More Oregon Coast

Thursday, September 24, 2015

We arrived at Cannon Beach in time for a sunset walk on the beach. We were ensconced in the Wayside Inn. Waking the next morning, Wednesday, we stopped for an espresso at the Sea Level cafe just a block away and then headed again to the beach for a walk and another look at Haystack Rock. Besides, Biggie, whose day consisted of lying on the back seat of our car for hours on end, needed the exercise and room to roam desperately. Come to think of it, so did we. Seems like we were always heading to another destination, leaving little time to explore or enjoy a hike. Again, the National Parks prohibit dogs, even on leash, on their trails. That put a kibosh on that activity, unless, that is, we wanted to ignore the rules.

At The Windbreaker hotel in Cannon Beach, Oregon.
Guess what Biggie is looking at from our balcony.

At the Sea Level coffee shop in Cannon Beach.

Biggie's in paradise. Chasing a ball on a wide beach.
Note the long shadows. It's  9:00 am.

Look at the size of the people in the back right to get an idea of just how gigantic this outcrop is.
Haystack Rock, Cannon Beach. Biggie had never been to a beach before this.

Spectacular view south along the shore at Cannon Beach.

Part of the fun of travel is to meet other people, either natives or other travelers like us. On the beach, we struck up a conversation with the Plummer family from Arizona. Their passion was baseball and their travel consisted of visiting as many ball parks as possible. They planned to be in New York next September. So we offered them a grand tour if they gave us notice. We exchanged emails and we're looking forward to showing them our town when they visit. 

Exchanging email addresses with the Plummer
family: Gary, Sharon and their daughter, Crystal.
Looking forward to showing them NYC next year.

We returned to our hotel, packed the bags and hit the road. Our eventual destination would be our friends' house in California wine country. But we'd have another two nights out before that. We made a reservation and plans to stop in Coos Bay, Oregon - about half way to Glen Ellen where our friends live. Then yet another stop in Arcata (pronounced Ar-KAY-ta), said to be the "most enlightened town in California." That would be the base for driving through the California redwood groves, the latter, an unforgettable experience.

Wherever you go, that's where you are!

The Oregon coast was one magnificent vista after another: rugged mountains, sheer cliffs descending to crashing waves far below, windswept pines clinging to the sides of the precipice and endless sand beaches.

Manhattan Beach: reminiscences of Brooklyn.
By the way, Oregon is said to have more state parks than any other state.
And it certainly seemed that way as we rolled along.

Land's end. On the Oregon coast. Depoe Bay.

Pacific Coast Highway, looking back from where we came.
Oregon coast and mountains.

Heceta Head. The spectacular Oregon coast.

Stacey and The Bigster at Heceta Head.
PCH bridge in the back. Stunning!

Heceta Head. Oregon coast.

Tune in for my next post: the unforgettable, and very humbling, California Redwoods.

A bientot!  - Matthieu