Cannon Beach to Washington
On our last morning in Portland we got all our things together, packed the rental car, and began our drive out to the Oregon and Washington coast. We had planned on getting gas once we left the city, only there was no gas station to be found on the road we were on! Very peculiar. Obviously we eventually found one, but only after several miles.
Our grand Memorial Day plan was to spend the holiday at Cannon Beach, the so-called famous Oregon beach. We rolled into what ended up being a quaint little beach town full of old people and touristy families. We even got scolded by an old man for driving too fast! Oops? At any rate, it was about lunch time when we arrived, and the second we drove by it we KNEW we had to eat at Cranky Sue’s. I mean how could we resist their “furiously good food to cure your mood”? They even had signs inside referencing a “$5 fine for whining”. So silly. Lauren and I joined the other patrons at the outdoor tables and I enjoyed some clam chowder, salad, and buttered sourdough bread. Delicious!
The rest of the afternoon was spent on the beach. We headed toward this big strip of sandbar to lay out on, but the inlet we’d have to cross to get from the beach to the sandbar ended up being much deeper than it appeared. That didn’t deter Lauren, as she waded through the water in jeans, up to her armpits without hesitation. She had to carry her beach bag and sleeping bag above her shoulders! Quite a sight, I must say. I opted to stay on the beach since I had camera gear. It was a really nice and sunny day, but probably only mid-60’s or so. For that reason, and probably by nature of the Oregon coast, few people were actually swimming. So I had myself a nice nap in the sand until I couldn’t hold my bladder anymore, at which point I went back into town in search of a bathroom and then a caffeinated beverage.
Shortly after, I met up with Lauren and we left Cannon Beach en route to Ecola State Park, an overlook just north of the beach. We figured we’d be obnoxious New Yorkers and blast Jay-Z while driving through town at 20mph. We even had “Can I get a…” blaring as we pulled into the parking lot, which not surprisingly attracted several looks of disdain. It was hilarious and we quite enjoyed disturbing the peace!
Ecola State Park is essentially a picnic area overlooking the beach and has a walkway that loops around above the coastline. So we meandered along the path whilst on the phone with Martie, talking about inappropriate things (once again, disturbing the peace). It really was a spectacular view though, looking down the beach bathed in gorgeous late-day light. It reminded me a bit of the rugged NSW coastline of Australia.
We stopped a little ways up the coast in the tacky tourist town of Seaside for dinner and a sunset. Most of the shops and cafes were closed at this hour, but we managed to find Taco Shark and one open sweet shop and ended up having veggie burritos and fudge on the beach. The beach itself was pretty drab compared to other Oregon beaches we’d seen. It was littered with pieces of trash and full of couples and families with screaming kids. On top of that, it was too hazy for a decent sunset. Still, we tried to enjoy our food and just being on the west coast despite the slight letdown. We’d resolved to play a bit on the swingset afterwards, which we figured would make up for it. Little did we know we’d be outdone by some little kid who clearly saw us walking toward the swings and took it upon himself to run like mad past us and to the last open one. @#&@*^$@&%!! Oh well.
We didn’t have too far to go to reach our destination for the night: Seaview, WA, a small town just over the border on the coast. Unfortunately for us, the GPS got a wee bit confused while approaching the border and directed us up this winding dead-end road instead of across the bridge into Washington. The whole ordeal was more funny than stressful for me, as we turned around and ignored the GPS by crossing over the water and into WA state. From there, it was a short drive to Seaview and the Historic Sou’wester Lodge, where we were to spend the next 20 or so hours.
