Oregon Coast 2009

This past weekend, the Stoddard clan enjoyed our annual gathering at Otter Crest. The weather was downright balmy by Oregon coast standards -- calm and sunny with temps in the high-60's. We wasted no time getting down to the beach to see what low tide had revealed.

Grandma, the budding photographer, snapped several million photos with her new fancy camera. Grandpa focused on keeping the grandkids from falling into the kelp-filled tidal pools.

Mom and Taeg' went off alone trying to find something cool, like a discarded Rick Astley album. No luck. Apparently, nobody's gonna give Rick up. They were very let down.

Karsten, Grandpa, and I journeyed way out to the perilous edge of the tidal flats and found dozens of starfish. Lesser men tried to follow our route, but they slipped on the kelp and fell into the sea...along with their expensive digital cameras and turned back (true story!).

We visited the Oregon Aquarium in Newport. Taeg' enjoyed the otters the best -- unless you consider the inanimate creatures, in which case she enjoyed the concrete dolphins best.

The highlight for me, however, was the fascinating documentary about luminescent bacteria found inside deep sea organisms. Just look at the faces of my mother and Melissa -- it's obvious they found the 26-minute video presentation just as spellbinding as I did.


Despite their brief indulgence of a nature documentary devotee, we all had a good time. We're already looking forward to next year.