The Oregon Coast Part Two

Yesterday we drove from Astoria, Oregon to Crescent City, California on Highway 101 along the coast and to say the scenery was gorgeous would be an understatement!  Every time we rounded a corner and saw a new view, it would take our breath away (especially when there was a fog rolling in).  We made quite a few stops along the way.

Cannon Beach

Yaquina Head Lighthouse

Heceta Head Lighthouse

Umpqua River Lighthouse (this is a working lighthouse operated by the U.S. Coast Guard)

I loved all of the random rocks sticking out of the water all along the coastline.  Oregon is a beautiful place!

The Oregon Coast Part One

Yesterday we left Wenatchee, Washington and drove approximately five hours to get to the coast of Oregon!  It was a really pretty drive through forests and across rivers.  We stopped for the night in Astoria (we saw the house from Goonies but we didn't get a picture because it is private property and the owners do not appreciate trespassers) and went to Fort Stevens State Park to hang out at the beach for most of the afternoon and evening.  We both loved this spot because you could drive right on the beach and there were very few people there because it was cold (but we still got very sunburned).  I loved listening to the waves crash against the beach because it was so soothing!

We came back to the beach after dinner in order to see the sunset and it was spectacular!

It was great to be able to spend so much time here!

Visiting Cambria (And Her Parents) in Washington

Marilyn and I arranged our summer road trip specifically so we could see Cambria (and her parents) because we miss her so much.  We drove to Wenatchee, Washington on Saturday and had a lot of fun spending time with Tucker and Tashena (who took us to some really fun places, including some great local restaurants as well as the dam where Tucker works, and entertained us at their house).  We also loved snuggling the most adorable baby ever.  We were so sad to leave today because it has been a wonderful visit but we will see them in Utah really soon!  Here is a cuteness overload of Cambria!

We love this precious baby so much!

We love her parents, too!

Disclosure Day

Next up in my double feature last night was Disclosure Day and I was so excited because it was one of my most anticipated movies of 2026.  It did not disappoint!  With the world on the brink of another war, Daniel Kellner (Josh O'Connor), a cybersecurity specialist for the Wardex Corporation who has stolen a piece of alien technology and multiple digital files documenting secret interactions between aliens and humans, and Margaret Fairchild (Emily Blunt), a TV meteorologist who discovers latent abilities to empathize with people and communicate with them in languages she doesn't understand including an alien language, form an inexplicable bond based on their own experiences with aliens.  Wardex, a covert arm of the U.S. government, has kept all of these alien interactions a secret in order to reverse engineer their technology for monetary gain and the CEO, Noah Scanlon (Colin Firth), uses the government's vast resources to pursue them in order to recover the files.  Daniel and Margaret are eventually aided by Hugo Wakefield (Colman Domingo), another whistleblower from Wardex, and they decide to release the files to the world after they realize that humanity needs the message offered by the aliens.  I really loved the story because it is filled with so much hope and I think that is something that is desperately needed right now.  The third act, especially, is really affecting and I was absolutely riveted. I also really enjoyed all of the action sequences because Daniel and Margaret have some close calls as federal agents chase them from place to place and having Scanlon use alien technology to form a bond with Daniel's girlfriend Jane (Eve Hewson) to get her to betray their location adds a lot of tension, particularly during a car chase to get away from the farmhouse where they have been saying.  I really liked the more subdued and atmospheric score by John Williams because it creates a sense of unease but it is also incredibly emotional.  Finally, the entire cast is outstanding and Blunt gives a career-best performance but I was incredibly impressed by Hewson (Jane's character arc is my favorite because she wrestles with the theological implications of knowing that we are not alone).  This will undoubtedly be one of my favorite movies this year but people who are expecting a sci-fi thriller about aliens might be disappointed with the more philosophical tone.

The Furious

Last night I went to a double feature for two movies that I have been super hyped about (but for very different reasons).  I started with The Furious and I can't remember when an audience was as vocal (with cheers, laughter, and audible gasps) as they were for this action thriller!  When a journalist named Matia (JeeJa Yanin) is captured by the child trafficking ring she has been investigating, her husband Navin (Joe Taslim) attempts to infiltrate the group in order to find her.  However, his meeting with Mr. Song (Sahajak Boonthanakit), a low-level crime boss for the organization, is interrupted by a mute and mysterious laborer (Xie Miao) looking for his kidnapped daughter Rainy (Yang Enyou).  They eventually join forces (after fighting each other in a nightclub) in their search for Matia, Rainy, and the other missing children until they ultimately meet up with the real boss Pak Lung (Joey Iwanaga) and two of his henchmen, Ho (Brian Lee) and Tak (Yayan Ruhian), in an epic final confrontation.  The action sequences are violent and unrelenting and feature some of the most innovative fight choreography I have seen (I especially loved a scene in which the father fights while holding his daughter above his head).  Characters use a multitude of weapons, both conventional and unconventional, as well as every day objects that are found close to hand (my favorites are a ladder, a bicycle chain, and a large block of ice with a corpse frozen inside).  The cameras put the audience right in the middle of the action and it is exhilarating to see the villains (and they are truly evil) get what they deserve.  I loved the performances from both Taslin and Xie because, in the middle of all of the mayhem, they imbue their characters with a bit of vulnerability.  I also really enjoyed Yang because her character is so feisty!  This is an adrenaline rush from beginning to end and I had so much fun watching it.  Fans of the genre are sure to love it and I highly recommend seeing it with the biggest crowd possible!