Driving Up the Coast
On Friday, we hit the road, looking forward to some of the main Oregon coastal destinations, such as Cannon Beach and Seaside. Along the way, we passed Depoe Bay and Cape Foulweather (named by Captain Cook), where we saw the Devil's Punchbowl (a collapsed cave that sent waves shooting into the air at high tide).
Then we followed the back roads along the "Three Capes Scenic Loop" (the very end of which was closed to traffic, so we got to see the sites twice!). The three capes are Cape Kiwanda, Cape Lookout, and Cape Meares.
Among the noteworthy sights were the views of the coast and the Octopus Tree, which (according to legend) is the burial ground for a major Native American chief and his family. The views from the top of Cape Meares were gorgeous, looking down on Netarts Bay.
Next, passing through the cheese center of Oregon, Tillamook, we stopped at the small town of Garibaldi to visit their Maritime Museum. It wasn't as small as I expected, and was far more interesting than I anticipated. In addition to facts about the region's sea-faring history, there was a large gallery devoted to the late 18th century explorations of Robert Gray, who (in his ship Columbia) explored the northwest in the 1780s and 1790s (he is given credit for the discovery of the Columbia River) and helped establish the U.S. claim on the Oregon/Washington territory.
Before we realized it, we had driven past Cannon Beach! You have to get off the main road and take one of two entrances to get in to this community. It seems as if they were gating themselves to keep out the undesirables, and the longer I was there, the more that feeling grew. From the rude visitors information center to the pretentious shops and the uniform design standards, I could tell this was not my kind of place. So we went in search of the one big thing to see there: Haystack Rock ("the most photographed site in Oregon").
Even the rock was a bit disappointing. All the photos I had seen of it did NOT prepare me for the photograph just above--that you have to fight your way through private residential neighborhoods to get to within viewing area of the rock.
Since all the hotels there were booked, we quickly agreed to keep moving north to Seaside. The visitors center staff told us that all hotels were also booked in Seaside (because of a volleyball tournament) and in Astoria (weekend of their big regatta).
We never made it to Seaside anyway, because Highway 101 was shut down for a long period of time because of a horrendous car wreck. Once we were past the wreck, it was already getting dark, so we decided to drive the extra 10 miles to Astoria, which is a large-enough city we thought we would be able to find a hotel (which we did, with no problem).