August 23rd

THE WEATHER: Gorgeous. Highs in the 70’s and sunny. Strong wind off the ocean.

THE DISTANCE: 184 miles south to Otis, Oregon. Staying at the Lincoln City, KOA

We began our journey today thinking we would see some very picturesque ocean views as we traveled the Pacific Coast Highway. Other than a few spots that were spectacular, we have been driving in and out of small towns. There has been moderate traffic and due to either distance or buildings we were unable to see the ocean. A bit disappointing. When we crossed the Washington/Oregon border we made our way across a 3.7 mile bridge that spanned the Columbia River. What a river!

For lunch we stopped at a place called Cannon Beach and walked about a ¼ mile to get to the ocean and found the world’s largest monolith jutting straight up out of the water! It was impressive and the waves were crashing against the rock mass. There were a ton of people on the beach even though it was quite cool with a 20-25 knot wind off the water. Many of them were flying kites… and were quite good at it! A few guys were even surfing.

The road winds along the base of mountains and it was interesting that a few times we even entered tunnels that were cut into the mountainside. It was pretty cool. Other than that, our drive has been forested, sometimes driving through very dark canopies due to the thick, tall trees. We did see pelicans floating in the ocean today! Unfortunately not in a place where we could get their picture.