Pacific Coast Highway

 One of our stops on the Pacific Coast Highway was seeing the city of Astoria, OR. It's north of Cannon Beach about half an hour. We talked to our hotel clerks and they said we needed to go see the Astoria Column so that's where we headed. It's just what it sounds like, a giant column that has a large spiral staircase going to the top. At the top there are great views all around the town and the beautiful Astoria Bridge.

A bunch of Corvettes were parked up at the Column, Sean enjoyed talking to their owners.

There is a hiking trail off of the parking lot to the Cathedral Tree.

We didn't make it far on the trail as our legs were tired from climbing the hundreds of steps.

 The movie "Goonies" was filmed in Astoria so we headed up to see the house. Apparently many people make the annual trek to see the "Goonies House" and there were about 12 people there photographing it. 

We stopped in Hammond to see the Wreck of the Peter Iredale. She ran ashore in 1906 on her way to Portland to pick up wheat. It was neat to see the bones of this ship while it's still there. It's in Fort Stevens so there are many trails and bike paths throughout.

We headed south on the 101 and stopped at the Devils Churn at Cape Perpetua. Our youngest child was tired of getting out of the car at every stop so there will be very few pictures with Max. In Max's defense, we stopped a lot! It was absolutely beautiful country.

We kept heading south on the Pacific Coast Highway and entered the Samuel H. Boardman Scenic Corridor near Brookings, OR. It's a 12 mile stretch of the 101 that has some of the most beautiful coastline in the world. It's breathtaking. This was nearing the end of a long day of driving so we were all pretty tired but we still managed to pull off on every view point. I wish I had a full day to explore this 12 mile stretch. There were hiking trails everywhere and boardwalks down to photography points. It was the highlight of the trip for me.

It was SO windy that day!

We continued on our way south into California and stayed the night in Crescent City. We woke up and walked around the bay taking pictures of the boats before making our way into
Jedediah Smith State Park to see the giant redwoods. 

 

Battery Point lighthouse in Crescent City.

Fun bike stand.

Our cute rental car.

Thanks for tagging along on a memorable trip down the Oregon Coastline. I can't wait to go back again sometime!

Cannon Beach

It's been five years since our last trek to Oregon and it was calling to us again. We flew into Portland and drove to Cannon Beach to relax and de-stress for a few days. Last time we stayed at the Hallmark which was south of town and was a hike to walk back and forth from town so this time I found lodging on the beach in town. First two days were just walking the beach, shopping, eating and sleeping (the best kind of vacation in my opinion). 

Flying into Portland and saw Mount Hood out of the window.

We drove up to Ecola State Park which is only a mile or two north of Cannon Beach. It's got two beaches, Indian and Crescent. Both beautiful beaches. Indian Beach had more people and some surfers which was fun to watch. Not sure how they handled that freezing water! Crescent Beach can be accessed after a mile and a half of hiking (it is marked as Moderate but it was tough in places). I only packed Birkenstocks so not the perfect hiking shoes but I did it and only fell once. In my defense, the trail was washed out and Sean had to go find the trail which led to some off road experiences. Crescent Beach is my favorite though, nobody is there!

 

"Dude! Don't climb that! If you fall we are hours from a hospital!"

 

Max found some sea glass here along with tiny little sand dollars.

 

The town of Cannon Beach has some quaint little houses and buildings, all landscaped beautifully. The manager at the hotel said that the elk come into town each October and stay awhile while the hunters are in the mountains. The elk wander around town and on the beach and eat all the flowers and landscaping. He said he's always on the hunt for elk proof plants.....haven't found any yet. 

I love this combo.

Evening ice cream cones and stops at the candy shop are a favorite.

Low tide at Haystack Rock brings the educational outreach people to teach.

With all of the hearts and initials drawn everywhere, I liked this one I found.

The kid at the balcony next to us in our hotel fed a seagull a donut one day and then checked out leaving this seagull to come daily looking for more donuts. He wandered over to our balcony and just watched us from the open glass door. I know it's frowned upon to feed the seagulls but he looked so sad so we fed him popcorn and Cheetos. He became our friend and the kids named him Jamal. 

After Cannon Beach we headed down the 101 to see the coast. I'll add that as another post. Goodbye Cannon Beach, until we meet again!

May Gardening

I sure love Spring. I love all of the rain we've been getting too! It might just bring us out of drought conditions if it continues. I've been busy planting more plants and adding more perennials to the gardens. I feel gardening is my zen time. Here is a look at the mid May gardens.

Billy Idol

One evening, several months ago, my youngest ran into the room declaring "Billy Idol is having a concert, can we go?!" Sure, lets go see Billy Idol, he is 67 years old after all, how many more concerts will he do before he retires. So I bought two rather expensive tickets and Max and I made the drive to see him. That kid was so excited. I've never actually seen the kid that excited. We would count down the days until I pulled him out of school (which was also an added perk). Now I must say this whole thing is widely out of my comfort zone. Driving by myself (without a navigator), driving in rush hour traffic, finding our hotel and getting to the venue are all things I like to do with my hubby but I put on my big girl pants and we did it. It was truly epic. It was a small venue with 1700 people and we had a blast. Max can always say his first concert was Billy Idol.