Now we come to MY favorite part of the trip: the ocean. We only had a few hours to spend getting my kids' first view of the Pacific Ocean (or of any ocean, for that matter). I've always been a land-locked gal, so the ocean has never really had that much meaning for me. I'd seen it only once, at age 16, on a very quick trip to California. But after spending just two hours at Cannon Beach, Oregon, I think the ocean would very quickly get in my blood. There is something amazing and calming about listening to the surf, the pounding of the waves against the shore. It was healing! Now I want to move somewhere where we can go places like this. I'm already plotting my next trip to the seaside.
I'd say the kids loved it too! The only downside was that we didn't really get to see much of the tidepools which were our main reason for coming to this particular beach. We tried to time things with low tide, but much of the tide pool area was closed to the public because of streaker waves (and we had the chance to witness one while we were there, which was quite fun in and of itself).
Cannon Beach has been voted the best beach in Oregon. I also happened to be looking at a National Geographic magazine in the grocery store a week or two later, an issue which featured the 50 most beautiful places on earth--and Cannon Beach was one of them, in the top 10 beaches in the world.
That night we stayed in Astoria, Oregon. Coming into Oregon from Washington, we passed through the mouth of the Columbia River on this 4-5 mile long bridge, which you can barely see in the distance below.
A fuzzy view (due to camera zoom) from our hotel.
And commercial ships in port at Astoria, again seen from our hotel.
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Kaye