Along a section of the beach at Long Beach, WA, there is a wooden, elevated boardwalk you can use to stretch your legs. The weather was heavily overcast, so no real good photos.

After the disappointing morning of bad overcast weather, I was tempted to pull over as soon as the weather started to clear. This is a shot of the Pacific Ocean, on section of windy road leading from Long Beach, WA to Oregon.

Canon Beach, OR. The best shot I could get from the road, without holding up too much traffic... Well here are those rocks those guys talked about. The right hand rock is called Haystack Rock. Apparently it an actual Oregon Islands National Wildlife Refuge, home to several species of birds.

Can you see the white SUV in the background? That's the lifeguard. Yup, no Baywatch, bounding hunks and babes in slow-motion here....they just drive to you. The water is cold and it was too windy for me to go swimming. I spent most of my time shooting photos from the beach...

So when I say that sections of the highway are close to the Pacific Ocean, I'm really not kidding... Here's a shot with Betsie, my dependable minivan. Ahh.... it's certainly a beautiful drive. Someday, when I win that lottery and buy that Porsche 911 Turbo I've always wanted, I plan to return...

A close-up of Jacky's Cap, OR. Not a really captivating shot, but I decided to put it up anyway, since someone took the time to tell me what it was. I guess from this angle, it really does look like a baseball cap floating on water.

Arcadia Beach, Oregon. They seem to be enjoying the view as well... This beach seems like a decent place to have a good lunch picinic. First of all, It has good views of the ocean. Second, there are several large rock islands you can watch the waves crash into. And third, and perhaps most importantly, the beach is close by the parking lot so you don't have to lug all your picnic paraphernalia a long way.

I could feel a beam of light on my face. I awoke.

It felt as if Frosty the Snowman had just sat on my face for the entire night. My body had been protected from the coldness of night by my sleeping bag, but my exposed face felt frozen and raw.

I rubbed my hands quickly over my face in hopes of defrosting my cheeks. I groaned as I leaned over and started the car ignition and turned on the heater. While the car started to warm up, I quickly checked my ice cold metal watch. I flinched as I put it on. It was 6:32 AM. Normally I consider this an ungodly hour.

Nonetheless, an early start usually means you can pack more sightseeing in the day, so I quickly packed my gear up and headed out of the campground. Last night, at check-in, the hosts had suggested that I head back northwestwards and go see Long Beach, WA. I took the exit towards the town of Longview, WA. After stopping by a gas station for some bottled water I realized I was already getting hungry. I got directions for the nearest breakfast joint--a local restaurant called the Pancake House. As I eased my car into parking lot I noticed three local police cruisers parked outside. Either this place served good bottomless coffee or had good, cheap fare.

"I got strange looks by small children, who were obviously curious in the bulky contraption."

As the name suggested, this place specialized in pancakes. I was surprised at the selection of different pancakes--I never knew there were that so many different kinds of pancakes. I ordered the standard Parisian fare of strawberries and crepes.

Back onto the road, I followed the signs towards Long Beach. Following a large slow and smelly diesel motorhome, I finally arrived much later than I had expected. To make matters worse, the weather wasn't cooperating so I couldn't get any good photos.

As the its name suggests, Long Beach is really....a long beach. Duh. The town lies on a sand beach peninsula that stretches for 28 miles (45 km). Along the beachfront lies a wooden, elevated boardwalk. I decided to stretch my legs and walked on the boardwalk with my metal collapsible tripod and my camera (in hopes of finding a good shot). I got strange looks by small children, who were obviously curious in the bulky contraption.

A trio of men in their golden years were sitting on a bench and shooting the breeze. One of them made an obvious remark of how it wasn't a good day for photography. I introduced myself and told them I would be headed towards Oregon. One man made me promise that I visit Cannon Beach, OR...apparently a beautiful beach that faces large stone islands that that jut out of the sea. I promised that I would visit and then got back into my van.

The weather started to clear as I began to near Oregon. Perhaps a good omen?

I made my first stop at Cannon Beach, OR. So why is it called Cannon Beach? According to my AAA guide, the beach was named when a boat in 1846 was shipwrecked and its cannon washed up onto shore. Well, those guys were right--it's well worth a stop. The water was fairly cold and it was too windy to go swimming, but it was worthwhile to just take the time to walk along the beach, and sit and admire the waves. Oooooh....waves. Yummy.

Anyway, it was already lunch by the time I started driving again, but it wasn't long before I was tempted to stop again. The whole stretch of Highway 101, which follows along the Oregon coast is so beautiful and so close to the ocean and beaches, you're constantly tempted to stop. Even the views from the highway are quite breathtaking...(take a look at the shot with Betsie in it). There are so many viewpoints and pullouts at the side of the road, I would barely drive for a few minutes before I was tempted to stop again and take more photos.

I was in the middle of setting up my tripod when a young man approached me. He pointed at a island in the distance that I was focusing in on. He asked me if I knew what it was called. I grunted out a "negative" and shrugged my shoulders.

"Anyway, there are more dairy cows in Tillamook than there are people."

He told me that the island was called Jacky's Cap since it looks like a baseball cap. I thanked him for taking the time to tell me. I quickly snapped off a few shots of the uniquely shaped island. By the time I ripped my eyes from the viewfinder, the guy was gone. I forgot to ask him if Jacky was supposed to be spelt "Jacky" or "Jackie". As I stood there, hyponotized by the crashing of the waves, hundred of other questions and thoughts fired around my head like a crazy game of dodge ball: "So who is this Jacky?" "Why isn't it labelled in any of my guidebooks?" "Maybe that guy was Jacky, and he's just trying to start a movement to call the island." "Maybe the island is actually just called 'Baseball Cap'." "That sounds silly, stupid...nobody would call it 'Baseball Cap'...unless it was a painting." "Hey, who are you calling stupid?" "Ok, enough of this idiocy...look at your watch and see what time it is."

As eyes focused on my watch, the dodge ball game vanished. I got back into my car and started driving again. It wasn't long before I made another stop at Arcadia Beach. Nice beach...just like the rest of the beaches along the Oregon Coast.

Continuing southwards I blew through the town of Tillamook. It's claim to fame? Perhaps you've heard of Tillamook cheese? Well sometimes I see it in cheese aisle at my local grocer. Anyway, there are more dairy cows in Tillamook than there are people. Whoop. E. The Tillamook Cheese Factory is apparently a big tourist attraction. I love my cheese, but not that much. I didn't bother stopping. (Somehow, I know someone is going to e-mail me and tell me that I made the biggest mistake in my life).

Just south of Tillamook lies the second biggest attraction in the area--their air museum. Apparently a large collection of American war planes housed in an old wooden WWII blimp hangar. (Wow, I just realized that was a lot of adjectives to describe a hangar.) Anyway it claims to be the world's biggest wooden structure, and indeed, you can see the behemoth from miles away. Just in case a naive tourist would wonder what the structure was, they had "AIR MUSEUM" stencilled in HUGE block letters along the roof of the hangar. And, yes, you can read it from miles away as well. I'd love to pull into a local gas station and ask them innocently: "So...like...dude, where's the air museum?"

I didn't bother stopping for the museum.

I'll bet another proud Tillamookian will tell me that was the second biggest mistake in my life.

Sigh.

Chapter 3 >>