The Coast

On Friday it was 80 degrees and Colleen came up with the great idea to spend Saturday night at the coast. Forecasted was beautiful 75 degree weather for Saturday and Sunday. I got the last room at the Hallmark Resort. The Resort is just opposite Haystack Rock at Cannon Beach. It accepts dogs, has an indoor pool and is right on the beach. The last room was a two bedroom unit with a full kitchen. Perfect!

We left early Saturday morning and got there in no time. For the first time, the drive was enjoyable. Grady and Liam were in great moods and Coltrane rested peacefully in the back. Usually that 90 mile ride is the biggest obstacle to us going to the beach.

About 20 miles from the coast, though, we encountered heavy fog. It didn't lift until Sunday afternoon. So, the 75 degree sunny weather we were supposed to have turned into foggy, cloudy high 50 degree weather. With only sweatshirts, we were a bit chilly and only spent about an hour on the beach.







Thank goodness for the indoor pool at the hotel and the cool art shops and ice cream stores in town. It made for an enjoyable weekend even though our time wasn't spent how we anticipated.

Coltrane gets an A+ for his behavior -- from his quiet time in the car, to sleeping soundly on our bed at night, to being friendly to the teeming population of dogs at Cannon Beach, to just being a "what a beautiful dog you have" kind of dog. He really attracts loads of attention in public, and he relishes it.

Liam was real trouble in the restaurants, but otherwise a happy-go-lucky kid, so gets an overall B-. He would have gotten a C+ if he hadn't have slept until 9:30 Sunday morning. Grady gets a solid B (misses an A for wetting the bed).

A fraternity brother of mine from UVA (Brian Smoluch) lives in Portland, but I'd not seen him for a good five years. Happily, we ran into Brian and his wife at Cannon Beach and learned they have two sons, aged 3 years and 9 months. It'll be good to renew our friendship and introduce the children.