In the middle of July Hannah and I took a day trip to the Oregon coast. We ended up going to Cannon Beach, a sweet little oceanside town just an hour and a half outside of Portland. It's also home to haystack rock, a 230 foot sea stack right next to the water!
The drive to the beach was really beautiful--we took the aptly named Sunset Highway, which wound through some stunning mountain passes and by loads of hiking trails. I'm a little bit infatuated with the forests in the Pacific Northwest. I love how old they look, and the way moss covers the tree branches (it reminds me a little of the spanish moss in Savannah, Georgia). I love summer, and I don't want it to end, but I still can not wait for fall--I'm so excited to see how the landscape here changes with the seasons! I'm also excited--although a little apprehensive--to experience real winters again. It's going to be an interesting year!
Even though it was hot and sunny in Portland it was pretty cool and cloudy when we arrived on the coast. After parking it began to rain, so we huddled in the car to eat our picnic lunch and psych ourselves up for the cold (we totally didn't prepare for the weather!). When we finished lunch the rain had let up and we finally headed for the beach! Despite the weather, the beach was pretty crowded, and there were a ton of people there to see haystack rock. We probably walked about a half mile down the shore to get to the rock, and it was fun to see how it changed as we go closer. We timed the trip so we would arrive at low tide, and when we got to the rock we could see tons of little critters in the tide pools! We even saw a few starfish hanging out on the small algae covered rocks on the beach. I definitely had a fun time exploring a little piece of the Oregon coast!
After being on the cold and windy beach we wanted to warm up out of the wind, so we walked back towards the town. We passed loads of adorable cottages and visited a few of the cute little shops along the main road before going to Insomnia Coffee Co. for something hot to drink! I got hot chocolate and Hannah got a really good chai tea latte. The coffee shop was super cute and right by the beach--if you ever visit, I definitely recommend stopping by. Right as we were leaving the sun poked out and it started to warm up--Hannah and I had to laugh at that. I'd love to go back to Cannon beach this fall to see how things have changed! Hopefully we'll have better weather luck next time!
