Monday, 28 May 2012

28 May – Mt St Helens to Cannon Beach


Another squirrel right next to the van. Little guys are really cute. It was cleaning its face with its paws a bit like a cat does.
The weather was still against us, so we gave up on the ride and the helicopter and headed up the road to Hoffstead Bluffs visitor centre. We had a great view of the Toutle River flats with the ash and dead trees, but nothing else due to the low clouds. Bummed.
We headed to Kelso again and over a massive suspension bridge in to Oregon.

On the drive along the Columbia River to the coast, we passed a sign advertising SNOOTER SAUCE… And the John Day River where the houses were in the river on floating docks and pontoons. We drove through Astoria and saw the 4.1mile long Astoria-Megler bridge ( the longest continuous truss bridge in the world). We were impressed! Astoria was pretty run down though, so we pushed on. We drove the coast highway, but between us and the ocean were miles of golf courses and rich people houses, so we didn’t catch a glimpse of the sea until we were almost at Cannon Beach.
Finally into Cannon Beach and parked up. We jumped on the scooter and headed into town. It was just stunning. All the houses are grey weathered shingles and blend in with the driftwood and the granite outcrops. 


The beach is beautiful, and from most places you get a magnificent view of Haystack Rock – a spectacular outcrop just off the beach. It is a summer nesting place for armies of Puffins and we hope to see some. We wandered up and down the main street, looking in the windows of galleries and shops. Despite Memorial Day, most were open. We made reservations at a restaurant for tomorrow’s dinner, then headed back to the RV for dinner.





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