Vancouver Island - Day 10

Sorry that the name no longer matches the trip.  I gave it a name based on the start of the trip rather than the end.  Anyway, today we started out in Cannon Beach.  We did a little bit of shopping, checked out of the inn and then moved the van to a parking spot, which was difficult, as the town had a ton of visitors and not very many parking spots.  Then we walked down to the beach to see the rock and tide pools at low tide.  It was a lot of fun, but quite cold, with the wind blowing off the water.  We saw crabs, anemones and a few starfish.  However, it was difficult to see the puffins, as they were at the top of rock, which was still a long way away.  After a bunch of viewing and wandering around, we headed back to the van, which was surrounded by cars circling and looking for a parking spot.  We found a spot for lunch, ate and then left town.

Then it was driving down the beautiful highway 101 in Oregon.  Twisty at times, but lots of great views of the ocean, trees and rocks.  Near the end of the afternoon we arrived in Newport and the Oregon State Aquarium.  It was only open for a bit over an hour and a half, but it isn't a huge aquarium, so we still had time to go through.  It was a lot of fun, as they had a touch tank that Bradley loved, a fascinating giant Pacific octopus and an aviary that had puffins that you could view from fairly close up.  You could watch them dive into the water and swim and they are fantastic swimmers, which makes sense, because they are the most mediocre flying birds I've ever seen.  The final part of the aquarium is a walking tube where you can see fish, rays and sharks swimming over top of you.  Even I got a little bit excited watching the rays swim around the viewing area.

After leaving the aquarium, we headed a bit farther down the highway to Yachats and our hotel room.  Then it was out to find supper at a local seafood restaurant.  It didn't have any tables inside, just outside, and it was cold (around 15C, with a cold wind blowing).  We sat at an open table and froze a bit while we ate, though the kids only ate hamburgers.  It was near the end of our meal that I realized there was a large sheltered area where everyone else was sitting and we were the only silly people sitting out in the freezing wind trying to eat supper.  Oh well.

Tomorrow we will end up in Crescent City, which is our final destination before heading back to Regina.