Cannon Beach, Oregon

If you look at a Washington map, you might believe Seattle is "on the ocean." It is not. We live near Puget Sound which is salt water, but still a long way from the Pacific coast. John was on vacation this week, so we decided to visit the Oregon coast. From Seattle, Cannon Beach is about a 5 hour drive if you stop for lunch, as we did along the freeway to eat salami sandwiches brought from home. Never mind! The thought of seeing the ocean keeps you going along frantic I-5, and finally down the coast from Astoria to the quiet Oregon beach towns.
Where to stay? Before we left I reserved a kitchenette ocean front room in Cannon Beach at a motel called Webb's Scenic Surf. (above) It's been in business since 1942, so I figured must have something going for it. In fact, every night the "no vacancy" sign was up again. Good thing we booked in advance. We had a cozy and clean room with a great view from the bottom floor.
The natural wonder of Cannon Beach is 235 foot Haystack Rock. It's the third tallest inter-tidal sea stack the world, meaning it's accessible by foot at low tide. The rock is an important refuge for rare puffins and other sea birds. In fact, from a distance it looks like a giant beehive with the birds swarming above.
With the wind at your back, the walk from our room took about 15 minutes.
As you drink your wine and watch the sunset, it's easy to imagine this is a magical castle off in the distance. In fact, it's an old lighthouse known as "Tilly," built back in 1879. At the time, the coastal residents thought it was crazy to even attempt to build it, and outside laborers (who didn't know better) were brought in to do the job, at great risk. They were winched over to the barren rock from a ship, with frequent dunkings in the frigid sea. Because of its location and the harsh conditions, it eventually became the most expensive U.S. lighthouse to maintain, and was decommissioned in 1957.

It was sold in 1980 for $50,000 and turned into the Eternity at Sea Columbarium. Interested parties can have their cremated ashes placed inside the lighthouse in aluminum containers with prices ranging from $1,000 to $5,000 for the better "views." With a capacity of a few hundred thousand remains, this seems like a profitable business opportunity. The rock is an important nesting sanctuary for sea birds, so the ashes are boated out to the lighthouse just once a year.

John took this postcard perfect sunset shot...

Birdwatching was the highlight of the trip. Our room faced the ocean and Ecola Creek, so there was constant bathing, preening and just hanging out. And a feeding frenzy when the tide turned and brought in goodies from the sea. Fall migration is in full swing, and there were many brown pelicans and of course thousands of seagulls.
The weather was a typical mixed bag: a day of sun, a day of pea soup fog, and a day of rain.
What better activity on a rainy afternoon than a drive down the coast to visit the Tillamook Cheese Factory. On weekdays, the factory floor is hard at work.
And no is allowed to leave without buying an ice cream cone and a bag of cheese from the store. We had a great time-- more later on some of the other highlights.