We were planning a trip to Japan for this month, but our plans fell through. You can read about that on DH’s blog here, if you’re curious. I had blocked out the back half of May for this trip, so we went to Plan B. Oregon Coast!
We stayed at a friend’s house near Pacific City. You can see Chief Kiawanda Rock from there. I know this rock as Haystack Rock, but there are three Haystack Rocks on the Oregon Coast. The most famous is in Cannon Beach up north from here. So calling this Chief Kiawanda Rock, at the end of Cape Kiwanda, makes sense!
I like the little sea arch kickstand on the north side.
I love beach walking; there are so many interesting things to see.
Look at all the colors in this sea foam.
This jellyfish is waiting for its ride home.
This Velella Velella (by the wind sailor) is too dried up to make it back to sea.
A couple steps can totally change your perspective.
Just like real life.
This area is known as the Three Capes Loop: Cape Kiwanda, Cape Lookout, and Cape Meares. We went to Cape Lookout on Wednesday and explored the South Trail (shorter, but lots of tree roots and challenging footing) and the Cape Trail (goes out to the end of the cape, longer but mostly easier footing). We didn’t have hiking poles with us, so we just did some of each. Lots of interesting flora! (This is the wet side of the Cascades and Coast Range, unlike last week’s dry side wildflower walk.)
We saw lots of trilliums that were past bloom, but there was one with just a bit left.
Trilliums are white when they bloom, purple after pollination, and this one was translucent, ready to disappear.
The views from the cape are spectacular.
On Thursday we went to Cape Meares to visit the lighthouse, a perfect rainy day activity. This lighthouse was in service from 1890 to 1963. It’s the shortest lighthouse on the Oregon Coast (on a tall cliff). We had a great tour of the light with a park volunteer; he loves lighthouses and it shows! He and his wife are living in an RV, traveling and volunteering when they’re not home in Boise.
And we even had one nice sunset.
We’re home again, and I’m knitting and designing and writing and…everything! It was nice to get away.
Oh! I did some knitting on this, but I’m not sure I love it. I think it needs more tonal and color contrast between the two yarns. What do you think? The pattern is all written and tech edited; I just need to knit a sample.
PDXKnitterati 