Valentines Day 2008 we spent in Newport Oregon. We stayed at the Whale Inn, a quaint and rather run down, coastal motel off Hwy 101 in Depoe Bay. My sweetheart, spent all day in a conference while my son and I packed ourselves off to the Newport Aquarium. We then grabbed some lunch and drove out to Yaquina Head where we sat beside the lighthouse and ate. Appetites sated, we hiked up Salal Hill a quarter mile to the top. My son and Sam, our dog, ran the whole way up, here's a picture of the view. After looking at the ocean from afar, we decided to take a closer peek. We descended to Cobble Beach on the south side of the lighthouse. The cobbles were lots of fun to walk on and slide down, making such cool clacking and cracking noises. Since the tide was out, we were able to walk out to the tidepools. My son loved touching the sea anemones and sea stars. After the sun had gone down and my partner was all conferenced out, we collapsed into our little double bed in the motel room and fell asleep... despite the periodic whirring of the heater which sounded like a rocket was launching once an hour at our feet. If cherubs and arrows spell Valentine's Day then our gritty motel room, noisy heater and crowded little bed spelled Love.
