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| Bull kelp, which Jasper had only seen before washed up on the beach. |
A mom in our homeschool group invited everyone to join their family at the
Oregon Coast Aquarium for a special day for homeschoolers. We took up the challenge of the very long drive, armed with some pretty great audio books, a big bag of popcorn, and lots and lots of things to draw with. The special events they had planned for homeschoolers which we did catch, did not actually knock our socks off. But the rest of the aquarium always does that, every time. They had some amazing people volunteering at the touch pool when we visited. They went out of their way to show Jasper dozens of amazing creatures, and to tell him all about them. He got to play with little tube worms, feel sea anemones tug at his fingers, and watch them feed the tidepool creatures. This is just about his most favorite thing in the world. He reluctantly agreed to see some of their other exhibits, but came back to the touch pool over and over. He only agreed to leave when I explained that if we didn't go, we would miss dropping by the nearby
Hatfield Marine Science Center, which is definitely not to be missed. They have a touch pool, a giant pacific octopus in a tank that gives visitors good odds of seeing it up close, and some pretty cool interactive exhibits.
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| An abalone. |
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| Starfish have amazing feet! |
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| The touch pool at Hatfield. |
Finally, we headed for the beach. Nearby
Yaquina Head offered a really spooky beach walk. After arriving on the beach, we found ourselves in a mist that left everything gray. We could hear the ocean but not see it. We set out in search of it. We had planned our arrival for low tide. The beach must be very flat there, because it had a faint wetness that looked as if the tide had just receded about a quarter mile out all at once. The further toward the ocean we walked, the more complete the gray landscape was, and our feet left no prints in the sand. It was like walking into a roll of seamless paper. Jasper was completely fascinated with the shells and strange kelp he found occasionally breaking up the endless gray. He filled his pockets with these treasures, and brought a little of the sea home with him.
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| Yaquina Head |
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