Date: 2008-07-30
From: SeaSide,Oregon

To: Cannon Beach, Oregon
Miles today: 0.0

Wed. July 30thWe wake up @ Motel 6, get my FREE cup of (weak) coffee & check on the weather (Portland Channel 6 KOIN-TV)...looks good for the most part ofr today.Near 80 degrees & mostly Sunny.   Woooooo-Hoooooo!We pack up, eat Apples that Ruth had packed for us & drive to cannon Beach...a mere 10 miles South of SeaSide.We taket the 1st Cannon Beach exit off the road which also is the Exit for ECOLA STATE PARK. (we LOVE parks!)...The drive up to the Park entrance was like driving thru a RAIN FOREST...large growth trees, acres of FERNS, misty atmosphere....dark, but with filtered Sunlight...very quiet.We arrive @ the gate, pay our $3.entry fee & drive to a View-point.We walked over to an overlook...we see the rocky, Oregon coastline...plenty of Sea Gulls, crows, etc., & way out in the bay is an old lighthouse.We find out it is the Tillamook Rock Lighthouse built in the late 1800s & known as "Tilly"...now abandoned & privately owned & used only by birds for nesting.We leave the area & drive to a Beach access point...& walk down to the beach & get our feet wet...(first time we dip our feet in the Pacific Ocean this time!)We walk about a mile down to the end of the beach area (loads of tall, large rocks)...take loads of photos (including one with me & 2 Surfer girls...Donna insisted!)12Noon Our batteries (in the camera) gave out on us just as we get ready to leave 9of course the batteries are in the car!)We drive to the town of Cannon Beach...lots of quaint shops, ART galleries & eateries, etc.,...We stop for lunch @ the Wayfarer rest...which looks out onto the beach & the Pacific Oceanthe "Haystack Rock".Donna has fish & chips & i have Clam Choder & monster BURGER!Neat Artwork in this place...all by the same Artist...(i find out later the artist is James Martin)...After lunch we drive back to town & find a parking slot (a REAL chore) & then walk up & down the streets...checking out the shops & many Art galleries.I'm very impressed by the quality of so many local/regional Artists featured in these galleries.This is the type of "FEEL" i hope Springfield gets in the future with an "Artist Friendly" town full of GALLERIES & ARTS N' CRAFTS type shops.4pm We leave CANNON BEACH...& head South on Highway 101 (Coastal Hi-way)stopping along the way @ several viewpoints.We travel thru Rockaway Beach, OceanSide, Bay City, Manzinita & several other small communities before arriving in Tillamook...home to the "World Famous Tillamook Cheese Factory".We find a small motel nearby & check in for the night...drop our bags off...& then back out to EXPLORE!We head back to the CHEESE FACTORY...take the self-guided tour...sample cheeses & then get some TILLAMOOK Ice Cream.Pretty Good Stuff...but, as "D-bird" said..."..I have to admit...its NOT Kilwins!"I agreed...BUT, it WAS good & it was our supper!We stopped by a grocery store (Fred Meyers owned by Kroger) buy a 2 gig SD card for the camera (My 1 gig was getting FULL because i've been taking movie clips) & a cheep cooler to haul our cheese we're purchasing tomorrow morning before we head South & outta town...back to the motel...we're very TIRED.9pm                        GOODNIGHT!