Up and Over, then out

Tilly as a fairy tale castle

 

Plenty of parking if you get there early

Our new way of doing things is to not pack up and leave right away, and we did that today. We started with breakfast at Pig’n, a recent Cannon Beach end of vacation innovation that makes us both happy. Lunch at Pig’n always made me happy, but there was always a wait and I’m the only one who loves breakfast-for-lunch. 7 am breakfast at Pig’n is perfect, with no wait and all the yumminess. I tried the nitro cold brew coffee and was deeply unimpressed by its lack of flavor, even if watching it clear like a glass of Guinness is a lot of fun.

Next, back to the hotel. On the way we were excited to see that this year the Coaster is doing Scrooge, a musical again. Last time we saw it Tim was so traumatized by the singing ghosts and demons that he hasn’t been back since. He was in high school at the time. At the hotel packing up and processing the coffee somehow took almost an hour. We brought a lot of stuff as always, for one thing. Packing up the suitcases were less full than coming out because over the course of the vacation we’d filled the back seat with most of the bulky warm items. Ideally, we would hang out and relax at the hotel for longer and not check out until closer to 11. But parking at both Ecola and in town are both pretty hairy these days, so we wanted to get started more quickly.

Once checked out we drove up to Ecola State Park to do the Clatsop Loop Hike. We did it backwards from how the signs recommended – starting to the left and doing it clockwise. This makes the steep narrow part of it an uphill, which feels much less insecure than doing it on the way down. This also has the wonderful views of Tilly (currently for sale at 6.5 million) early in the hike when we’re not in “get this done” mode, and the sightseeing stops are welcome on the uphill. It was foggy at sea level but sunny for most of the hike, and at the end we came out through an archway looking out into brightly lit fog, like a magic gateway.  On the hike is that my fitbit completely ran out of batteries and shut down, robbing me of an hour of activity, 3,000 steps, and who knows how may flights of stairs. Grrr. It was practically not worth having gone.

We finished up with a final visit to Bill’s, always a good after hike destination. Then the drive home, with a stop at the Jim Dandy market in Manning which is just as unwelcoming as I remember it being (even more so, since it now has a sign calling it agro-tourism and saying if you hurt yourself it’s your own fault). And that’s the end of the trip!

Notes:

The 3 pigs in a blanket/bacon and eggs and hashbrowns and toast combo that we came up with a while back felt like too much food. Dave says see if there’s a kids meal version.

The campsite with a spur trail for a scenic view of Tilly and a convenient rest stop is at the top of this hike, not the Fort Mlustard hike as we though up until we got to the campsite. Also this hike can be done as a 5 mile one way to (or from) Seaside, which might be fun. Also don’t start a walk exercise on the fitbit when the battery is low.

I brought my string sandals (Teva Voyages), and I’d like to have flip flops or birks as well for a quick slip on solution.