Out to the Coast with Allison

WIth the weather finally cooperating Allison and I headed out to the coast on Friday. Our first mission of the day however was getting a view of Mount Hood. Luckily the clouds had cleared enough to be able to see Mount Hood from the Rose Gardens at Washington Park.
We then hit the Sunset Highway (Hwy 26) and headed west for the coast. After a minor detour in the wrong direction we made it to Ecola State Park just north of Cannon Beach and Haystack Rock. It was a beautiful day to be on the coast. While we were eating lunch a Crow decided that he wanted to join us and kept eyeing my peanut butter sandwich.

We then made our way South down the 101 through Tillamook and onto the Three Capes Scenic Bypass where we stopped at Cape Meares to see the Lighthouse, ocean vistas, and the Octopus Tree.

As we headed along the Three Capes Scenic By-pass we stopped for dinner at the Pelican Pub in Pacific City. The restaurant sits right on the beach at Cape Kiwanda and is world famous for their micro-brewed beers. After dinner we kept heading South racing the slowly setting sun trying to get down to the Heceta Lighthouse before sunset. With a quick stop at Strawberry Hill wayside to get a glimpse of the Harbor seals lounging on the offshore rocks we finally made it to Heceta. Unfortunately, on this part of the coast the sun had begun setting behind the clouds and marine layer lurking off shore. We did manage to get a few pictures though.

Saturday morning Allison and I headed to Kenny and Zuke's downtown for a good breakfast before dropping Allison off at the airport. Breakfast was delicious, so thank you Brandon for the suggestion. It was great having Allison out for a visit and I enjoyed spending a week with a really great and incredible friend!