Turning 40

The big 4-0.  I still can't believe I'm 40 years old.  I don't feel 40.  I don't quite think I look 40.  And yet, here I am.  All that being said, turning 40 is a whole lot more fun if you can do it somewhere beautiful and with your best friend (#69)!

This trip was more than six months in the planning, but with everything else that has been going on in my life, the timing could not have been better.  When I tried to figure out where I might want to go for my birthday, the thought of staying at the beach somewhere really overrode everything else.  The only problem being that my birthday is in July, and, well, I hate hot weather.  So I had to find a beach somewhere cooler.  Which is how Oregon became the final destination, and the fact that I've never been there before made it even better (#52).

Truly, this trip was about as close to perfect as it could have turned out.  I rented a condo in Rockaway Beach right on the beach for a week.  The condo itself was beautiful, but the view was absolutely amazing...

I would highly recommend Rockaway Beach to anyone looking for a beautiful, quiet getaway.  The beach really was perfect... it was busy enough to make for some fun people (and dog!) watching, but never so crowded that you couldn't enjoy the views and a leisurely walk.  Here it is at sunset...

We visited Canon Beach...

and Garibaldi...

 
and Astoria...

and Washington state (so Mashelda could visit a state she'd never been to before!)...

and on my birthday, we toured the Tillamook Cheese Factory!  yum!!  A perfect day, since I think cheese is probably my very favorite food of all time!  (those big yellow squares are huge 20 pound blocks of cheese!)

Mashelda not only baked a birthday cake for me from scratch, but also cooked a delicious birthday dinner of scallops, spinach, and mushrooms.  That is a best friend, indeed!

This was the most relaxing and fun vacation I have ever taken.  Ever.  We saw many beautiful things, read good books, ate amazing food, and never had to worry about a schedule!  I guess if you have to turn 40, this was absolutely my way of doing it fabulously!