NORTHWEST COAST Pt.6

This will be my last post in this series...thanks to everyone who has been following along! My latest "Artist Adventure" (which began the first week of September) was a wonderful time exploring a little corner of this beautiful country of ours.  Special thanks to my daughter, Courtney, for feeding the cats while I was gone!

Okay...let's get this going with a visit to RUBY BEACH just about 27 miles south of Forks, WA.  I chose to see the Northwest coastline because of all the giant rocks...I was not disappointed. When you take the winding trail to the beach, the path opens out to a creek that empties into the ocean.

To get a sense of scale of these giant rocks, look for the couple walking in front of the pointy spire below left.

Here's another "set-the-timer-and-run-strike-a-pose" pic...

The shape of the big rock below reminds me a bit of "Jabba The Hut" getting a tan.  Love all the "needles" and "stacks" rock formations.

Here are a couple of views of the same big tree-topped rock...from far and near.

Once I had moved on from RUBY BEACH, I drove south to my next "base camp" for the last three days of my trip...CANNON BEACH, OR.  While I was there, a couple of good friends, Josh and Monica Holtsclaw, drove over from PORTLAND, OR to spend the day with me.  But not just ANY day...we turned it into a  GOONIES DAY!!!    "HEY YOU GUYS!!!"

Josh is an EXTREME fan of the 1985 Spielberg movie "THE GOONIES", and my family loves that film, too.  When Josh and Monica arrived, I asked if he was excited for us to go see all the locations filmed there, and in ASTORIA, OR...his reply: "I've got Goon Bumps!!"

So we started off at HAYSTACK ROCK, one of the major features during the titles at the beginning of the movie. This is where the evil Fratelli Family, being chased by the cops, swerve the get-away car into a big race that happens on the beach.

This view below is from Lookout Point at ECOLA STATE PARK, where the Goonies kids use a medallion to help locate the hidden treasure of pirate "One-Eyed Willie".

This empty field below is the location of the Fratelli's old restaurant, which has a secret underground passageway which leads to the treasure.  As you can see...the building was removed after filming.

The next pics are in ASTORIA, about 30 miles north.  Here's the famous "GOONIES HOUSE' where Mikey and his brother lived.  The sign is at the bottom of the driveway.

Below is the jail where the film begins with a break-out of one of the Fratellis, and the ensuing Police chase.  The window on the lower left is in the bowling alley where "Chunk" spills his strawberry milkshake while watching the cars speed by.  The museum, lower right, is seen very briefly as the kids ride by on their bikes and wave at Mikey's dad who is on the porch.  So much fun hanging out with Josh and Monica!!

Since it was raining on my last day,  I drove to the AIR MUSEUM at nearby TILLAMOOK.  On my way there, I was following behind these two great-looking old cars.  There were lots more of these beauties on the road that weekend for some car show in the area.  Wish I could have found them.

The AIR MUSEUM is a massive structure that can be seen from a great distance. So impressive!!

Here are a few of the old planes there...many are still in working order and are flown for air-shows.

If you look closely at the image below left, you can see the ladder that weaves through all of the wooden rafters.  Too bad for the person who has to climb it to change a light-bulb in there!  I snapped a couple of pics of the old photos from the World War II era, when the Blimp Hanger was being built.

Now I'll wrap things up with a few images from CANNON BEACH.  The changing weather made for some interesting variations of mood and color.  Here are three shots of HAYSTACK ROCK...a sunset in the fog on my first night there...another sunset the following evening...and a beautiful sunny morning.

My last day there, before leaving to catch my plane in PORTLAND,  I got up very early to walk on part of the beach I had not explored.  Below is ECOLA CREEK, near the lodge where I stayed, which empties out into the ocean.

I pretty much had the beach to myself...the sun was just coming up over the hills...a glorious morning.

Once I had walked as far as I could go, there was a very steep trail that wound it's way up to the top of a rocky ridge.  I was pondering whether to take the gamble on the muddy path. Just then, I had a brief moment where I thought of my late Dad, while in his prime. I grinned and said, "Yeah, Mr. Shorty would climb that!" And off I went up the hill.  On the way down, about 20 feet from the sandy beach...I slipped and landed right on my rear in the mud!  (Thanks, Dad!)

As I made my way back to the lodge, these darker rain clouds began to move in...glad I got up early!

This last image is another of ECOLA CREEK, looking back towards HAYSTACK ROCK.  As you can imagine, it was hard to leave...but it was time to head home.