Memorial Day travels

The NW travels continue ... over the past few weekends we have ventured out to explore some really fantasic areas of the northwest.

Pre-Memorial Day warm up trip:
On May 23, we took off on a day trip up the Oregon coast to Astoria and the general area. We decided to pass Astoria on the way up and continue on to Washington and an area called Long Beach. This was a really ... long ... beach?! We spent some time playing in the sand, and then driving on the beach. Yes, this beach allowed you to drive once you passed a certain point - and we enjoyed the opportunity to see the beach in fast forward. This also gave us the opportunity to let our little CRV kick in the 4-wheel drive. (Scared Heidi though - he he)


Memorial Day Weekend trips:
We kicked off the big 3-day weekend with a 1/2 day trip to one of Oregon's natural wonders, the Silver Falls State Park. On May 29th, we started our mini-hike at Winter Falls (#7 on the linked map) and continued along the path where we passed 4 more falls in total. The hike was just over 2 miles in and out and we found it to be some of the most beautiful naturescape that we had ever seen. It was raining for most of the time we were hiking which made for a bit of a soggy time. However, it also made the falls run just a bit stonger and more beautiful. Chloe stayed in her backpack for the enire hike, what a trooper! She kept telling us stories and making up little songs while we walked and took in the sights and sounds.

For the next trip, we couldn't decide whether to hit the coast again, or try something new. In typical fashion, it all worked out in the end for us as we chose to experience the southern portion of Mount St. Helens. As I was searching the web site for St. Helens, I saw a blurb about Ape Cave and I was intrigued ... so much so that this is where we decided to visit on our first trip to the mountain. On May 30th, we started to drive up to the cave and within minutes of reaching the location, the rain became to come down, and Chloe fell asleep. Instead of stopping at the cave straight away, we passed it on the way up to Lava Canyon and Ape Canyon trail heads. While it was far too wet to get out and walk around, it definately looked like a gorgeous hike with some very intersting natural features to pass. On to the actual cave ... it was dark ... and wet ... and actually pretty cool. We were woefully unprepared as the weather was raining buckets, we were just waking Chloe up, and when we got into the cave, we realized that one flashlight was not going to cut the mustard. I climbed the stairs out, went back to the car to get the backpack (which I should have brought ... ugh), rented a lantern, then returned to the cave. It was a very surreal experience trudging through this old lava tube all the while thinking ... is this the time that St. Helens decides to re-erupt? After the 1.5 mile hike down the tube and back, we journeyed back home, stopping at the most recently added Chipotle restaurant in Beaverton, OR. Yummy, yummy.

For our final journey of the weekend, we took our chances with the weather and drove out to the coast. We returned to one of our favorite spots, Cannon Beach. This time we drove a little further south and parked at Tolovana Beach. This was a beautiful entry to Cannon Beach where we spent the next 4-5 hours enjoying the rain-free day. I forgot to put sun block on and only discovered later what we all know, that a hazy day will burn you as easily as a sunny one. We played in the sand and walked in the surf as we made our way north along the beach towards Haystack Rock. After a few choice photo ops, it was back to the car, change of clothes for Chloe, and on to lunch. We decided to give the "famous" Mo's a try. It was average at best, what I would call a toursit trap type place. I had a bowl of chowder with a dinner salad covered in timy shrimp. Heidi had a burger, and Chloe had chicken tenders and fries. Nothing stood out as particularly excellent, but it filled our stomachs for the afternoon. After that, it was back to reality and the drive back home.