Gorgeous coastal weather in the PacNW and an ice cream adventure.

Quick overnight trip out to the coast with the family on a Friday. Fawn and I took Atreyu and the tent and set it up at some free spots near the Tillamook Forest Center. We headed out early in the morning and went out to Sauvies Island, Fawn had an interview (GODD LUCK!!) so Atreyu and I strolled out on one of the many gorgeous wildlife areas for a bit. We watched the day begin to get warm, saw an eagle, a blue heron and a bunch of fish and even heard a couple of otters playing in the water.

As soon as Fawn was done the team headed out for our little trip. Even though we were out super early in the day it was still a super nice Friday so we decided to set up camp first. We got out and all set up by noon, and collected wood and built a fire and cooked our lunch. We had a nice picnic lunch with a couple of brats from the butcher and mac salad. Pretty yummy!!

After lunch we jumped back into the van for a lovely afternoon at the coast. We made the mandatory stop at the Tillamook factory for Ice Cream cones. I had a two berry flavors waffle cone, Fawn had Huckleberry pie cone and Atreyu had a double chocolate kiddie cone, and of course he wore a fair bit on his face.  The factory is building a new visitor center, so there is no tour right now, but they weren't going to go through the summer without dolling out the scoops and the cheese samples so they have a temporary space set up, still nice.

Fawn in her natural habitat.

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A few miles north of Tillamook is the town of Girabaldi Oregon. There you can find the Barview Jetty Park. They have a campground and beach access. Super pretty campground and location was ideal of course but spendy, and it looked like they would nickel and dime you to death, pay showers and all. We couldn't have asked for better weather it was sunny and warm out on the coast. Our team strolled and scrambled out over the boulders to the end of the jetty and then back down onto the beach for a while. This trip was about a year anniversary of the first time we took Luna to the beach and she has come so far. Last year at this time we couldn't have let her anywhere near other dogs, or people or anything that moved very quickly. This time she and I jogged a half mile up the sand and I let her run back to Fawn completely on her own, without one worry. So proud of that dog.

We stopped at "Fishermans Korner Restaurant" for dinner. They advertise "The best Fish & Chips in Tillamook county" I do have to say if thats true, I feel kinda bad for Tillamook county. The food was ok, but nothing too crazy awesome. Not like it's something to blog about... I've eaten a lot of fish & chips at the coast and my personal belief is: there is better out there...  Atreyu had a little bit of a tough time sitting still, he was so tired...just.. couldn't.. sit stilllllllllll....AND....... he fell asleep on the drive back to camp. I snuggled him into his bag so Fawn and I could enjoy a quiet evening with some fudge cookies, hot tea and reading by the fire in camp chairs and the hammock.

Early to bed, early to rise. I was reminded why some people talk about "camping weather". Got up in the morning and didn't even bother with a fire, just hot water on the stove for coffee, and some granola cereal for breakfast. It was just plain warm and comfortable. Atreyu had baseball practice so we booked it back to town, stopped for bagels and a coffee refill on the way (way harder than I ever would have thought).

We did have a fairly seriously loss on this trip. Our Coleman 4 person tent had a pole splinter. I managed to hold it together with some masking tape for the overnight. We got this tent for free and have been using almost every time we went car camping since. I would just replace the pole but the truth is its got a couple little tiny holes and the fly isn't as reliable as it once was so probably best to just replace the whole tent. It is open and spacious. We are looking for suggestions that are affordable and sturdy with at least 55sq feet floor so we can take it out with plenty of room to stretch out inside or snuggle in if its raining or anything. I do need to replace this soon as the Rainier trip is coming up in like 2 weeks and we could easily spend the few nights in the smaller tent, since Luna isn't coming with us but its more comfy with room to change clothes and stuff.