A great day for pictures

Cannon Beach was always one of our favorite places when we lived in the Pacific Northwest, and one of our favorite things to do there was to have the blueberry pancakes at Morris' Fireside Restaurant.

We tried to get an early start, but still couldn't manage to get to the restaurant until 8:30.  By then they had already been open for half and hour and we expected to find it packed, but being the off-season, the place was empty.  They told us to sit where ever we pleased, so we picked a table right next to the fireplace.

When handed the menu, I waved it away and said to just bring on the blueberry pancakes.  I was handed the menu anyway and informed that, regrettably, the high price of blueberries in recent years had forced them to take those pancakes off the menu.  I was forced to settle for crab benedict.

After breakfast we moved the RV to another parking lot closer to Hay Stack Rock which is Cannon Beach's main attraction.  The core of an ancient volcano, it's the world's second largest free-standing monolith and sits just offshore, or, at low tide, right on the beach.  We were here once when the tide was so low that we could walk all the way to the base on dry sand.  We even climbed up a little ways.  There was a sign back then that cautioned visitors to keep an eye on the incoming tide, least they find themselves cut off from the beach.  That sign has now been replaced by one painted red that tells you to just stay the hell off it, or else.  Big Brother is everywhere.

Although a little chilly, it was warmer than a lot of summer days on the Oregon coast, and we stayed on the beach for nearly an hour.

We had no intention of going very far today.  I think we stopped at just about every pull off to take pictures and admire the view.  Occasionally, the view was just too scenic, like this one looking south towards Manzanita, and Nancy stayed in the RV.

Even poking along, we reached Tillamook by early afternoon.  On the northern edge of town, just past the Tillamook Creamery were they make all that cheese, we found a Fred Meyer and stopped to see if we could find Nancy a camera.  We did, a Nikon S1600.  It was on sale for $50 off, and since we are still in Oregon, there was no tax, so we got a good deal after all.

Tonight we are at Cape Lookout State Park, about 10 miles past Tillamook, and for the first time we are camped practically on the beach.  After we got hooked up, we still had time to take another long walk and shoot a few more pictures.

Day 78
Cannon Beach, OR to Tillamook, OR

Daily Mileage:  58.5
Total Mileage:  12,394.9