We enjoyed going down to the beach in Oregon for our Christmas trip. Here we are on the Candy Cane Express train that runs from Garibaldi to Rockaway in Oregon. The trip is only about 5 miles, but the train takes about half an hour each way. It was actually a lot of fun! We got cookies, hot chocolate and candy canes from Santa and Mrs. Claus.
"Here comes Santa Claus, Here comes Santa Claus, Right down Santa Claus Lane!"
Here is Alonda with Santa Claus himself!
Jim got to be with Mrs. Claus.
The train was pulled by a genuine steam engine. It wasn't one of those fake tourist engines, either. This was the engineer pulling the engine out of the engine house just outside of our hotel window.
The route went north along the coast line.
This tree was full of cormorants perching in the sunlight. They have to get up and dry their wings periodically.
This is the beach at Rockaway. It is a long, sandy beach with a good look due west into the Pacific Ocean. The train didn't stop long here. Nobody got off and nobody got on.
On our way down to Oregon, we stopped at the mouth of the Columbia River at Astoria, Oregon. This is the bridge that goes north across the river into Washington State. Full size ships go under it to go upriver to dock near Portland, Oregon.
This is the Astoria Column. It is the last in a series of 12 historical markers along the route of Lewis & Clark from St. Paul, Minnesota to Astoria, Oregon. It was dedicated in July, 1926 and restored in 1995 and again in 2015.
The mural circles the column and celebrates the earliest moments of Northwest history. The events go from about 1792 to 1818. The Column had its Christmas lights up. If you zoom in on the photo, you can see the details of the mural.
This the view south out of our hotel room on Christmas Day. The weather was glorious! Full sunshine and blue sky all day. The engine is part of the historical railroad collection in Garibaldi. They have a lot of rolling stock sitting around this part of Oregon. The stack is from the old sawmill which is long gone. We noticed that the top of the stack is starting to crumble and we don't want to be too close to it when it finally comes down!
This the beach at Garibaldi. It is sandy, but there was a large plus tide coming in.
This is the fishing and sport-fishing harbor at Garibaldi. They do a lot of crabbing here, too.
This is from the Bar View Jetty County Park north of Garibaldi. It is so popular with the campers that it funds all of the parks in the entire county.
This is a Christmas tree made out of crab pots. It was part of the town's Christmas decorations. It was all lit up at night.
They also had fish and crabs as part of the town decorations. The steam engine lives in the house right here.
When you are on the Oregon coast, you HAVE to visit the Tillamook Creamery (Cheese Factory). We have been here several times before, but you always have to come back. They have a self-guided tour, cheese tasting bar, gift shop and some excellent ice
cream.
This picture was taken from about 2 miles away from the largest free-standing, clear-span wooden structure in the world. It covers more than seven acres, the building is 1,072 feet long and towers more than 15 stories high. How would you like to have the job of painting "Air Museum" on something that large?
When you get closer, you realize how large the building really is. It makes a large airplane look small. This airplane was modified so it could move sections of the Saturn V booster rocket. You can see the hinges on the back. The entire rear end opens out to let them put in the booster.
We went to Kilchis Point Reserve south of Garibaldi to go hiking. This is a Pileated Woodpecker that we heard and then found. The paths through the Reserve were extensively signed with educational materials and the names of the trees and plants.
These are some of the "haystack rocks" which dominate the coast of Oregon. We were on our way to the Cape Meares State Park and Lighthouse.,
This is what most people think of when they hear the words "Oregon coast." This was Christmas Day and it was really spectacular.
Our goal of the day was to see this lighthouse. It is a small building (as you can see), but the light is quite high because it is built up on the cliff. There is a meteorological anomaly here and the light is "below the fog line" so it can be seen even on a bad night.
Happy New Year! We went to the Elks Lodge for the New Year and had a wonderful time!
The Seattle Esperanto Society recommended a visit to the Amazon Spheres in downtown Seattle. They have been here for about a year, but we had never heard of them. They are three globular "structures" of glass and steel and occupy about half of a city block. Amazon uses them as part of their office work space. They are open to the public two Saturdays per month by reservation (https://www.seattlespheres.com/). You would need to get a reservation a couple weeks in advance, since they always fill up!
The interior is mostly given over to tropical plants. We visited on a cold, cloudy day in January and had to take our coats off.
This is looking straight up one of the walls on the interior. It is a 60 foot "Living Wall" of plants. It was made off-site on wall panels and assembled in the Sphere. 
This is the same "Living Wall" from another angle.
The interior was beautifully lit and arranged. This is an area called "The Forest." It is full of orchids, ferns and other beautiful plants. It is very relaxing to walk through.
This is one of the wall plant displays. There were at least a dozen of these scattered around on walls.
These are pitcher plants. They trap insects to supply them with the nitrogen they need to grow.
This is a "Green Velvet Umbrella Plant". You are not supposed to touch any of the plants, so we don't know if it feels like velvet or just looks that way.
This is looking down into "The Forest" from one of the upper levels.
The "Birds Nest" is on the "Canopy Walk" on the third level. The entrance to the Spheres is on ground level. There are a total of four levels inside the Spheres.
This is how they keep everything so green! The temperature is maintained at 72 degrees. The watering / humidity system is computer controlled and will go off whenever needed to maintain the 60% humidity. When there are a lot of people visiting, it doesn't turn on as often. Humans breathe out about 1 liter of water a day. We had a bit of luck getting this shot. There was a line to pose in front of "the spheres" but when the misters turned on, they all scattered!
This is the "cruise lounge" on the fourth (top) level. If you are an Amazon employee, you can come up here for your daily "rest" after lunching at the coffee shop or enduring a stressful business meeting.
