Washington Trip--July 18 (Portland), Day Seven

Checkout time at the Beach House was noon.  Due to the length of the planned drive that day (to Portland, Oregon), Megan and Denis had scheduled for us to depart earlier than that, but it didn't happen.  The kayaks had to be put back on the car; the dishes had to be done up and put away; and we had to put things back where we had found them.  Interesting how quickly five people can clutter up a place!  We were in the car, ready to depart, at straight-up noon.  And just like clockwork, the property owner called before we could even get the car started to find out if we had checked out so she could come and set up for the next patrons.

Bye-bye beautiful Beach House. 

Our first stop was in Forks, shortly after we started out, for coffee.  It wasn't a Starbucks but did offer Starbucks-like coffee concoctions and milk shakes.

Our next stop was at the Kalaloch Campground area, on the Pacific Ocean, to see the Kalaloch "Tree of Life" on the bank above the shoreline.  (How my daughter finds these things to check out, I'll never know.  She amazes me!)  We weren't to be there long.  The trek to the shore was over a short-but-uneven trail that wasn't conducive to my rollator, so I stayed back at the car while the rest of the family went to see it.  My admonition was, "Take pictures!"  Ryan came back to the car first, telling me all about how the tree roots are totally exposed with a cave carved out underneath it--leaving one to wonder what is holding it up and how it is still alive.
You can see it here:   https://theculturetrip.com/north-america/usa/washington/articles/the-story-behind-the-kalaloch-tree-of-life/

Back on the road.  Long drive through the Quinault Rain Forest area, through Aberdeen (where Curt Kobain lived).  Went through a construction area that had traffic stopped, then led traffic through the construction by a "pilot vehicle".  (A first for me.)

Eventually, we crossed the Columbia River, the border between Washington and Oregon.  Also a first for me.  I've never been to Oregon before!  And, by the way, the Columbia River is huge and an enormous contributor to the development and economy of the whole area, probably as much as the Mississippi River is back in the Midwest.  We were in Lewis and Clark territory!

We stopped at an overlook at Cape Disappointment, near Cannon Beach (which is both a town and a beach) which sports a history that includes lots of shipwrecks.  Further along, we saw the place from other viewpoints, one of which was high on a hill overlooking a lighthouse on a cliff above the water,  and Haystack Rock just off the shoreline.  The side of the cliff was white, which apparently is "guano" from zillions of cormorants (sea birds) that roost there.  Guess tourists can actually smell the bird poop.  I, however, cannot.  (No sense of smell.) 

It was a bit of a thrill for me to be overlooking Haystack Rock.  Virtually every picture I ever see of Oregon's "features" includes that rock.  It is so recognizable--probably one of the most-photographed places in all of Oregon!
You can see it here:        https://www.cannonbeach.org/things-to-do/beaches-and-parks/haystack-rock/

We drove back down the mountain to the town of Cannon Beach, proper.  Stopped at a place for a dinner of fish and chips.  And wasn't it convenient that an ice cream shop just happened to be right next door??  By this time, the daylight was waning and the temps cooling down, as often happens in the PNW.  We still had one-and-a-half hours to get to Portland and our day's destination.  Thus we hit the road again.

Meg had booked a place with a "cobb oven" outside.  We had no clue what to expect.  The house is in the middle of town--not out in the boonies like our last two places were--and parking was on the street.  Not good with kayaks on top of the car!  It was dark when we got there.  Had to unpack the buggy, even though we weren't parked very close to the house.  Plus, there was a wall all around the property with only an adobe-like archway up some steps as an entrance.  Challenging!  Still, it was our home for the next three days.  We established bedrooms, scouted out the kitchen, put things away, and went to bed. 

Hello, Hippie House!