Life’s a Beach … a Cannon Beach

We left Ocean Shores and made a quick stop at a couple of banks. We tried the same one from the previous day, and it still gave us the big thumbs-down on our debit cars. Okay… a little concerning. But at the next ATM a few blocks away all the lemons lined up and we hit the jackpot! Looks like we can access our cash. Costs a crazy amount in fees and exchange rates ($360 US = $480 CND), but whaddyagonnado?

We headed down highway #101 once again, this time aiming for the famous Cannon Beach. But to get there we had to first cross the mighty Columbia River on the border of Washington-Oregon. The ride was once again a great one, with snaky roads and amazing forest and ocean views. The crossing to Astoria, which is the first place in Oregon, was via the Astoria – Megler Bridge, a 6.6 km expanse that rises 60 meters (at high tide) above the river. According to Wiki, the bridge is “the longest continuous truss bridge in North America.”

Astoria looked like a rather interesting city, although we didn’t spend any time exploring. A quick lunch and we were off again, heading to Cannon Beach. The days are short right now, which means we have about five hours of quality travelling time. As has also become the norm, we are looking at a rather bleak weather forecast, with heavy rains and winds predicted for the next few days. This was enough to convince us to seek luxury shelter once again in a motel. We found another inexpensive place online, right in Cannon Beach with a view of Haystack Rock.

Cannon Beach is stunning. Our friends from Rossport (Selim to be exact) told us we had to spend time here. And we always listen to Cathie and Joe. As always, they were so right. Haystack Rock towers some few hundred feet up from this wide Pacific beach. But it’s not the only structure. There are “Needles” all around it, and both directions there are more rugged islands and promontories. It truly is a wondrous part of the world.

    

We spent three nights tucked into our comfy little apartment on the main street in Cannon Beach. We had a little kitchen, so managed to cook our own meals, while sipping wine/beer, all the while getting a great view of the Rock and some of the beach. It was a rainy few days, which was our excuse for further luxury living, but it was well worth it.

Over the last few days Ann had been noticing a slight wobble developing in her front end. Added to that, her bike was doing some weird things too 😉 so we reluctantly decided the wise choice was to head into Portland and find a motorcycle shop to take a look at it. This would take us away from the coast, and into the colder, urbany areas. But wisdom won out over Mike’s fears, so the next day we loaded up and headed inland.

Ann found both a Vespa shop and a pretty cheap hotel just outside of Portland in a place called Oregon City. The drive over took us through some stunning lush forests, although things got rather cool as we passed over various heights of land. There were signs warning “Entering Snow Country”, which signals that we can’t stay here long. It’s approaching mid-November, and we may be pushing our luck with the weather.

The bike shop was closed the day we arrived, so we booked the hotel for three days, and settled in for yet another comfy few nights. Gotta love this easy life. The view from our balcony overlooks the Willamette River, a tributary of the Columbia that runs through Portland all the way down to the ocean. Turns out we’re not that far from the Pacific because there are real tides here of over 10 feet at times.

We took a stroll around our area. There’s a small commercial area right next to our hotel, complete with pubs, small shops, and a city elevator to take people up the hill. 

Turns out Oregon City is home to Willamette Falls, “the largest waterfall in the American Pacific Northwest by volume, and the seventeenth widest in the world,” according to all things Wiki. Unfortunately it seems to be surrounded by old industry, including a working paper mill. We did manage to get a view of it, but just.

Another surprising thing we got a view of were a couple of lounging sea lions or perhaps female elephant seals. We first saw this brown gunny-sack looking thing on a raft and thought it was just a bag … but then it moved! And then we saw a second one swimming lazily nearby. Neither had a care in the world, except to be annoyed by the two of us yapping and gawking at them from above.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ann’s front end looks great — as usual 😉 so with a clean stamp of approval from the Vespa dealer, who didn’t even charge anything for his 1/2 hr of time – thanks Vespa Milwaukie! We were once again ready to resume our trek south. Looking at the forecast once again brought a tear to my eye (and the sense of pending rain in my pants). 

Our area is facing a RAINFALL WARNING over the next few days. For a place used to getting lots of rain, this is significant. Amounts up to 5 inches — that’s over 12 cm — of rain are predicted. Oh joy… So, we’ve wimped out again, and have booked yet another hotel room for the next few days. At least we’ll be back on the Pacific shore.