Dec. 17, 2015---up to rainy Cannon Beach.

As I expected for Oregon in winter---it's raining!  But that didn't stop us.  First Angie and I ran to the grocery store.  Here she is being the chauffeur.

Angie was on a mission to see Haystack Rock, so north we went.  We made several stops along the way.  First stop was just north of Depoe Bay at Shipwreck Beach.  We've made this stop probably 100 or more times over the last 50 years, but it never gets boring.  I'll have to admit that even with rain and it being cloud shrouded it's still quite beautiful.

Heading north we passed by several farms.  The one bad thing about heading north on 101 from Lincoln City is it leaves the coast for quite a ways, but the good thing is the farmlands are beautiful, too.

We detoured from 101 and headed in towards Pacific City and the Three Capes Scenic Drive.  We didn't actually go to the lookouts since some of them were closed, but we did go over to Sand Lake recreation area to take a quick look at the dunes.  They were impressive, even though they were too wet to wander around on.  

Found many interesting barns along the scenic byway.

 and another.

The end of the byway took us into Tillamook and back to 101.  Can't go to Tillamook without checking out the cheese factory.  

 Much of this area was still pretty flooded and it was raining some more. 

 We decided to get lunch before continuing on our way and decided to check out this cute little restaurant---Kendras.  The food and atmosphere was very good, but it sounds as though they're having to move in a few weeks.  Too bad, the "house" atmosphere made it really warm and cozy.

 After lunch we continued on up the coast stopping here by Geribaldi.  A couple years ago we took the little steam train that runs on these tracks for a little scenic ride.  It was a lot of fun---and our weather that day was about the same as it was today---only it was early Sept that time.

crossing a bridge on 101---love this view.

One of the lookouts we did stop at.  It was cold, wet, and windy!

 Our pretend minivan with no 3rd seat legroom!

 our distant view of Haystack Rock.

Note the manhole cover with the water fountain coming out of it!  This was on top of a hill and there was still a ton of water running through it.

We finally made it to Cannon Beach.  I was a little surprised it wasn't totally cloud covered.  Angie and I took a walk along the beach while the guys sat in the car.

Took us 2 or 3 hours to get back to Depoe Bay that night.  Stopped at a grocery store and Angie made us a dinner of spaghetti and salad.  Good way to end our first full day in Oregon.