C Is For...

Cold coast.

After we checked out of our hotel, we headed over to Fort Stevens State Park to see the wreck of the "Peter Iredale," a cargo ship which ran aground in 1906. It was super windy and cold this morning so we didn't stay very long!

Breakfast is the most important meal of the day

From the beach, we drove up to the historic military area. We were surprised to see a number of elk grazing in someone's front yard!

Because the military museum didn't open until 10:00AM, we walked around the grounds first. This was the third of the coastal defense forts established near the mouth of the Columbia River. 

On June 21, 1942, a Japanese submarine fired on Fort Stevens, but didn't cause any significant damage. The fort's commander didn't return fire because the submarine was out of range, and he didn't want to reveal the position of their guns. This was the only attack on a military installation in the continental United States during World War II.

Another disappearing gun

Civil War-era earthwork fort

Cheese.

Our original plan was to drive down the coast and stop by the Tillamook Cheese Factory for a tour. We were especially looking forward to sampling some of their cheese and ice cream. But they had recently closed their visitor center for renovations and weren't going to reopen their temporary facility until March 22. Aw, bummer - missed it by that much!

So, we decided to take US-26 back east instead since it was a little faster route to Salem. We got off the highway to look for someplace to eat in Hillsboro and found a Sonic. Like Dairy Queen, this is another of the boys' favorite places to stop on our road trips. (I just don't get it.) After lunch the navigation app routed us on local roads through Beaverton, which just happened to take us past the corporate headquarters for Nike. Sorry, J - no tours here either!

Just a few days too early for the cherry blossoms

Capital capitol.

Once we got to Salem, we drove straight over to the capitol building. I was surprised that there wasn't any TSA-like security screening at the entrances. Of the seven that we have visited, New Mexico's capitol is the only other one without any x-ray machines.

We walked around the building, poking our heads into any room that was open because we are nosy tourists after all...

Looking up at the dome from the rotunda

State Senate

House of Representatives

Cousins.

Yay! We go to meet the newest member of our clan!

After seeing the capitol, we dumped off our stuff in the hotel room and headed over to R's cousin's house for dinner. Another one of his cousins also lives near Portland, and she came down to join us, too. So much fun hanging out with family for the evening!