Goodbye Seattle, Hello Goonies House, Cannon Beach and Tillamook Cheese

Sorry for the delay in Blogging folks, but we have been on the move since Christmas. Since the last blog, we had Christmases with our respective families, me in Florida, and Amy in PA. Afterwards, on the 29th of December, we both flew back to Seattle to pick up our cars and head south to warmer pastures, where hopefully, a job awaits us. I flew in early in the evening, took a cab back to our cars, and checked into a hotel near the airport where I was going to pick up Amy late that night. Amy’s flight ended up being delayed a few hours and didn’t get in until almost 4 AM. She had slept on the plane, so we awoke that morning with a plan of securing a job in Arizona, and then driving to that job. After talking to our recruiters, we realized that many managers/owners of clinics were off for the week, and probably would not return until after the new year.

So, we embarked on yet another road trip. This time, unlike our roadtrip from Philly to Seattle, we had time to kill and many sights to see as we have never explored the west coast south of Portland, Oregon. We first drove to say goodbye to our wonderful landlords and their beautiful house on the Puget Sound. We are going to really miss that place, it was a great experience to live there for the time that we did. Anyway, I am going to break this roadtrip down into days in order to accurately recount our experiences/travels, as we are still traveling as I write this now.

Day 1

We planned most of the trip on the fly…..nothing is secure, we are living out of our cars, so we might as well have fun and explore the west coast while we have the time, freedom, and absence of true responsibility. We decided to take the scenic drive Highway 101 from Oregon to California (I also had to avoid the snowy mountain passes of I-5 because I have a 2 rear wheel drive sports car, and don’t have the faintest idea on how to adhere chains onto my tires). We first drove south….Destination? Astoria, Oregon….to the Goonies House!!! Everyone is familiar with the iconic 80’s movie, “The Goonies” and as we are big fans of the movie, we thought it would be great to visit Mikey and Brand’s house, and then checkout the haystack rocks both seen in the movie. We drove both of our cars, packed with all of our worldly belongings, hooked up our GPS and “followed the purple line” (just for your Mrs. Ward) and soon arrived at our destination. At the base of a gravel driveway leading up to 5 houses read a sign saying, “Private Drive, Goonies on foot welcome, No Cars Please.” So, we parked, walked up the hill and there it was, the very front porch where Chunk did the Truffle Shuffle and Data ziplined through the screen door. Amy attempted a weak truffle shuffle as she did not deem it appropriate to lift up her shirt in some stranger’s front yard. We then drove southward on 101 to Cannon Beach, a typical beach town, but definitely one of the nicer ones we visited on the coast. We parked on the main street, looked at a few shops, and found our way to the beach. It was our first true experience of the pacific ocean, and it was magnificent. I was born and raised in Florida, so a beach is a beach, and I am not really too impressed with sand and water, but the beaches of the Oregon coast are incredible. The rock formations that sporadically lie throughout the coast, the jagged cliffs and mountains, the beautiful green trees that line the mountainous cliffs, the miles of sand dunes……..just amazing. I was super excited to see the haystack rock at Cannon Beach (also in the Goonies movie) and found myself running down the beach dodging washed up debris and pieces of long kelp/seaweed. This amazing rock sat jettisoned out of the ocean, hundreds of feet into the sky. It was like a mountain grew out in the ocean, and as waves crashed into its base, we both sat there in awe of its sheer enormosity. It was an awesome site to see, and even though Amy took many pictures, it is impossible to capture how big the rock was. Afterwards, we walked back to the main street, and stopped for a quick bite at a local brewery/pub. Bill's Tavern had a great blackberry beauty beer and some of the best clam chowder we have had in the pacific Northwest. Cannon Beach was great, and could see how it would be packed in the summer months. We would have spent some more time there if we could, but had plans that day to visit the Tillamook Cheese Factory before closing. As we continued to drive south we indulged in many scenic viewpoints, trying to fully enjoy the beauty of the Oregon coastline. Soon enough we arrived at the Tillamook Cheese Factory in Tillamook, Oregon. Tillamook to the west coast is equivalent to Cabot Cheese in Vermont for all you east coast readers. They have great dairy products, so we decided to stop by for a quick peek into the factory as it was on our route south. The building was huge, and we quickly went through the self guided tour that reviewed the processes from cow to dairy product. We went upstairs to the viewing room, and understood why the building was so big. The production line for the cheese was incredible! We saw blocks of cheese the size of a 30 inch TV being sliced/diced and packaged. It was really entertaining. We had some samples of cheese, bought a bag of cheese curds for Amy and a brick of extra sharp cheddar for me, had some ice cream and continued our drive. By the time we left, rain was falling, and it was pitch black. Overall, the drive on 101 is very scenic, with sharp curves, fluctuating speed limits, and no lights. Again, that night, the conditions were also rainy and foggy, so we cut short our driving that night. We had wanted to make it to Yachats, Oregon, but conceded to the weather and driving conditions and settled in at a $50/night Days Inn in Newport, Oregon.