Washington Coast

First up on monday was a stop in Long Beach,WA a cute little touristy town.  The town has a sign that boasts it is the longest beach in the world, has a cool boardwalk and lots of charm.  While there i saw the world's largest frying pan, a shrunken head from the amazon, an alligator man and a fortune teller machine that looked like it was right out of the movie Big.  I spent a little time walking around all of the shops and then spent some time hanging out on the beach.  From there i drove down to check out North Head Lighthouse.  I was a little disappointed that i couldn't go to the top of the lighthouse because the steps had been condemned due to rust, but it was still really cool to see and hear about the history of the lighthouse.  The path down to the lighthouse was so pretty and it was definitely one of the most relaxing little hikes i have taken.  The sun was out, there were flowers lining either side of me and the views of the ocean were beautiful.  The sky was so blue and the clouds behind it were just perfect that it looked fake to me.  Even the pictures i took, look as if someone put a painting of the sky behind the lighthouse.  Next up for me was the Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center at Cape Disappointment and the lighthouse there.  The interpretive center was pretty cool as it took you on the journey from pennsylvania all the way to washington and the obstacles they had to overcome to get there.  I kind of sped through the museum because i was tired and i knew i could be there for hours just reading and looking at everything, but it was still pretty interesting to see the types of books they had and the boats they used and all the maps they drew to get where they were going.  I decided to take the hike up to the lighthouse after finishing up with the museum and it was quite a hike up there.  The lighthouse was out of order too, but it was pretty to look at.  Some guy asked me on my hike down if i thought it was worth it, i said i didn't know.  He laughed and said that was a pretty good answer.  It was cool, and my pictures turned out good, but i'm still not sure if it was worth the hike up there =)  Seaside was my next stop and that is definitely a place i would love to go back to and spend a couple of days at.  It's another tourist trap with a cool boardwalk and a beautiful beach.  Like Long Beach it is very charming, and definitely looks like a fun place to live or to just stay for the summer.  I went into a store that was set up like and old fashioned soda shop and still served sodas in a bottle and had the old time drinks from back in the day.  I love places like that and decided to order myself a chocolate shake, which was really good and a great way to wind down my day.  After that i stopped at Ecola State Park to get some good pics of the ocean and then made my way to Hannah's house in Silverton,Oregon where i'll be staying at until Saturday morning.