South on 101

Today has been a very good day. Livi slept in till 8am (not bad considering the time change) which gave us time to pack up the van, get fresh ice for the cooler and get organized for breakfast (on the house). We were on the road at 9am, but didn't get too far before we were pulling over to run along Cannon beach. It was cool, but Livia loved chasing us and the seagulls along the sandy beach, all the while screaming "Tofino, Tofino" - the only place in the world where waves crash on sandy beaches. The surf was crashing on the mammoth rocky islands which typify Cannon beach, and the cold wind turned Livia's nose bright red - so we went back to the van to warm up.

We proceeded Southward, noticing how many more small towns there are in the States than in Canada. In one of these towns - Tillamook - we came across a large Cheese factory, a wonderful excuse to stretch our legs, change a diaper and eat cheese & ice cream. It was fascinating to watch the assembly line workers cut and wrap the huge "boulders" of cheese into our small familiar packaging. We were a bit concerned that the whole factory would grind to a halt as several workers became distracted by Livia's laughter and waves and demands for "more cheese, more cheese". They were quite amused, as were we. After sampling the various cheeses (free breakfast at the hotel, free lunch in Tillamook), we bought a root beer float shake (that is, a shake with ice cream flavoured like a root beer float), and hit the road anxious to make up time and get to Bandon.

This, of course, is no easy task when your route takes you along the sides of sheer cliffs, several hundreds of feet above the largest surf we have ever seen. The frequent stops and photo shoots and the rubber-necking to see the view slows things down - but that's okay, when will we ever be down this way again? At another small town, we thought we were coming into another rain storm as water was pouring over the road - and we were way to high above the ocean for it to be from the surf; or so we thought. At this particular spot, the surf (easily 5 or 6 meters at this time) crashes against the shore and swirls up through blow holes that fire like a geyser with every wave. All I can say is that the Oregon Coastal Highway is surpassing expectations (who really takes the I-5 anyway?!?)

Having made it to Bandon with plenty of sunlight remaining, we stopped at the beach first and enjoyed running around on the rocks and sand dunes and finding safe pools of water for Livi to throw rocks into (a necessary part of any day for Livi - thanks Mom) before checking in to our hotel. The beaches here are incredibly other-worldly and beautiful - we hope some of the pictures convey that. After checking in, we went back out for gas (where we found out that Oregon is the only State in the US where it is illegal to pump your own gas - a law that was established 50 years ago to help create jobs), had some food at a local diner, went for a quick swim and a hot tub at our hotel and will soon hit the hay.

We love reading your comments. It's so good to hear your "voices" at the end of a long day driving. We love you all! Tomorrow, it's California or bust...