After driving south on the Oregon coast, we landed in tiny Rockaway Beach for the night. Unlike many of the more popular, busy spots along the coastline, this quiet beach was just our speed. A handful of motels and low-rise condos, cute beach cottages, a few restaurants and shops, and a very light smattering of people on the beach. Here's the cute little motel we stayed at. It wasn't fancy, but was clean, pet-friendly, and had a super friendly staff, so it suited us perfectly fine for a night. It was only half a block from the beach. And they had absolutely delicious fresh coffee cake in the morning along with Starbucks coffee. A lovely surprise! We had a separate cottage, which we liked since there was no one stomping around above us. It was actually on the back side of the one in this photo (to the right), but the lighting was better on this side for a photo. Here's the sandy beach, just a quick walk from the motel. It was almost deserted at around 5pm. Perfect! After checking out the beach, we took a short walk through town, checking out the few restaurants. We decided on a takeout pizza from Upper Crust, and it was a fine choice indeed. We can definitely recommend this place if you're ever in the area. After chowing down on our delicious 'za, we headed back out to the beach. Western-facing beaches at sunset are amazing, and Paisley had as much fun as we did enjoying the last moments of beautiful sunshine of the day. Paisley was fascinated by the seagulls in the sand. She loves chasing birds, so we have to keep her close at hand. I think this is maybe my favorite photo of Paisley ever. Everyone looks amazing during the "golden hour"! Goodbye sun... The next morning we continued our drive down the beautiful Oregon coast, but that's for the next post. Stay tuned!
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Leaving Portland, we wanted to see the Oregon coast for the first time ever, so we actually drove northwest and back into Washington State so we could cross the long bridge into Astoria, Oregon. The drive was beautiful. Here's the bridge across the Columbia River over to Astoria. It's too long to fit in one photo. And this is the portion leading right into the city (under repair, thus the coverings on the left side). We didn't actually stop in Astoria as we wanted to see as much of the coast as we could and get some quality beach time in, so we continued south from there along Oregon Coastal Highway 101. Friends Terese and Rick recommended that we check out Cannon Beach, and we're so glad we listened to them. There are many possible places to stop along the way, but this was a real treat. We were hungry for lunch when we arrived so started with that. We found this great little authentic Mexican place where we could have Paisley join us outside while we ate. The food was delicious, and the setting perfect. And Paisley loved it too! Proceeding down to the beach, we found it absolutely stunning and incredibly wide. Just look at it! The houses along the seashore looked like something I associate with Nantucket or Martha's Vineyard -- not that I've ever been either of those places! They were charming and beachy, though, and I am sure they cost a pretty penny. I was determined to get my toes in the Pacific Ocean, and I did. And yes, it was boo chilly! We ended up walking a long ways down the beach to get to the far side of Haystack Rock so the sun would be right for photos. Here it is to the left in the photo below. Note that the haziness in the photo is from sea fog and not camera blur or a smudged lens! Haystack Rock is on the right below with smaller rocks to the left.... The crashing waves were awesome! After enjoying our long beach walk, we had room for a little dessert, so walked back into town and spied this cupcake place, Simply Cakes. Sounded good to us! Paisley was hoping we might bring her something. Sorry little girl, not this time! I got a chocolate-peanut butter filled cupcake for myself and a chocolate-raspberry filled cupcake for Barry. We inhaled them. So so good! Hitting the road again and continuing south to our destination for the night, tiny Rockaway Beach, we stopped several times along the way at overlooks to take photos. The scenery speaks for itself. Beautiful beaches and mountains side by side -- stunning! Ahhhhh.... Up next: Rockaway Beach!
Our third and last full day in Portland dawned drizzly, gray, and chilly. Just the kind of weather Portland is famous for, I guess! We decided to take a well-earned day off the bikes and see the sights another way. Barry had figured out that one of the Max (metro) stations was within easy walking distance of our hotel, so once the rain stopped, we headed out on foot and actually figured out how to use the automated ticket machines to buy a day pass for each of us. After a short wait, our driver "Max" arrived. "He" provided an easy and comfortable ride to downtown. So much more relaxing than driving and allowed us to see more Portland sights along the way. We got out at the Union Station stop to look around some. I'm still not sure I understand all the plaques and references to "The Green Man of Portland" (I know, I could google it, right?) but to me it's just another part of what "keeps Portland weird". I like it! Here are a few things we saw just strolling around downtown. It's an eclectic and interesting place, and we especially appreciated all the trees growing everywhere. It's a far greener downtown than we've experienced in most big cities. Before too long, we were feeling a bit peckish, and a natural choice was the food trucks that grace downtown. Good food at good prices! Although there are plenty of good choices, we were both drawn to "Sonny Bowl" and their nutritious vegan food. You have to love a place with a hand-written note on the menu board stating "No ripe avocados today...sorry to bum you out." Portlandia, anyone?! We both went for the "Blackbean Bowl", consisting of black beans, cilantro-lemon sauce, kale tossed in tahini dressing, topped with jicama-carrot-radish slaw in cumin-lime dressing and walnut faux-rizo, served over brown basmati rice. At $7 for a large, it was a DEAL. I would have been fine with the $4 small size, as it turned out. It was absolutely delicious but was a lot of food and quite filling. Who says vegan has to be bland and boring? Barry also got a Kale-Mango smoothie, at $4 for the small size. It was delicious (I had a sip). We enjoyed our lunch right by the Willamette River. A little something sweet after lunch sounded good, and although I never thought I'd eat another doughnut after our first day in Portland gorging on Voodoo Doughnuts, somehow we ended up there again! It's gotta be the voodoo. We learned that every Thursday they offer a special doughnut filled with one of "Kelly's Jellys". This week just happened to be Habanero Jelly, so of course Barry had to try that. He's showing it off in the photo above. I tried a small bite and found that it really wasn't as hot as I expected. The Mexican Hot Chocolate doughnut coated with sugar and cayenne that we tried on our first visit was hotter. But it was tasty! Here were today's selections. Oh so yummy. There's nothing like eating a virtuous vegan lunch and following it with a doughnut, right? Of course we took most of these back to the hotel. We were stuffed! As we were walking around trying to burn off a few doughnut calories, this sign on the side of a building caught our eye. I can't imagine why.... ;-) We rounded the corner and came upon this bike shop. We wanted a couple of Portland souvenirs, so this was our kind of place to find some. We also enjoyed talking to the friendly guy working there about cycling in Portland. Our Portland swag! A magnet, sticker, and a t-shirt for each of us. We were pretty tuckered out by this time so caught the Max back up north to our hotel. A rare selfie! We had a great few days checking out Portland, but it was time to move on to the Oregon coast the next morning. Stay tuned as this was one of the most beautiful places we've ever visited!
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Emily & BarryWe're a long-married, early-retired couple who are currently traveling as nomads with no fixed home base. After years of living in North Carolina (Emily's home state), we spent 18 months living oceanfront on Ambergris Caye, Belize, a year road-tripping the US in a Honda CR-V, a year in Playa del Carmen, Mexico, and are now roaming North America in our 32' motorhome, Pearl, following warm weather whenever possible. Archives
July 2019
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