Picture Perfect Weekend

What a great little get-away we had this past weekend. We were hoping for dry weather, but we never expected the beautiful sunny day we had on Saturday. I have so much to tell you, so let's just get right to it. Today's post includes lots of pictures, so get yourself a cuppa cuppa and let's have a little chat, shall we?

The drive to the beach was gray and chilly. Mike "built" a fire in our fire bowl after we arrived. I've mentioned this before. It runs off propane. It might seem silly, but if you get tired of smoke blowing your direction when you sit around a campfire, then take heed. This is a nifty way to build a smokeless campfire that will keep you warm without making you cry.

Mike has been building fires for me since I was 18. This one is more high-tech than the ones he built when we were teenagers. We made this trip to celebrate our 46th wedding anniversary (today). Would it be too corny to say the fire is still burning bright?

So we were up at our usual too-early hour on Saturday morning. It was still gray and chilly outside. We were just hoping it wouldn't rain. After breakfast, we were surprised to see the day brighten up, and the sun came out. We were in our truck camper, and we had a nice spot at our usual RV park in Cannon Beach. 

The park was surprisingly full. One would have thought it was Memorial Day weekend, but that isn't until next week. When I checked in, I noticed a sign taped to the counter that said we were just a half mile from Haystack Rock. When we've stayed here before, we've always driven any place we wanted to go. It never occurred to us that we could walk into town and to the beach. Mike checked Google maps, and sure enough! It showed Haystack Rock just eight-tenths of a mile away. Well...count us in for a nice morning walk in the sunshine.

You'd be surprised if I didn't take pictures of every blooming thing, wouldn't you? These little guys were carpeting the grassy areas. They're about the size of a quarter.

There were lots of buttercups too.

These guys...I don't know. They kind of look like lithodora, but they're on a longer stem.

Queen Anne's Lace...

Blooming catmint.

Shasta daisies.

We weren't really sure how to get down to the beach since the road was lined with private homes. Then we came to this public access stairway. Cool.

Just about two dozen steps down, and we stepped onto the sand. There is is: Haystack Rock. This is the most iconic view of Cannon Beach, Oregon.

Our shadow selves were so happy to be there. We weren't really expecting them to make an appearance.

Haystack Rock is home to many shore birds. One can sometimes see puffins out there. We didn't see any, and so I don't suppose it's their time. We saw lots of gulls, however. We also noticed some swallows zipping around.

Off in the distance we could see Tillamook Rock Lighthouse. You can read quite a story about it's origins at that link I've given you.

We walked south along the water's edge. The tide was going out.

I took several pictures as we walked along.

Here are some more shore birds playing king of the mountain on one of the smaller "needles." Hard to tell what these are. They might be coots.

This next image was the farthest we walked. From here we walked up on the loose sand and sat on a big log for a while. It was lovely and surprisingly warm.

We'd had a light breakfast, and we were getting hungry for lunch. We walked back into Cannon Beach and were waiting in a line at a restaurant when Erik and Mae drove up! What a stroke of luck! They were staying in nearby Seaside, but drove into town to go to the Public Coast Brewing Co. restaurant. We got in their car, and off we went. It was so good to have them there to help us celebrate.

Later, we had dinner at EVOO. We've been here maybe a half-dozen times, and it's always a good time. In the image below, you can see Chef Bob. The "restaurant" is also a cooking school and gift shop.  They've gone to great lengths to make their restaurant COVID safe during the pandemic.

So this is like a very classy Benihana restaurant. The food is cooked right in front of us, and he explains everything he does, giving tips for seasonings and techniques along the way. If you love cooking, as I do, then you would love this restaurant. Our meal was served up in four courses. In the images below, I've given you the description from the menu, and then I'll show you the dish. Everything was delicious.

 

This next course was a little heavy with the pork over the pasta. I could only eat about half of mine. I was saving my stomach for the next two courses.

This next one smelled so good while it was cooking. I almost forgot to take a picture, and I'd already taken a few bites when I remembered. I could only eat about half of this one too.

But I had no problem at all polishing off dessert. This was to die for.

If you're interested, you can find tons of recipes, including all the recipes for our dinner at their website right here. So, that's about all I have to tell you about Cannon Beach. The expected rain arrived overnight, but what an incredibly beautiful Saturday. It's always a gift when you get good weather on the Oregon Coast.

Back home, I ran around between rain showers to see what was happening. Two flowers have opened on the new clematis from last year. They're looking a little bedraggled from the rain.

One of the poppies on the upper patio has opened now. Lots more to come.

Two more poppies opened on the lower patio, and one was close to opening.

As I mentioned in a previous post, these are planted in full sun all day long, and they are the biggest poppies I've ever seen.

One of the hydrangeas is putting on some flowers.

And here's the newest clematis, just planted a few weeks ago. It's the bluest of blues I was hoping for.

And then there are the peonies. I'm realizing that one must have patience with the peonies. They are teaser flowers. Very slow bloomers.

These two were chomping at the bit to get outside. We've had lots of loves and snuggles since we arrived home.

There's always plenty of time for hand-stitching when we're camping. I did all the hand-stitching on the latest block for Dancing Chickens and Flying Pigs. This one is called "Sipping Tea Under the Tree."

There's just one more block to go and then I'll be ready to start sewing them together.

Also, I finished up the embroidery on An Irish Blessing. When we got home, I fused the shamrocks into place. They still need top-stitching.

This will need some borders added before it's ready for quilting and binding.

I didn't have much hand-stitching to do on either of those pieces, and I worried I'd run out while we were gone. So before leaving, I traced out the next block for Heartland Barns.

And I'm just getting started on that one.

Today I have PT at noon, but the day is free otherwise. I'll get to work top-stitching the shamrocks, and then I'll be ready to start on my challenge piece for The Endeavourers. I'll have more to tell you about that by tomorrow.