Pacific North West 2011 – Oregon Coast

Hwy 30
Outside Longview, WA on Hwy 30, taken from the Oregon side of Columbia River

A few weeks ago, I posted the first of two blogs that chronicled my trip to the Pacific North West with my daughter. While it was a condensed trip, we saw a lot, so I had to break it up into two blog posts [making it look like I blog more often].

This set of photos are from our trip headed south, leaving Seattle and heading towards Oregon.

Astoria, OR Hwy 101
Astoria, OR – Hwy 101 bridge crossing the Columbia River

We left Seattle on Saturday morning. I wished we could have another day, but we were headed towards Vancouver, WA, which is where we would be staying that night. We decided to go scenic for the drive down, taking Hwy 30 over to the Oregon coast. This view of the Columbia River from Astoria, OR and the Hwy 101 bridge that crossed it was so nice to see. Wished we had more time to take that bridge over to the other side. Another time.

tilamook rock
Tilamook Rock, off Hwy 101 just south of Cannon Beach, OR

Our goal was to stop at various sites along the way. Google Maps said this would be a 6 hr trip from our hotel in Renton to Vancouver, WA. By the time we reached Cannon Beach, we had been on the road for 3 hours and still had a bit to go before reaching Rockaway Beach.

remote haystack rock
Haystack Rock at Cannon Beach in the distance

We wanted to stop in Cannon Beach, but quickly learned that Saturday is packed with tons and tons of people wanting to see this beach town. We grabbed a bite to eat and hit the road again.

tiffany rockaway beach, OR
Tiffany at Rockaway Beach, OR

We finally made it to Rockaway Beach just before 5pm. We spent a little bit of time enjoying the sand and the warmth.

marty rockaway
Marty at Rockaway Beach, OR

We could have hung out here for another hour, but we needed to get back on the road, which had various bouts of road construction along the way. This is definitely an area that we need to revisit. Trees, forests, beaches, the ocean, winding roads… all very cool for both of us to experience for the first time.

Tilamook cheese
Tilamook Cheese Factory

We ended up arriving in Tilamook much later than we wanted. We went in to get an ice cream, but the line was so long and the wait would have easily been another hour added to our already longer-than-expected journey on this road. Another place to make a return visit to someday.

Mt Hood
Mt. Hood from I-84, heading east

After a nice relaxing morning of breakfast and visiting with The Jo’s in Vancouver, WA [and a good night’s sleep, I might add], we headed out on the road. On our way, the majestic view of Mt. Hood was very much evident.

multnomah falls
Multnomah Falls, OR

Since this was Tiffany’s first time in Oregon, a stop at Multnomah Falls was in order. The exit from the freeway was a good 20 minute wait as the parking lot was full for a Sunday afternoon. But it was worth the wait. Such an awesome place to visit.

multnomah falls
Smiley Happy People

This place was very crowded, so the photo ops we were able to get without people in the background were challenging. But we managed to squeeze in a few, like this one of us being all happy and smiley.

multnomah falls
Tiffany at Multnomah Falls, OR

Always cool to see someone experience a place for the first time. And as with many other places we visited in the last two days, we took our pictures and enjoyed the few moments before getting back on the road to head home.

tree farm
Tree Farm, along I-84 in Oregon

The end of our trip didn’t end until late Monday afternoon, thanks to a later start and some car problems. We stayed the night in Boise on Sunday night to get a nice rest. All in all, it was a very cool trip and one that we’ll have years of memories of.

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