Cannon Beach

ROAD TRIP!

For our first summer vacation in WA, we decided to drive down the coast to Cannon Beach in Oregon. Elissa and Dave had been there a few years ago and her pictures were awesome, so it seemed like a great place to go. It took all day to get there, with multiple stops for photos along the way and breaks for the dogs. We had decided to camp to save some money and also so the dogs could come with us. I didn't know how Ruby was going to do in the tent, though, being the sort of dog who barks at any little sound. Anyway, we finally pulled into the "Wrights for Camping" campground at about 3:30 in the afternoon. Imagine our surprise after driving all day when we tried to check in and our reservation was for the next day! The poor kid who was checking us in asked us to wait while he spoke to the owner. It is a family owned campground and the house is up on a hill with an office at the bottom. He walked out of the office door and spoken into the intercom: "Hey, Grandma?" Rich and I had a pretty good laugh over that. Luckily, they had one more site available for the night. It was right at the entrance so everyone had to drive and walk past us, but we were happy to have a place to stay. We planned to move over to the other site the next day. After setting up the tent, stopping by the local Safeway (which was a madhouse and we both went into a little bit of shock over wading through all the people) to get the meat to cook later for dinner, we hit the beach. Here's what we found:

The big rock is called Haystack and the smaller ones are called the needles. Ruby and Otis jumped right in and made themselves at home! As usual we had forgotten to bring binoculars but puffins (and of course seagulls) nest on the rocks in the spring and early summer. I don't know if there were any up there when we were there because it was too far off to see, but the bird sounds were deafening. And the seagulls flocked all around the top of it. The sand was soft and oceany, just like at home, so we were pretty excited. We had a nice walk and then headed back to grill our hamburgers. After dinner, we all got in the tent and spent the night waking up to barking every five or so minutes and responding "Ruby-no-bark!" Not a restful night, but we certainly passed the dark hours that way!

The next morning we hit Pig 'n' a Pancake for breakfast. Mmmm! Then we a couple of hours to kill before we could move our campsite. We wanted to take care of it as early as possible so we could spend some time in Ecola State Park. So, we drove off down the coast to see what Arch Cape might look like. I was hoping for a big arch in the water, but no such luck. However, we did find some nice lookouts over the coastline.

It was a beautiful ride and my driver is very understanding about pulling over every couple of feet so I can take a few (or a hundred) pictures!

After we rode back to the campground and moved our site, we decided we'd spend a couple of hours in the early afternoon at Ecola park and then go sit on the beach. The water was too cold to swim but we wanted to get in some good beach time since we finally found a beach with real sand! The first stop in the park was an overlook of crescent beach, which you have to do an expert hike to get into and, therefore, was deserted, and then, farther on, Cannon beach. Off to the other side we could see Tillamook rock, which has a lighthouse on it.

Crescent beach with Cannon (and Haystack) in the distance!

The beaches with our faces blocking them...the obligatory Rich's-arm-out portrait!

Sea Lion rocks. No sea lions that day, though.

Tillamook Rock, with lighthouse.

A sea arch that Rich bravely scaled down a grassy hill to capture.

Then, we hopped back in the car and drove along to the next parking area. We decided to take a scenic walk along a trail right by the coast. It appeared to be about two miles roundtrip, which we thought would be a nice length. Too bad they didn't mention on the map that it was straight up-hill, with no views until the VERY END. I got very grouchy but also competitive because I had already walked so far, I figured the view would be worth it. What was it you ask? Here:

Tillamook rock. Yeah, I ALREADY saw that one! Luckily we also saw three bald eagles, making it a little more worth it.

Our little hike took all afternoon and wore me out so I just wished for a nice hotel shower and bed. Instead, we found a seafood restaurant on the beach (not unlike the Windjammer), and then went to see the beach at sunset. The dogs were tired too but not too tired for Ruby to take a little swim.

Swimming

Our sunset-watching setup.

It's starting!

There it goes!

The golden wave!

The end!

The next day we planned to spend the morning on the beach but it was cloudy and cold so we headed out...not without a stop at Bruce's Candy Kitchen, in honor of Raymond. I mean, why do they PUT things like that on a map of the town anyway? :o)

**Remember that you can enlarge any picture by double clicking on it!