Sept. 8, 2014 --- north to Seaside for the night:
ok, so we have the Sandpiper for a week, but before I knew we would like it so much, I found us one night in Seaside at the Worldmark there for Monday, Sept. 8.  We thought about skipping it and loosing what we paid for it, but it was a pretty day so we decided to see the north coast with blue skies.   Although early morning had fog rolling in as seen here from our patio.

 Yep, breakfast at Lil' Sambo's again.  This time I got the German pancake.  Tasted pretty much like a crepe and I like crepes, so I was happy.

Heading up the the the scenic loop highway again.

 Oregon has Happy cows, too!

Pacific City.

rocky area seen from the beach at Pacific City.

We drove back into  Clay Meyers State Natural Area at Whalen Island.  It was pretty when we had the picnic there, but so much prettier with blue skies.

Another view by Clay Meyers State Natural Area at Whalen Island. 

And back along the coast.

 A few miles North of Pacific City and Cape Kiwanda is the Sand Lake Recreation Area. It covers 1,076 acres of open sand dunes, surrounded by forests and along side the Pacific Ocean.   Somehow we missed this whole sand dunes area with the Schneides.  We knew it was around there, just didn't come across it.

 One of the most popular activities in the Sand Lake Recreation Area is Off Highway Vehicle riding in the many miles of sand dunes.

 People come from all over the Northwest to explore and ride the dunes.  There's also a 900 acre estuary here which is a great for swimming, fishing, crabbing, kayaking, hiking and wildlife viewing.

 Was getting a little worried with the low clouds here.

Then there would be breaks in the clouds and beautiful scenery again.

 More wild flowers along the road.

 On up to Oceanside Beach---Oregon, not California.  Lots of surfers here the other day when we drove through here with Coni and John.

Love the way the houses are built on the hill here in Oceanside.  Reminds me a bit of Cinque Terre.

 Time to have another picnic!  Our snack supply is dwindling!

Great views from our lunch table.

 even out to sea.

 Bellies full, time to head up the coast some more.

Apparently this area was harvested.

A historic bridge in Tillamook.

coming upon Garibaldi, again.

The scenic train ride rails on the other side of the pond.

 We found this tall skinny house interesting.

another beautiful view from the road.

and another.

 We went to the 3 Capes loop again and had better views today.

 then the dreaded clouds started rolling in.

rather mystical and pretty in their own way.

 I was surprised to see blackberry plants with blackberries still on them in Sept..

Thought it was interesting how the clouds hung low around Haystack Rock.

Now that's biking with a view!

 When we got close to Haystack Rock, it was actually pretty clear and the tide was out.

The interesting tourist town of Cannon Beach where Haystack Rock is.

 Next stop was Seaside where Worldmark Seaside is.

 It's very much a tourist town, too.  Lots of deco and eclectic style and even a nice boardwalk along the ocean.

Our livingroom in our 1 bedroom condo at the Seaside Worldmark.   I had sworn we had stayed here when we brought the kids here years ago.  Then it dawned on me that we weren't Worldmark owners then. 

the kitchen.

living room.

 bedroom

from kitchen towards living room.

We headed out in search of dinner and ended up at the grocery store.   Picked up a big sub sandwich and some soup and called it dinner.  That gave us time to hit the heated pool and jacuzzi before they closed at 10, too.  Turned out to be a fun little excursion and we didn't have to bring everything with us since we were still checked in at the Sandpiper, too.