Seaside And Ecola State Park

The morning started with us in a fully packed vehicle filled with folding chairs, a small charcoal barbecue and two picnic bags filled with food - plus, of course, Bella.

It is surprising how quickly one can go from a metropolitan city to the countryside where summer vegetables and fruit are grown and sold. It was tempting to stop at some of the farms but we already had more food than we needed.

In only about 20 minutes we started on an upgrade into the mountains that remind me of the drive between Cloverdale and Mendocino with dense tall trees and ferns and wild flowers growing everywhere.

The drive to Seaside takes about 1.5 hours but this morning traffic was light so we made it more quickly.

Our first stop was a huge restaurant named "Camp 18", about 24 miles before we got to the coast. It has a lumberjack theme and the building is made from massive pieces of timber and they feature a logging museum. They serve very hearty food so our late breakfast prepared us well for a busy day.

Seaside was busy but we found a parking place (not generally an easy thing to do) and we took Bella with us onto the beach for a long walk. We decided that she could get as dirty as needed but after the walk I had to find a faucet to rinse all the sand and mud off of her. The beach is unusually large at Seaside with extremely gentle waves so it's really fun just walking through the damp sand and surf. Think of how it would feel to walk through ice water and that will give you a good idea of the water temperature.

After Seaside we drove to the Ecola State Park near Cannon Beach. It was our first time there and we had no idea that it has the most breathtaking and exquisite views to be found on the Oregon Coast. The three last scenes are the views that we had from our picnic table.

Today started out cool and cloudy but we were extremely lucky to encounter some sun and warm temperatures in the afternoon. Worried about it getting cold, we decided to eat early so we would be finished by 5 p.m.

We barbecued chicken legs and ground beef patties and had grilled tomatoes and Iranian potato salad (Roger makes a traditional American salad but adds pickles, peas and small pieces of baked chicken.)

We're back in Portland now and, even though it's still early, our eyes are at half mast. (Bella looks like she's in a coma). Trudging through the sand earlier in the day and then hauling all our picnic gear up a bluff really wore us out but it was a fabulous day and one that will live on in our memories.