New Year’s Eve- another year gone and a new one ahead. What lies in store for any of us this year? It’s hard to know. We make goals and plans, and hopefully keep some of them. When we talk about the New Year at our house it’s full of plans to fulfill our travel goals. Given this, what better way to welcome the New Year, then on the road. This time we made our way to Whaler’s Rest, just south of Newport.

After the excitement of our last trip, this one seemed pretty uneventful. It was relaxing and peaceful, which is always nice. Something everyone has to do when they’re in Newport is to visit the Old Bay Front. We walked along the long row of shops and restaurants. It was a cold day, but it was sunny. We stopped to see the Sea Lions next to the aquarium. They slept and sunned themselves and yelled when they wanted to. This was the life. After that we walked down to the Rogue Brewery Restaurant. There’s one on the north side of the bay, and one on the south, where the actually brewery is. We’d planned to stop at the brewery for a tour, but decided to eat here on the north side. We both ordered their Kobe beef burger, and oh man, that was definitely one of the all time best hamburgers either of us had ever had!

After lunch, we visited the Yaquina Bay light house. One of the more interesting stories told by the tour guide there was about a chamber pot in one of the bedrooms. Recently it had been found in use as a soup tourine in the house of an unsuspecting family. It had been donated happily by the family once they knew the truth, and was now returned to its rightful place beside a bed in the old house.

The evening was upon us now and there was a choice to be made. Stay in and watch movies, or join the excitement at the Thousand Trails New Year’s Eve Party. The party was being celebrated on New York time. The count down to New Year would start promptly at 8:50 PM, ensuring the Thousand Trails residents could be home and cozy in their beds by no later than 9:10. We were torn- stay home and sample some of the beer that we had picked up at the Rogue Brewery, or attend what was sure to be the event of the year for Thousand Trails members. We decided to stay home. We toasted at 9:00 and fell asleep before midnight. When the clock struck 12:00 we heard clanging and fireworks in the distance. We wished each other a happy New Year and fell back asleep- happy and dreaming of the year ahead.

We got some good picture this trip...