dolphins_log

We took a short vacation to the Ocean.

Friday:

We intended to hit the road by 9:00 and actually did pretty well. We were at the McDonalds drive-thru by 9:40. I don't know what it is about a road trip, but it needs a McDonalds breakfast to make it feel like a real vacation. We took had to drive North to Gorst in order to catch Highway 3 through Belfair. It's actually a mile shorter to go north then to catch the side roads through South Kitsap. On the way we listened to New York Vinny talk about the Mariner's on KIRO.

It was a great day to drive. The sun was out, we had the rear window open so we could get the fresh air without getting our eardrums buffeted. Highway 3 to Shelton is a twisty winding road through trees and hills. Well, actually the entire trip to Cannon Beach is on winding twisting roads through trees, except for the 10 mile stretch of freeway between McCleary and Montesano. We chatted about sports and trivial items, and things we saw along the side of the road. And we speculated about how long we would be able to hear KIRO. It was fun listening to the station fade in and out as we got further away from Puget Sound. It helps to make you feel like your really going somewhere.

When we met up with Highway 101 again, south of Aberdeen, we had to play radio roulette. We found KAST out of Astoria, "Music for the Coast" that played some old and new rock. When we tuned them in they were playing Beach Boys music. Very appropriate. We stopped in Raymond for a stretch break and a Cherry Dilly Bar at DQ, something that Juli hadn't had since she was a kid.

Raymond has got some sculpture going along 101. They are silhouettes of all sorts of animals and people, both historic and current, done in slab steel. It's really cool to try to pick out where they've hidden them all. They even have little squirrels on the lamp posts.

After our break we continued on our way to the Columbia river, across the Astoria Bridge and on to Cannon Beach. We arrived at the Hallmark Resort at 2:00. Since our room wasn't ready we left the car parked and took a walk on the beach. As soon as I touched the sand I was in heaven. I've missed the roar of the ocean and the smell of the surf for quite a while. The mist cut down on a lot of the sun. I love ocean mist.

We actually walked about two thirds of Cannon Beach before we turned around. There were not many people there yet, the crowds weren't due until Saturday. There were a number of dogs and joggers, surfers and boogie boarders. All in all it was a very peaceful stroll. A word of advice; if you walk on the beach for a long time, walk, don't stroll. It's a lot easier on your back. Also, if you bring sun block, use it right away, not later.

We got back around 3:30 and checked in. We gave

kehf and call and set up a time to visit her and Valentine for dinner. Since this was one of the lowest tides of the year we could get to Haystack Rock. We put on our grubby beach shoes and struck out. I've never been to Cannon Beach at the right time to visit the rock. Sadly they've closed off a lot of access to it, but I guess that's a good thing for the wildlife when you consider all the people who want to climb the rocks. I fully understand and respect the precautions the powers that be are taking, and it was still a lot of fun climbing around what rocks we could.

We had our fun on the Rock. I can say I've been there now. Afterwards we headed back to our room and struck out for

kehf's and Valentine's place. We stopped for fresh strawberries first. I didn't want to show up empty handed. Kristin had put together a nice 'build your own' salad, with fresh crab and shrimp. Juli ate a piece of bell pepper only because she promised

genebreshears she would. I did too, just cause. We both still hate bell peppers. After dinner Kristin showed us the way to the beach over the dunes and Juli and I walked the beach again and sorta watched the sunset. The predicted clouds were finally moving in. Later back at Kristin's we talked and played with Valentines and his toys. Valentine filled us in all about "Builder Bob" and friends so we're well informed.

Back at the room we stood on the balcony and counted all the beach fires. There were about nine that we could see. Beach fire smoke has a wonderful scent. It has to do with the salt in the wood.

Saturday:

We woke up around 9:00. We could sit up in bed and look out at the surf. We'd left a window open so we could hear it all night. After an obligatory breakfast at the "Pig and Pancake" [you have to eat at the P&P, just 'cause of the name], we got in the car and headed for Cape Mears Lighthouse. It took about an hour and a half of driving through Tillamook.

We were at Cape Mears in 1996. The lens had been vandalized and the lighthouse association was working on fixing it. I'd heard they had finished, and we wanted to see how they did. As it turns out they couldn't repair it, but what they did is almost as good. They used Plexiglas to hang red sheets over the bulls eyes. I didn't know, but Cape Mears' characteristic was a solid white beam with a red flash. The original light used red glass sheets, but the plexi works just fine. We had received some misinformation back in 1996 that the Cape Mears Lighthouse was placed on Cape Mears by mistake, and that it was supposed to have been on Cape Lookout further south and further out. The association has subsequently found documentation that Cape Mears was actually selected as the better of the two sites because of fresh water and the close proximity of Tillamook.

Juli got some new photos of the light, but it appears that my camera is busted. *sigh* We went a little ways further down the cape to see if we could get a distance shot of the light. After hiking around the rocks a little at a public access 'non park' stretch of beach we picked up a few shots. More fascinating though was watching the seagulls come for miles to bath in a fresh water pool.

At the end of the day we spent about four hours on our balcony sitting, reading and listening to the surf. We had a great dinner of seafood and came back to watch the sunset and count the beach fires. 22 this time.

Sunday:

The day was pretty simple. We sat on the balcony for a few hours and enjoyed watching the beach fill up with people. The tide was low enough to give them access to the closest rock, one of the "needles". We finally checked out and had our P&P breakfast. Then we wandered the street of Cannon Beach. There was a stitchery shop that Juli wanted to visit. It's getting harder and harder for Juli to find stitchery shops. Even here, she couldn't find what she needed. We wandered the streets and checked out the galleries. We're looking for a piece of stained glass to put in one of our windows, but still no luck. Juli pointed out the items that her store also sells, and for about a quarter of the price.

Later we took our last walk on the beach. The crowds were huge. But, hey, it makes it a party. Yeah, I like secluded beaches, but a crowded public beach is fun too. It makes me feel some kinship with the world, and it's like... The Forth of July. It's a holiday. But then Memorial day is a holiday, isn't it?

...and again we forgot the sunscreen. The one day we remembered it we probably didn't need it.

We left Cannon Beach about the right time. The streets were almost getting impossible to walk on with all of the people there. We stopped at the Factory Outlet mall in Seaside and bought some chocolate at "Harry and David's". And we made a second stop at Fort Stevens to see if we could locate the spot where the Point Adams Lighthouse stood. We were close, but we couldn't tell where it had been located. In the end we headed out for the South Jetty of the Columbia River and took in our last look at the ocean. Across the river we could see the Cape Disappointment Lighthouse flashing white and red. That was cool.

We tuned in "KAST: Music for the Coast" and headed home. At Raymond we stopped at a diner for grilled onion burgers. This was a diner that's really going for the fifties and Elvis. The waiter even had the dark hair and muttonchops. He even looked a little like the older fatter Elvis, complete with spotty apron. After dinner we hit the road and soon lost KAST. Goodby Ocean. We returned to KIRO for baseball news and continued our drive home in the dark.