One thing we do a whole lot of when traveling with Annelies and Yves is laugh. We really have fun together. So even a bad day is a good day. Know what I’m saying? And so-so days are grand.
Anyway… I was very excited on the morning of September 4 because I knew we were headed for the coast. I LOVE the Oregon coast. Love, love, love it!
Our first stop of the day, though, was a place our Victorian’s owner told us about… the International Rose Test Garden. He emphasized that it was a great place to get a view of Mount Hood. It was sort of on our way anyway, and there was no admission fee, so we decided to stop for a visit.
Unfortunately, as you’ll see in the image shown below, the cloud cover and/or fog was too thick to see the mountain.
We did see lots of gorgeous roses, though. I took quite a few pictures. Sadly, I had a blonde moment in the car and deleted about two-thirds of the images I captured there.
That’s why you only see pink roses here. Oh well…
Sure I was upset, but we were headed for the Oregon coast. The loss of images was completely offset by my joy knowing we’d be at the coast soon.
Our first order of business was to find a spot for lunch, which we did, just south of Cannon Beach along US 101.
We were all starving, but visited the beach first.
After a lovely bread, cheese, fruit, and wine picnic, we headed back north to see Cannon Beach.
Cannon Beach is a cute beach town, but I remember it best for Haystack Rock, a sea stack that rises 235 feet out of the sand and the sea at the low tide line. Haystack Rock and the area around it are abundant with sea life in tide pools, which I also love.
Sea stacks are geological land forms consisting of a steep, often vertical column or columns of rock in the sea near a coast, isolated by erosion. Stacks are formed by time, wind, and water, which separate the stack from the headland.
That’s not a great picture, since I was shooting through fog into the sun, but it gives you a better idea of the scale of Haystack Rock.
I could spend DAYS exploring beaches, but we had places to go. We still had to get to Washington’s Olympic Peninsula. Our destination for the night was Ocean Shores, Washington. Just a stopover, really.
Speaking of stopovers… I had to pose for a photo op here after seeing Warrenton, Oregon on the map (I live in Warrenton, VA).
After a very quick stop, we continued north. We crossed the Columbia River on a steel truss bridge that spans the river between Astoria, Oregon and Point Ellice near Megler, Washington. I didn’t know at the time that the bridge, which is 4.1 miles (6.6 km) long, was the last-completed segment of US-101 between Olympia, Washington, and Los Angeles, California, and is the longest continuous truss bridge in North America.
We were going to stop for pics of the bridge, but couldn’t find a convenient place. Knowing we still had a ways to go, we continued on our way.
We made one brief, but important stop in Long Beach, Washington for this photo op…
…after Annelies told me she’d never seen or been photographed with anything labeled “world’s biggest.”
With another 2.5 hours of drive time between Long Beach and Ocean Shores, we didn’t reach our destination until after dark. So that’s the end of the images from September 4.
The next installment will introduce you to the amazing sights we saw in Olympic National Park. Y’all come back now, y’hear?
TRIP Re-cap
Installment 1: In the Beginning (Friday, August 30 – Monday, Sept 2)
Installment 2: Portland Morning (Tuesday, Sept 3)
Installment 3: Exploring the City of Portland (morning of Tuesday, Sept 3)
Installment 4: Beyond Portland (afternoon of Tuesday, Sept 3)
So much fun. So glad you saw some sunshine at the beach. It is hit or miss.
The rose shots were gorgeous, but then all your flower shots are.
And as for the Mengler bridge in Astoria – they sometimes have to close it during bad storms. Semis have blown over on them before. Scary.
<b.Kathy:
You are so lucky to have clear weather on the coast. Many times it had been foggy and it was supposed to burn off, but never did. We have also stayed at Ocean Shores (right next to Long Beach)
I like to walk on the beach too
Too bad you didn’t get to drive to Mt Hood and have a meal at Timberline Lodge. You were closer when you were at Multnomah Falls the other day.
Here’s hoping that Hurricane Ridge is clear for you and perhaps you made it to Port Townsend ? You would enjoy it there, lots of artists and craft stores to spend a day walking around
bob
Riding the Wet Coast
Lovely! The coast up there really is fantastic – I’m a huge fan now too! And don’t worry, I took plenty of photos of the roses. 🙂
Trob, the beach was definitely overcast, but we did get some sunny skies. We saw lots of beaches, too. I’ll bet that bridge gets windy!
Bob, there was so much we could have seen and done if only we’d had more time. 🙁
We did get to Hurricane Ridge, but didn’t make it to Port Townsend. I’ll see it one day. We did eventually get to Coupeville (across the water from PT) by land via Fidalgo then Whidbey Islands, which I LOVED. It was like my hometown, but on the water.