I like Big Buttes

Sunday, that means Chicago Bears football.  The game is at 10:00 am pacific time, so we tried to cram a quick hike.  We galloped to a local favorite, Spencer Butte.  Short mileage and quick elevation gain (800 ft).  Hikes like this remind us why we are doing what we are doing.  Hikes like this reveals martha's anger she has towards my physical fitness level. Great view in our "backyard."  Had lunch at Pita Pit, haven't had it since undergrad at UofI.  Good hike, good food, good game (bears vs panthers).

Coastal Chowder Traverse

It was a rainy one, but we did not want that to hold us back with our original plan of Sea Lion Cave.  About 1.5 hrs from Eugene, on the coast off Hwy 101, sea lions were waiting for us, or so we thought.  The front desk hostess of the caves told us that the sea lions were not in the caves, but rather playing in the sea.  We asked if there was a way we could woo the sea lions in the cave, no such luck.  So we saw a few swimming sea lions, nothing upfront and personal.  Do you know the difference between a sea lion and a seal?  The main difference is that sea lions actually walk on land while the seal crawls, whoa.  One of the guides said that the sea lions are a very lazy creature but they are capable of climbing up steep cliffs to bake in the sun.  See Sea Lions Cave, check.

We still had a few hours to spare, so we continued north on Hwy 101 for our search for an outlet mall in Lincoln City.  We are addicted to outlet malls and outlet shopping, cause we need more stuff to drive around with us.  En route to outlet mall land, we stopped in a cute small town where Martha experienced her first clam chowder.  The shop was very proud that they serve gluten-free food, but bad news for me, whenever I hear gluten-free, it usually means not egg-free.  Martha enjoyed her first chowder and the cook was so excited she chose this place to be un-virgined.

 

Sea lions, first clam chowder, outlet mall, burning full tank of gas= successful day.