A Coastal Engagement

I'm gonna go ahead and start out this post by saying this weekend was INCREDIBLE! Chris and I left Hayden with her Grandma and Pappa and headed to the Oregon Coast last Friday. I was thrilled to get away for the weekend. Chris and I haven't done something like this since before Hayden was born and, believe it or not, I've never been to the Oregon Coast. Boy, have I been missing out!! The beauty there is surreal and unlike anything I've ever seen.

The drive down was long, as expected. Enjoyable though, considering I had time to relax, snooze and read which now days is hard to find time to do. We made a stop at Multnomah Falls and I'm glad we did. It was incredibly beautiful, the rain had stopped and the sun was shinning. It was the first of many memorable memories that were going to be created over the next few days.

 



We arrived at Cannon Beach a couple hours before sunset on Friday. We checked into our room, a set of little town houses just a block from the beach. There was a lush little courtyard in the center with a koi pond. Chris did an awesome job choosing the place for us to stay while we were there. We threw on our rain jackets and headed to the beach while the sun was still up (even if it was behind the clouds and raining). We took a stroll along the coast, checked out the tide pools and just took in the beauty that IS the Oregon Coast line. We grabbed dinner at Castaways Tini Tiki Hut afterwards and then called it a night. We new we had a lot we wanted to see on Saturday.

Although the temptation to sleep in Saturday morning was great, we new we had a very limited time so we were up bright and early at 7am. We had breakfast in Cannon Beach and then we were off to Astoria to see the Goonies house. We actually watched The Goonies on Thursday night before we left so it would be fresh in our minds. We got to see the Goonies house and (if you remember the movie) the window at the bowling alley that Chunk squeezes his milk shake all over in the opening credits car chase scene.

On a side note, as we were leaving the Goonies house, Chris and I took a wrong turn. I told him to just turn around, as Siri (iphone GPS narrator) began to redirect us. We took a couple turns and started laughing as we realized we were suddenly directly in front of this famous school.

If it doesn't look familiar, this might jog your memory:

We had heard the school was in Astoria, but didn't really have the intention of driving by so it was funny that we just happened across it. It was a pretty funny discovery. As Chris said, "we had a very 'nerd productive' morning."

Once done in Astoria we went back South on the 101 and ventured into Ecola Park. It was a wilderness wonderland there. Breathtaking views of the coast. We visited a couple of different view points from within the park. One of which was also a film spot of the Goonies. We hiked the coastline, took tons of pictures and were just blown away by how majestic the beaches were there.

On our way out of Ecola park we came around a corner to see close to 10 elk down in a small valley below grazing. We parked and were able to get a couple shots before the forest ranger got after us for stopping on the road. The reprimand was worth the ability to get so close to those animals. Afterwards, we went back to the room for a quick power nap to refuel for an evening of walking the coast/waiting for sunset on Cannon Beach.

It was a little rainy and gloomy when we laid down for a nap in the afternoon, but by the time we woke up and got down to the beach, the rain had stopped and the sun was shinning. It was beyond perfect. We started walking around 4 and just kept walking. Past Haystock rock, past flocks of birds. The waves crashing.

We stopped just slightly before the sun started to go down. We were in a quiet little cove, all by ourselves, the waves crashing, the sun setting, when Chris got down on one knee and asked me to MARRY him!!! The setting was incredible. Perfectly amazing. Chris helped design the ring and it has a great sentimental story. I couldn't have dreamt up a more perfect proposal. I mean, just look at the backdrop behind the photo of the engagement ring! Chris and I have been together for 7 years. We own a home together, have a child. And we made a commitment to each other throughout that time that we both have planned to honor and cherish forever and always, marriage or not. But it feels good to be able to call him my fiancé now. Boyfriend always seemed so....not right some how. We have not set a date. But now we can start planning and that makes me super excited. I don't know how I got so lucky to have such an amazing and thoughtful man in my life. I'm looking forward to spending forever with him.