Parents-Only 4: Back to Portland

I will bring you exciting news soon, but for now let's wrap this trip up. K? 

We're currently still in Cannon Beach, but we're up early this morning for some hiking and a return trip into Portland. We're also up early because we want another trip to the local bakery and we don't want the locals getting the good stuff. Hmmmm. Crullers.

The first cruller wasn't as good as the day before - is it ever?- and then we felt a little guilty about eating all those pastries, so we headed to a state park for a hike on this trail. This trail was the same one Louis and Clark used to look for a beached whale back in the day. I"m not sure why they picked this route, for its damn steep. Why not go inland a little and go around the steep head? Sacagawea must not have been directing this particular sidetrip, no woman would use this trail instead of a slightly longer but flat one.

We had friends on the trail.

But except for those two, it was just us and peace and quiet. Except for our post-pastry huffing.

Like so many hikes we do near the Pacific Ocean that are steep at the beginning, we thought that surely it would level off around the next corner? And then you turn the corner and no, it does not level off. So upwards we go for about 30 minutes. The state park was smart and put educational signage every few hundred yards so we could stop to read and catch our breath. Or pose for pictures for the same reason.

We did make it to the top. Phew. And no, this is not Lois and Clark's fort, it's just a camping site in the park.

Just past that camping site is a tiny trail that takes you out to the edge of the cliff, where you can see the reason we did the hike: Tillamook Lighthouse. See her? Barely, I know, through the fog, but there she is, a mile out to sea.

A few pictures, then mostly shivering, and we decide to head back.

The trail is a loop, and since we came up it one way, we decided to go down the other way. The "other" way is a little more remote and since it rained recently, more muddy.

But definitely beautiful. No feet-stuck-in-mud moments could detract from the beauty.

What could detract from the beauty, though, was the strange sound we heard and Keith saying that sounds like some sort of animal followed by are these tracks? This picture is the first time I saw the tracks because I just kept walking when I heard him say that. I was a little more intent on getting the hell out of there.

He thinks it was an elk track.

I did stop for a wee little bit when the trail brought us back out to the edge of the cliff. Ahhhh. This little moment will be the last we see of the Pacific, until a future vacation brings us back. Or until we win the lottery and I get to buy that house in San Fran I've always wanted. Fingers crossed!

The goal for the day was to end up back in Portland, but hotel check-ins being what they are, we had some time to kill. On our first day, the very chatty construction guy in the train from the airport told us about Pittock Mansion, and we decided to stop there this day. It was just outside of Portland and fairly easy to find, but that doesn't mean there wasn't low blood sugar and grumpiness towards other drivers and the passenger on the way there. It must just not be possible for everyone to relax for the entire vacation. 

Before I tell you about the mansion, I should point out that we're moving soon and we already have a house picked. When we were at this mansion, we knew our buyers were very interested, so we had the vacation to think about what we might want in a future home. And I had plenty of epiphanies in this gorgeous home.

Like here I'm thinking ooooooh, a grand staircase. Yes!

A phone shaped like a face to summon my servants Keith and the boys. Heh, who am I kidding, I am the servant.

A whole room for GG to iron our clothes. 

Hand-carved woodwork everywhere. Please.

Large windows and chandeliers, yes. That furniture, not so much. Yeees, I know it's period furniture, but I just don't like. Nor do i like overly done drapes, but if I were a millionaire like Mr. Pittock, I suppose I'd feel differently.

View of Portland and some trees on the property? Uh-huh. Momma likes.

The kitchen and butler's pantry was badass, but this is the only picture we got. Too bad.

Moroccan inspired design? Yes.

Sleeping porch, nice.

Shower that appears to hug you while you shower and sprays you all over? Very nice.

And not a bad front entrance, either.

From the grounds you can see down into Portland, which is where we headed for a fairly low-key night. Oh wait, no. No. That's not right. We made friends at an Irish pub and stayed up way too late. It's allll coming back to me now.

Parents-Only 3, at Night: A Cannon Beach Walk

Take a walk with us on the beach, won't you?

Parents-Only Vacation: Day 3, Astoria, Oregon

I forgot to tell you where we were staying in Cannon Beach. Schooner's Cove, where it's not fancy, but it's close to the beach. 

And it's close to this bakery. We literally rolled out of bed, remembered that we didn't have babies with us, got back in bed, laid about, then got up and dressed. And then walked a few steps past our hotel in search of coffee and something with carbs and sugar. If I only could bake a little better, I would love to open a little bakery like this in a small town. Locals were stopping in and being greeted like old friends, a couple of old men were having their regular morning chat with coffee on the front porch area, it was quaint and comfortable.

And it damn near had too many options for us to be able to make a choice. We stared, salivated and made our decisions.

Then found a spot on the front porch to sit and eat and watch people and their dogs go by. If you're considering moving to Cannon Beach, I think you're required to own a largish dog and take it everywhere with you.

Today we headed a bit north, about 45 minutes to Astoria. Our first stop was this big tower, showing scenes of the areas settlement. It sat high atop a hill overlooking the river and the town.

And if its there, and it can be climbed, we will. And so we did to be greeted by this view at the top. The steps of the tower are "sponsored" by donating members of the historical society, and I'd like you to know that step #129 was sponsored by a Trudie. As a sidenote, there are far too many Trudi/y/ie's around nowadays. I just met a teacher with the name, there is a Trudy in this book, and another in this book, and there's one in this TV show. Enough already.

Anyways, we took in the view. This is the Columbia River, where it meets the ocean.

And this is my husband, trying not to look immediately down. Behind him is Astoria, and to his right is the weee Lewis and Clark River.

See it? It's right there.

Then back down the steps. Going up was fine, but man, going down will make a girl dizzy.

If its there and tall, we'll climb it, and if its old and pretty, we'll tour it, so our next stop was the Flavel House. Captain Flavel was basically a nice man who dominated the town (in a nice way) and built this bad-ass retirement home. He only enjoyed it for 7 years before passing away, and his family donated it about 50 years later. Like so many older homes, this one is still being renovated, but having said that, it is so very impressive.

The gardens were impressive, even though it was early in the flowering season.

This tree in the garden looked like a scarecrow with an afro and long fuzzy nails. See it? We toured the inside of the house, but no flash photos allowed, so no real good pictures to share.

Next stop: Columbia River Maritime Museum. New, impressive, and a little loud in some areas. That can be a problem if you are starting to get a little cranky and hungry during your visit. The Coast Guard section of the exhibit was really loud, but worth tolerating because the topic was fascinating. If you're ever there, do go. It's worth it.

We spotted a brewery on our way to the museum, so once we left the museum we beelined here.

And sampled the wares. Mine was the wee one. Tasted like beer. Keith seemed to like his.

And as we were devouring our very good lunch, a dude walked up and said he was giving a brewery tour soon if we wanted to join. Of course we did.

We met the group in the jazzy feeling tasting room. Along the back walls, I learned were these half-gallon jugs called gremlins , no wait, grousers....ah damn, I'm going to have to google this, hold on. Ah. growlers. It's like a take out bottle for beer. You take your empty bottle in, your favorite microbrewery fills it, you take it home. If we can get enough people in the US to drink beer I bet we can get beer men like we used to have milk men who picked up empty....eh, I'm digressing. We waited for the tour to start.

I didn't listen to a thing the dude said, because if you've been on one brewery tour, you've been on them all. Take water, yeast, barley, blah, blah, you get beer! I chose to stare at their creative beer tank thing.

Keith pointed out that its interesting that they use cans instead of bottles, so I took a picture of that. The cans get a better seal than bottles do, if you're wondering why.

And then, the tour was over. But naturally we had to sample another type of beer before we left.

And that's when Keith looked back into the brewing room and got a chuckle out of this sign.

Hhm. So after beer we were feeling a nap coming on, but we did stop at a replica of the Lewis and Clark Fort. Interesting.

and then we retreated to our room for a little while. There were a few other things scattered in, but mostly we read, laid about and enjoyed the view. It was too cloudy for a colorful sunset, but light scattered through the clouds were awe inspiring in a  different way.