Pay It Forward

Tonight, we decided to stay in Rockaway Beach, which is a small town on the northern coast of Oregon. This was after we visited Tillamook, which is seemingly the cheese capital of Oregon. Tillamook is home to the Tillamook Cheese Factory and Blue Heron Cheese. We visited both. Callie was able to go to her very first petting zoo and feed all sorts of animals - cows, goats, sheep, etc. It was funny and she loved it. We have some great video them eating out of her hands! At the Tillamook Cheese Factory, the self-guided tour was interesting, but to be honest, cheese making really is not all that interesting in itself. What was interesting was the tasting area and the fact that they had MARS BARS. YES, I SAID MARS BARS. I was totally excited! That was perhaps my favorite candy bar before they took them off the market in the US and started selling them in the UK only. So, I bought two. One for Grandma Freda (because she is the one who introduced them to me) and one for me to snack on (since Thomas and I have decided to come back completely FAT).

So, after all this, we made our way to Rockaway Beach and checked into a nice cheap hotel. We have a partial ocean view with beach access and the room has a kitchenette and fireplace. Best of all is the price. Last nights room was cheap, but this one is cheaper! Yea!

After we all went and watched the sun set on the beach (and Callie stuck her toes in the ocean for the first time), we went to a restaurant called "Pirate's Cove" in Girabaldi (about four miles down the road). We waited for about 30 minutes to get a table because everyone at the hotel told us it was worth it. It was very busy at the restaurant and people seemed to be enjoying themselves. Once we were seated, we ordered some really strong iced tea and our meal, which consisted of Bay Oyster Shooters (mini raw oysters with cocktail sauce and lemon), salad and a huge plate of fresh crab that we shared. (Tonya - you would have LOVED this meal and we would have had a lot of fun cracking crab together. Some people break bread together, we crack crab.)

Anyway - after this fantastic meal, our waitress came over to our table and said, "Well, your meal has been paid for, so you guys have a great night!" I sat there with my mouth hanging wide open and Thomas (who, apparently really didn't hear her) said, "What did you say?" She just looked at us and told us that someone had paid for our meal and we should do the same for someone else. She said that it was a stranger and it wasn't the first time she had seen it happen in there. We don't know who it was or why they did it, but we know they did and it was shocking and touching at the same time. As we left, we decided we would do the same for someone on this trip. We would find some little family like ours and essentially "pay it forward" to them.

Of course, this will probably not be an expensive meal like ours and it may be in the Carl's Jr. drive through, but that's okay! Just kidding. I will let you know how it turns out (and I promise it won't be a fast food restaurant situation). More tomorrow! We miss you guys!