Written March 2020
In between Christmas and New Year’s, we decided to take a quick trip to the Oregon Coast for the weekend. We didn’t get to see Imelda for Christmas, and it was unlikely that she was going to come out for New Year’s either, so it was good to be able to see her in between during the holiday time. Before going to Astoria though, we wanted to get a nice winter hike in (that didn’t require snowshoes). So we headed out on Friday morning and made our way to Tillamook State Forest – to hike up the King’s Mountain Trail.
And so it begins…
We actually don’t too much about this hike… it was pretty cold though and with some steep sections – so definitely not an easy hike, especially at the end of December. Because it was so foggy out, we weren’t able to see much of anything either…but apparently the views are amazing on a clear day, so maybe we’ll have to come back some time in the summer. It was still nice to get outside though, see the beautiful mossy trees and take in the fresh air! And no rain was definitely a bonus!
Going up!
We thought we made it to the end…
But actually had about 20 minutes more to go…
NOW we made it!
And back down the way we came
SUCCESS!
After about 3 hours of hiking in the cold, we were tired and ready for some warmth and food. The car warmed us up pretty quickly, but unfortunately, we were still almost 2 hours away from Astoria since going through Tillamook made for an indirect route. But like always, Imelda had a wonderful dinner waiting for us when we got there! We had a delicious lasagna (the first she had ever made!) and some King Salmon, just freshly caught! Great way to replenish our bodies after a nice cold hike. We spent the rest of the evening relaxing and hanging out together – watching some TV, before passing out for the night.
The next morning, we slept in a little bit, but Imelda had to work, so she actually left before we woke up. But of course, she was gracious enough to prepare a full breakfast for us to start off our day. Nothing like some sort of -silog to start off the day!
After breakfast, we hung out at the house a little bit with Richard, as we weren’t really in a rush to get out for the day. And we wanted to get some fish ‘n chips before leaving Astoria, so needed our breakfast to settle a little bit before eating again…hah! We eventually made our way out, but before lunch, went out to look for some fresh crabs to bring back home for New Year’s Eve. First place was closed, so we had to make our way out to Warrenton. Unfortunately, no fresh crabs because of a contractual disagreement between the crabbers and stores – but we still got some nice meaty ones, as well as another king salmon to bring home. So after that, we made our way back into Astoria to get our fish ‘n chips from the famous Bowpicker’s ‘food boat’. I’d been really looking forward to this because last time we came, it was closed when we went. It wound up just being alright for me – they use tuna and a little different type of breading, so it wasn’t exactly what I was used to. Still enjoyable enough though!
After lunch, we drove up the coast out to Cannon Beach. This is where we were originally thinking about staying for the weekend, but opted for Astoria instead. We walked on the beach for around 90 minutes or so…taking pictures of Haystack Rock along the way. It was a nice walk…a little chilly, but dry at least. There were a lot of jellyfish up on shore for some reason as well. And sadly, there was a sick seal out on shore as well.
And so after our stroll on the beach, our short weekend getaway ended, and we made our way back home – as we needed to wake up early the next morning for a travel pickup. Otherwise, we probably would have stuck around the coast for one more evening. It was a nice little trip though – with some fresh late December air!
The Dating Life of Norina and Jonathan 