious bathroom with large soaking tub. I neglected to get a shot of the TV right above the toilet to the left there. But I assure you, it is there. Right along with the phone.

Here's the living room. That couch doesn't appear to be very comfortable, but it was suprisingly so! The entire west side of the room was ceiling-to-floor glass. One half was a large picture window and the other half was the sliding door to the balcony.

The view from the couch.

After checking in, we went to get a late lunch. I had a hankering for fish and chips. We found a delicious plate of it at Morris' Fireside. Isn't this place adorable? It's even prettier at night when it's all lit up.

We found that we were the ONLY patrons there at the time. This weekend was "WOW: Women Only Weekend" at Cannon Beach. I'm not sure that had anything to do with it, but we were fine with the entire place to ourselves. Our waiter was especially doting :) The halibut was melt in your mouth delicious and seasoned perfectly. Jared thoroughly enjoyed the pulled pork sandwich.

Even though I completely stuffed myself with fried fish, I spotted THIS place out the window nextdoor. Dessert for sure!!

Crepe Neptune. Oh my. We were full, but grabbed two to-go for a snack later. We got #13--Neptune's Daughter which has fresh lemon, butter and powdered sugar...sounded like a lighter, flatter version of our German pancakes. It was. Yummo.

The other crepe was #21--Twin Rocks and I later discovered the favorite of Mr. Crepe Neptune's wife. It is now Jenn Hough's favorite. Caramel, semi-sweet chocolate, sea salt. How can you go wrong??? It was SO divine and scrumptious that I had to get another one before we left town Saturday morning. You've GOT to try it. Or try making your own. The salt addition was absolutely PER.FECT.

We got back to the hotel lobby just in time for the Fresh Baked Cookies they offer every afternoon.  Mmmm...more warm chocolatey goodness. Twist our arms.

The sun sets early here in Oregon this time of year. We also saw clouds rolling in from the ocean that added to the seascape. We did get rain that evening, but by then it was totally dark and we were cozy inside so it didn't matter.

I decided I wanted pizza around 8:30. We ran out to get some at Pizza A Fetta. On our way back to our car, we were stunned to see several inches of SNOW on the back of a car. Huh?? That couldn't be. Could it? It was the weirdest thing. Surely if it snowed, there'd be some all over but it was JUST restricted to the back end of that one particular vehicle. Maybe we were drunk with relaxation and hallucinated the precipitation, but I'd bet my life on it.

Here are some pictures of early Saturday morning off our balcony. I love the swirling formation of the clouds in this first one.

I love the almost imperceptible tint of pink in this one.

My only "advice" for the entire weekend would be this...avoid taking your suburban, if you can. We left our van for Jared's mom because it's easier for her to get in and out of. Parking at the Surfsand Resort is a little tight, but doable. Parking at Pig N' Pancake (the BEST breakfast chain I've been to in decades!) was not. We got ourselves stuck, almost wedged at the dead end part of their lot. It was a 20 point turn (back up 1/2 an inch, turn wheel and pull up 1/2 an inch, back up 1/2 an inch, turn wheel and pull up 1/2 an inch....repeated 10 times--at least). Jared says if we were in the suburban he grew up in, we'd still be in the Pig N' Pancake parking lot. But we made it out without damage to anything, except maybe our parking pride and were happy to be seated in the very back of the restaurant. This was our view. Isn't it so cozy and quaint??

Jared and I did our own little "sweet and savory" couple's breakfast. I very confidently ordered the "award winning" sourdough pancakes. I was a little nervous when the waitress asked if I wanted 8 or 6. I opted for 6. I'm so glad I did and I'm so sad I didn't! Topped with marionberry syrup, those pancakes were thin and melt-in-your-mouth amazing! I could have eaten two more, but it's probably best that I didn't. Jared ordered the taco omelet. I'm not much of an omelet girl, but the description of that omelet was super tempting. Seasoned beef, black beans, cheese, onions, tomatoes with guacamole, salsa and sour cream. It was huge and it was delish. I SO wish there was a Pig N' Pancake closer to home. But now that I think about it, maybe it's best that they're limited to the coast...or I'd be there often and I'd surely weigh 25 pounds more than I do now.

After breakfast, we went back to the hotel room with our full bellies and read our ebooks and napped until it was time to check-out. It was divine. Then we hit the shops. We were looking for a gift for Jared's mom. I have to say, as far as my financial demographic goes...these shops are waaaaay out of my league and don't really appeal to me at all. They were fun to walk through since I'd never consider buying anything there. I was actually starting to think we'd never find anything reasonable and practical to get Karole to show our gratitude for watching the kids. Fortunately, near the end, we were able to purchase some marionberry jam and a Santa ornament that was handcarved by a woman who actually lives in Cannon Beach and uses the wood from her yard. I actually wanted one myself! Very cool.

The weather on Saturday was even MORE glorious than on Friday. I cannot believe our good fortune. I mean, what are the odds of seeing the sun in Oregon in November and at the COAST no less. For those who are from Alaska, it's right up there with the odds of seeing all of Mt. McKinley from Anchorage.

Before we left the beach for good...we made an imperative stop at Crepe Neptune. Too bad my 2nd Twin Rocks crepe was gone before we got two blocks down the road. And too bad it was only about an hour drive home before we hit reality again. However, we were happy to see that Karole wasn't tied up and all was relatively well. Saturdays are a busy day for us though as we prepare for Sunday, so it was "back to the salt mines" pretty darn quick without any slow transition. Oh well.

Today in Relief Society, my friend Elissa asked me how our weekend at the beach was. I told her it was incredible in every way and that Jared and I are going to make a goal to do something like that once a year. Another friend on the other side of Elissa, leaned forward and asked incredulously, "Once a year?? Really??" She then advised, "Honey, you need to go more than that or you ain't gonna survive!"

Wouldn't that be great? I'm just not sure it's practical. We didn't forget about this gift certificate. It seriously took us this long to find time in our schedules to make it work. Let alone, to find a sitter and the finances.

With that said, I can't believe how much difference just ONE night away from the craziness of life (even the things you love...like the little kiddies) can do for a couple. I seriously wish every couple could get away like this. And I think I'd totally advise it to newlyweds. Just be creative and make it work. And when the grandkids come...I hope I can be in a position to do the same for our kids and their spouses.