Tillamook Air Museum - Hangar B

Thursday July 15, 2010

Our first destination on this day was the Tillamook Air Museum. I remember seeing this building many years ago but had never been inside.

In 1942 the US Navy began building 17 of these wooden structures to house blimps. Tillamook had two: Hangar B and Hangar A. Hangar A was completed in less than a month; unfortunately it burned down in 1992.

No fumbling around trying to find this museum. It would be hard to miss.

Having come from the pristine, theme-park-like Evergreen Aviation Museum I found this one to be refreshingly rustic. I will remember this museum for some odd-looking aircraft. The Mini-Guppy out front is one. To me it looks like it's missing eyes.

The lighting inside makes photography a challenge.

This building is over 15 stories high.

The doors are 120 feet high. Six sections, 30 tons each roll on railroad tracks.

Coast road viewpoint

Thursday July 15, 2010

Now we were going to backtrack a bit to Tillamook, which we had passed through the day before. We stopped at this viewpoint on Neahkahnie Mountain ('home of the supreme being'), one of the highest points on the Oregon Coast.

A sign there points out that the rock structures along this section of road were built between 1939 and 1941... and were symbolic of an era when the elements for design were not only in harmony with nature but provided by nature in the form of local stone and timbers. I like that better than today's method of just blasting through and paving over anything in our way (the Coquihalla Highway in BC comes to mind).

Stephanie Inn - breakfast

Thursday July 15, 2010

We woke up to completely different weather. It was all cloudy / foggy.

Unfortunately, the fabulous suite we were in was rented for the second night and the inn was booked solid, so we would have to find other accommodations. A sister hotel is somewhere down the beach so we thought we would check that out later. But first, time to eat!

The breakfast room is at the front overlooking the parking lot. The attendant there was a very stylish young lady in a black dress. I almost felt like we were in a movie.

I liked the breakfasts at the Stephanie Inn. There was always a lot of fruit. Also, specials were available each day or you could get the cooks to make eggs any way you wanted them. Baked goods were different on each of the two mornings we were there.

* * *

Good news! After breakfast we went to the front desk and were told there had been a cancellation. The room wasn't an ocean view one unfortunately and it wasn't as great as a deal as the first night, but it would save us the hassle of having to find another place to stay. Plus, we loved it here. All we had to do was pack up our suitcases and the staff would move them into the new room while we were out for the day.

Interlude - August flowers in Victoria

The first four photos were taken at Butchart Gardens.

Above: a sunflower.

Gazania.

Cleome or spider flower.

Dahlias always make me think that autumn is not far away.

In a yard: glory bush (Tibouchina).

This year seems especially good for white daisies (or daisy-like flowers), making white my favourite flower colour this summer. These were at Government House.

Butchart Gardens. Okay, not a flower but one of the many Hebe plants.

Clematis in a yard.

Stephanie Inn - evening by the beach

Wednesday July 14, 2010

We spotted this rabbit outside the inn. One of the hotel workers said it was named Kevin (or something similar) before they found out it was a female. It was very tame. Apparently one time people in a suite on the ground floor were watching tv and looked over to find the rabbit sitting beside them.

We were too tired to have a fire on the beach but we sure enjoyed the view from our balcony. The surf muffles other sounds making them sound distant and pleasant.

We ordered in soup, cheese and crackers and listened to that wonderful surf all night.

Cannon Beach, Oregon

Wednesday July 14, 2010

How did Cannon Beach get its name? According to an article on the net:
The original name for the town was Ecola, but it was changed to match the adjacent beach in the 1920s. The actual beach got its name because a cannon from a wrecked US Navy ship washed ashore in 1846.

We went for a walk. Above: Looking back to the left...

And looking ahead. We'll be going this way.

Haystack Rock

At 235 feet high, Haystack Rock is apparently the 3rd largest monolith in the world. It is also a wildlife sanctuary. Tufted puffins nest here but I've still never seen one.

The tide was out so we were able to walk up to the rock although I moved quickly because the tide was coming back in. Maybe it was the back-lighting but the rock had a misty look even close up, as if it wasn't quite in focus.

The Needles

The smaller rocks are known at The Needles. I didn't get any pictures of the 3-wheel contraptions people rode on the beach. Dogs seemed to be on leashes.

What are these rocks doing out there? I read they are composed of basalt and were formed by lava flows.

Stephanie Inn - the balcony

Janice Kay room

Then there was the balcony off our room.

You can see how it juts out from the rest of the building.

There's Haystack Rock again.

Stephanie Inn - the room

The Janice Kay room

The bellman took us up to the room and explained the amenities. But I didn't really care at that moment - when I saw the golden, sun-filled room and the view of the beach, that was all that mattered.

There was a sink, microwave, safe, ironing board, coffee maker with organic coffee, DVD player, Bose CD radio and all. Also a small fridge with FREE (very unusual) bottled water and pop.

A couple of nice seating areas.

Get out! Haystack Rock is right out the window.

A fireplace (love those electrics) and a step stool for the rather high 'Dreamspa' bed.

I like a place that has robes. Not that it is very unusual. What was unusual was the card that you left on the bed for the turn-down service where you could order this or that. Wish I'd taken a close up picture.

A 'Jacuzzi Pure Air' bath with Aveda products.

Also, a shower and a handy make-up table that was separate from the sink counter.

A lot of thought has gone into this inn. Want your car washed? They will do that for you - free. Need a ride into town? They'll take you for free. Want a fire on the beach? Pick a spot on the beach and they will set it up for $10. Want a picnic? They'll do that too. There are afternoon and evening gatherings with cheese, crackers, cold meats and wine, and breakfasts are included.

The fabulous Stephanie Inn, Cannon Beach

Wednesday July 14, 2010

Now, if we'd been coming from the north this likely would not have worked out, but from the south one of the first places we saw upon entering Cannon Beach was the Stephanie Inn. I'd heard of it but had no idea where it was located. It didn't really matter as we couldn't afford to stay there even in the unlikely event they had a vacancy.

I turned into the driveway anyway.

Heading up to the front door, I knew I wanted to stay here. I had to stay here.

In the lobby were home-baked cookies, muffins and organic coffee (other side of room, not shown in this photo), available 24 hours.

Room off back of lobby

The most amazing thing happened. The super-friendly woman at the front desk said there was one room available and not just any room but the large ocean-view one with the bay window that extended out from the rest of the rooms. It was as if it was her goal to make sure we stayed there. When I said that actually we couldn't afford it, she offered a discount that was too good to refuse. Besides we'd scrimped the night before and Glenn had said that he wanted to stay in a nice place after that. This was it!