From Ashland we made our way northwest towards the Oregon coast. Our next destination was the small coastal town (pop. 1,800) of Cannon Beach. We had spent a little time in Cannon Beach before and were looking forward to our four-night return visit.
There were several route options for the drive from Ashland to Cannon Beach. The shortest, less scenic route was around 6 hours. The longer, more scenic, coastal route was around two hours longer. Not being in a hurry, we chose the longer, more scenic route. One other factor in our decision-making process was the fact that the longer route took us by the Tillamook Cheese factory. The promise of complimentary cheese samples and ice cream certainly played a major factor!
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| Can't make a decision on what ice cream to get at the Tillamook Cheese Factory? They have a solution, get the three-flavor ice cream flite! |
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| Yaquina Head Lighthouse |
The actual beach at Cannon Beach is several miles long and a couple of hundred yards wide, making it perfect for walking. The most prominent feature of the beach is Haystack Rock, a 235-foot-tall sea stack that is a popular nesting place for birds. At low tide, there are numerous tidal pools at the base of the rock. The tidal pools are full of small fish and starfish, sea urchins and other small critters.
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| Haystack Rock! |
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| Haystack Rock from our hotel balcony |
Unlike Ashland, which was in the middle of a heat wave, the temperatures at Cannon Beach were more typical, a little cool, at times a little foggy and very comfortable. We enjoyed daily walks, exploring the area and were very pleasantly surprised at sunset one evening when we were joined by some very special guests.
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| Cannon Beach Sunset.........it's not just for humans! |
