The Seats of Our Pants Took Off Flying...

I am spontaneous.

My husband is generally NOT.  (My spontaneity tends to drive him a little nuts...)

He had planned to take a day off...

We were talking about what we should do, the weather was going to be FABULOUS...

Should we go to Portland to shop?  (on a sunny day, are you nuts?) or go to the beach? (drive 2 1/2 hours to our favorite Oregon beach - Cannon Beach - and home in one day while the sun is shining seems a little bit dumb to me).  

"Why don't we leave tonight?" I suggested.

"Maybe we should just stay home" he countered.

"What just happened?" I asked.

"I don't know....." he replied.

We went home and he disappeared...to make some calls...to motels...(he was going to be spontaneous, but only if we wouldn't end up sleeping in the car!)

He re-appeared.  "Let's get packed and go!" he announced.

That was all I needed...that and to throw some scratch to the chickens since they wouldn't get any in the morning...

We threw clothes in a bag and left.  

He seemed a little dazed at first and then he felt FUN...I like it when my husband feels FUN!

We stayed in a rather sketch motel...

FYI, there is a HUGE difference between the two Shilo Inns in Seaside...HUGE.  The one that's not right on the beach is older and not updated.  It still uses KEYS...yes, METAL KEYS.  And the rooms are a little bit....well...let's just say bedbugs crossed my mind and I had to choose not to worry.  All was fine.  We were in Seaside and that's all that matters!

We got up and headed to Cannon Beach to catch low tide.

Turns out, it was nesting season and Haystack Rock was a hubbub of several bird species sitting and flying and swooping...

And there were nesting PUFFINS...there were Puffins EVERYWHERE...however, this is the only photo I was able to get...because they were far away or hidden in the crevices of the rock and vegetation.  They'd fly out and circle around and back to their nest...it was very cool...

The tide pools were incredible...the COLORS of the sea life....SO beautiful!  I stuck my finger in some sea anemones...how could I resist?

This is our attempt at being cute.  My shadow appears to be pregnant...for the record, I am NOT pregnant.  Holy heck, can you even imagine?  Oh the humanity!  

                                      

This was my attempt at a "selfie" with haystack rock.  Haystack rock is being played by Alex's head in this photo...fortunately, there are no birds nesting in or on his head...

After a morning of ocean breezes, crashing waves and general seaside euphoria... 

We drove down the coast to Tillamook...

Alex:  Let's go to Tillamook!

Me:  YES!  Ice cream!

Alex:  Oh, you want ice cream?

Me:  Is there any other reason to go to Tillamook?

Alex:  I guess not.

Me:  *Eye roll*

We had ice cream for lunch...yes, just ice cream.  

We saw this beautiful sight along the way...It truly couldn't have been a more beautiful day...it's not even remotely possible...

Later that afternoon, we made our way to Portland to do a little shoppin' on the way home.  We kept seeing fields of vivid fuchsia flowers...we finally stopped to see what they were...  drum roll.....clover.  

Could have knocked me over with a feather.  I had no idea clover was a crop.  

When I got home I googled it.  Apparently, it's a rich source of nitrogen.  Used as a cover crop, it's grown to sell as a natural fertilizer to farmers in the midwest.  

There were lots of bees in the flowers so we assumed it was used for honey production...

And I'm sure it is...and gosh, it's just beautiful too!

It was fun to fly by the seat of our pants, drop everything and go!

The "order gods" did not smite us.
We had so much fun being together and deciding what to do as we went...
Because unlike the Puffins',
Our nest is empty...