Hug Point

The entire Oregon coastline is a series of state parks and national recreational areas. One of Kari & Ken's favourite spots is Hug Point State Recreational Site. Sunday morning we left Portland northwest on Hwy 26 toward Cannon Beach. There we viewed the much photographed Haystack Rock before arriving at Hug Point.

In order to view the cave and explore the entire point, the tide has to be out. Visitors are warned about being stranded if the tide comes in before they get back to the beach area. When we arrived the tide was on its way out, but we had to wait awhile. For me there is nothing like walking along a beach looking for shells, driftwood and rocks, listening to the sound of the water breaking on the sand. I was so focused on looking down I didn't notice a larger wave coming in until Kari yelled, "Look out!" Too late. Iwas soaked to the knees. Once the tide had gone out we were able to explore the cave and then go around the point to see the waterfall and another small beach.

(Ken took the picture of Kari & I at Sunset Beach (I think) on another trip I took to OR. Bud did not go that time. The three of us drove up to Astoria for the night and came back to Portland the next day on Hwy 30 where we had a good view of Mt. St. Helens. The volcano had been emitting plumes of steam and ash prior to my visit. I was so hoping to see something happen while I was there. Amazingly, I did. It was just a small plume, but for this flatlander, it was impressive.)

Bud & I drove the scenic route along the Columbia River Gorge when we left Portland, stopping at every waterfall we found. Multnomah Falls was the largest and very beautiful, but I also liked the smaller falls like Bridal Veil and Horsetail.

Our intent had been to come home through Idaho and Wyoming, but when we ran into snow in Idaho, we took a sharp right and headed for Vegas, baby. Quite a detour, but everyone had always said, "You've gotta' see Las Vegas at least once in your life". But that is another story for another day.

All this blogging about one of our trips has me hungering for a road trip. "Oh Bud, wouldn't some Arizona sunshine feel good?"