We left Cannon Beach this morning, not so much with regret, since there is a lot more to look forward to, but certainly with wonderful memories of a beautiful place. Even though it was the first long holiday weekend of the summer, and the weather was beautiful, there was plenty of beach to go around, and everybody just seems so laid-back.

I went out for a run early this morning and the beach was wide (tide out) and largely empty. The day dawned more overcast and misty than yesterday, so it was actually quite cool to see the landscape under a different light.

I took the dogs down for one more play in the ocean while Tim packed the car up, and we were on our way shortly after 9am. We drove up the coast to the Washington State line, crossing the vast mouth of the Columbia River, then following Highway 101 inland around the Olympic mountain range, and along part of Puget Sound. Our ferry departed from Port Angeles, and at the moment we’re sitting comfortably in a solarium-type room midship. The dogs are with us, curled up on the floor at my feet. It’s sunny but quite cool and very windy, so I don’t think I’m venturing outside for pictures. At the moment the view is nothing but water anyway.

Tonight we stay just north of Victoria, in Cowichan Bay. Tomorrow, we drive up to Tofino to spend a couple of nights there, before coming back down to Victoria for a few nights.

At the risk of sounding like a broken record, it's been an absolutely beautiful, exhilarating day.

I was up with the dogs at just after five (keeping in mind that we are 3 hours behind Toronto time now, and our internal clocks really haven't adjusted, since we gained the hours one by one, over several days of travel. We'll lose these time zones back gradually as we drive back home). In any case, I took the dogs out for a quick pee, then took my camera and walked for 2 hours. Somewhat surprisingly, the beach was nearly deserted at that hour (the place is full; there is not a room to be had, as it's the US Memorial day weekend), and the sky was reflecting in the wet sand, and it was simply enchanting.

I came back, had breakfast, then went out for a run up the beach...again with a (smaller) camera while Tim cooked himself some breakfast. Then we took the dogs down for a romp and a swim, then came back and toweled them off and sat outside with them for a bit to let them dry off. I gave them lunch and we left them to sleep, while we wandered down to the village, which is your typical seaside collection of art galleries, ice cream shops, restaurants and other such shops geared to tourists. It wasn't tacky, though...it was quite nice. I bought a dress and Tim bought me a silver necklace with a bird sitting on a little branch.

We took the dogs for another outing on the beach late this afternoon, and I've spent a couple of hours editing and posting photos. I'm just about to head down to the beach to photograph the sunset.

We have to be on the road for 9am tomorrow, because we are driving up the coast to catch the ferry to Vancouver Island. We'll be spending a total of 7 nights on the island before catching the ferry back to Washington State next Monday and then spending 5 days driving home. It was 5100 kilometres just to get to the Pacific, and it will be a (just slightly) shorter route back.

The pictures below are a tiny sample of the hundreds and hundreds that I took. For my photographer friends, I'm already on to my third 32 gig card.

What a great, memorable, excellent day this was!

I began it with a run in Spokane; there is a 23 mile path called the Centennial trail that runs along the Spokane river, and it was gorgeous. Lots of Canada geese with goslings of various stages of development, from tiny yellow hatchlings to half-grown, gangly adolescents. Spokane also seems to have a fair amount of 'campers' (vagrants?) living in tents or under tarps. But everyone was very friendly.

We drove through Washington State on I-90 and I-84, and I was surprised by how much of Washington is prairie land. I was expecting all mountains, all the time. We took several people's advice and did the I-84 drive along the Columbia River gorge, which is simply spectacular. Today it was incredibly windy, to the point that the river had whitecaps on it, and the car was buffeted by gusts of wind as we drove along. From time to time we caught glimpses of Mount Hood, a snow-capped peak standing tall and alone, with its head poking up above the clouds. 

We stopped off at Hood River to meet up with someone I've always wanted to see in person, and somehow knew that this would happen. D is a photographer friend, a retired English teacher and basketball coach in Oregon, who has been called back to teach because he's one of those inspiring people who have a true gift for educating and inspiring others. He and his beautiful wife J drove from their place in Oregon to spend some time with us; they suggested a marina and beach right off the highway, and the dogs had a fantastic time playing in the shallows of the Columbia. D&J had brought us a bag of local cheese, meat and wine to take along with us. They are such kind, thoughtful people, and I feel a real connection to both of them. It's definitely another highlight of this trip.

We had another three hours on the road, taking us into the Cascades, a mountain range very different from the Rockies, though equally awe-inspiring. These mountains are lush and verdant and sculpted, with waterfalls nearly everywhere you look.

Through Portland, and another 90 minutes took us out to the coast, for our first, magical glimpse of the Pacific ocean and Haystack rock. We arrived at about 17:00 and we took the dogs down to the beach to run and play to their hearts' content. It's doggy heaven here, with no restrictions about leashes or hours when they can be there. And everybody else on the beach seems to love dogs. We even had a woman approach us and ask if she could give our dogs a biscuit, because they'd left theirs at home and were missing him. Arwen ran into a game of boules and made off with one of the balls, and all the players did was laugh and say they wondered how long it would take for that to happen. 

We have a full day here tomorrow, and the weather forecast is good. My only worry is running out of camera memory cards!