sea lion caves — Blog — Just Keep Running Blog

Happy Friday-eve! This is the second-to-last day of my official #funemployment. It’s crazy how much faster the week goes by when you’ve got a free schedule as opposed to working all week?! Not really sure why that is, but I’ve been able to get a bunch of things done this week (including almost all of my runs already)! I’ve got some quick pick-ups to do today and hoping the snow/rain will hold off before I can get my run in later this morning. I’m also still reminiscing on our trip last week to Oregon and thought it would be fun to share the trip with you! I did a bunch of research before our trip to see what was on a ‘must-see’ list for the state and the time of year that we visited.

Luckily, the Wooden Shoe Tulip Festival was still going on and it was on the drive to Eugene from Portland. I highly recommend stopping here if you can. We got there around 11am on a Saturday (it was a bit rainy), but honestly the lines & traffic were nowhere near where I anticipated they would be. We spent around 30 minutes here, but I could seeing spending the entire day there (and SO many cute dogs were there).

In Eugene, we were ALL about getting some delicious food post-Eugene Marathon and eating dinner at The Beer Stein did not disappoint. They had a crazy-good selection of beers, apps, and the steak salad really hit the spot (along with that delicious pretzel)! Highly recommend going here if Brewerys are your thing.

The best place we ate at all week was at Off the Waffle in Eugene. We went to the one in South Eugene and it had a great super relaxed vibe. The waffle was absolutely INCREDIBLE. Perfectly toasted on the outside and sweet/sugary on the inside. We also walked across the street to the used bookstore (if that’s your thing)- it was HUGE and so many incredible deals. I wish we had one of these close to us.

We left Eugene on Monday and traveled about an hour and a half west to Florence. We visited the Sea Lion Caves and it was AMAZING. I cannot believe that there were over 200 sea lions just hanging out along the beach area. So cool to see them in their natural habitat.

We stayed the night in Florence at a hotel overlooking the ocean. Saw the most incredible sunset. It was perfect.

We left Florence on Tuesday and headed up the coast towards Cannon Beach. This was the longest drive we had of around 3.5 hours. It was such a scenic drive of the ocean for the majority of it and we stopped along the way to see Heceta Lighthouse. The lighthouse was beautiful, but honestly the views of the ocean landscape and the seals were the best part (ha).

We kept going along our drive and the Tillamook Creamery was on our route so we just HAD to stop. It was a huge cafeteria/gift-shop area and the amount of ice cream options they had was incredible. I got the S’mores flavor and it was incredible. My mom got the cold brew flavor and it was also delicious. We also got a grilled cheese, which was the creamiest, richest, cheesiest grilled cheese I’ve ever had.

We stayed the night in Seaside along the ocean again (about a 1/4 mile from the beach area) and it was a great place to run along the beach and their boardwalk. Super cute homes there as well to look at. We went to Cannon Beach the next morning and that was so beautiful.

The drive on Wednesday back to Portland from Seaside was pretty fast - around an hour. We stopped first at Blue Star donuts at one of their downtown locations. The donuts were pretty good- heavier than other donuts I’ve had- and really interesting savory flavors. It reminded me of some really indulgent cakes, where you can’t exactly finish the slice, but the bites you are able to have are real good.

The last stop on our travels was to Columbia River Gorge and Multonmah Falls. SO stunning and the pictures do not do it justice. Unfortunately the hike to the top of the Falls was closed when we were there, but luckily the crowds were minimal and the drive to the falls from Portland was also extremely scenic. I could see spending several days here to visit and hike through all of the vast outdoor space this area had. I definitely want to go back.