Portland for me was the tale of two cities. On one hand there are very trendy and lovely parts of town and then there’s the other parts, with an unmistakable number of homeless people wandering about and living in what looks like shanty towns on the streets. I found the latter part of the city rather sad. I have included two photos of the nicer parts of town.
From Portland we took Highway 26 to Cannon Beach. We caught a bit of rain leaving Portland and I didn’t have my waterproof trousers/pants on so I spent two hours riding with a wet bum. That wasn’t the most pleasant experience, particularly since it was 12 degrees Celsius outside. Brrrr!
We stopped off at the Saddle Mountain State Natural Area before ending the days ride in Cannon Beach. Nicola loves taking photos of the large trees under the low lying clouds and this looked like a good spot for some photos. It also gave me 10 min to warm up in the car which was most welcome. below is what the trees took like.
Cannon Beach is a fantastic beach town with a population of around 1,700. The town caters well for tourism with all the bars, restaurants and little speciality shops. The best feature of course is the 8 mile stretch of perfect beachfront.
The one thing we particularly wanted to see was Haystack Rock. It’s a 270 foot (73m) monolith which is a wildlife sanctuary and accessible from the beach at low tide. As it turned out the hotel that we were staying at is located just behind it. What a perfect view!
I absolutely loved our stay in Cannon Beach. I could happily have spent a few more days there, even though it was overcast. Below are some photos of the beach. There are a lot more on my Facebook page.
The drive along Route 101 within Oregon had been absolutely gorgeous overall, although it has been pretty tough on me as it’s been raining the last two days and I’ve had an upset stomach. It’s not a great combination. Hopefully all will brighten up (literally) when we hit California. I’d be very happy to see some sunshine before I head back to the UK next week. I can’t believe my trip is almost over!
Below are a few photos of the Oregon coastline. I hope you enjoy the view as much as I did.
Mel & Trinity 