Tuesday, March 31, 2009

Cannon Beach

Gregg and I just returned from Cannon Beach, Oregon. We purchased a gift certificate for 2 nights at The Ocean Lodge (at the Ronald McDonald House benefit) in October, 2007.
We had a hard time scheduling a time that worked for our family during the dates available at the Lodge, but we finally did it. The timing was perfect, right after the Camp Goodtimes benefit...and David is having a great time in France, so we felt fine about going without him!

David has been emailing and phoning, and is getting more accustomed to living with a family where very little English is spoken. His emails have some French in them, so we know he is getting along well in the language. I can hardly wait to see his photos. The kids have had some great fieldtrips and tours, as well as days in school in the small town of Sainte Tulle. He has had to give presentations in French, telling about himself. I think he is going to give one about our town soon. It's sweet to see the school's website, which tells about the American students' visit.

We made a stop in Tacoma to drop off two finished quilts & some fabric with Jill Douglas, who is helping with a charity auction to benefit Children's Hospital. Jill is the lovely mother of two gorgeous daughters, Austin and Alexis. Alexis has a prayersite (on my sidebar); she was diagnosed with stage 4 neuroblastoma at 11 weeks of age! When you visit her site and look at the photos, you will see that she is a gorgeous little pistol who doesn't look as if she has ever even THOUGHT of being sick for a day. Jill, Austin and Alexis gave us a fun tour of their mother-in-law/grandma's house, Thornewood Castle. It was great to meet in person, since we have known about one another for many months. Thank you for your hospitality, sweet ladies!
After our visit in Tacoma, we headed down to Portland. We had a quick stop for refreshment at Paragon in the Pearl District, and then continued southwest to Cannon Beach. It is a very touristy - but nice - little town.
The Ocean Lodge is beautifully built, with natural wood and heavy timbers in the common areas. I think all of the rooms face the ocean; our room was spacious & cozy, with a king-sized bed, a deck with chairs & table on it, a luxurious bath, and a gas fireplace, all less than 20 feet from the sand. I took photos from the deck off of our room. You may recognize the famous Haystack Rock and the Pacific Ocean. It's amazing, the difference a little sunlight makes in the picture!
We had a wonderful walk on the beach, and of course, I took photos then, as well. And then I took photos on the way back to our hotel from town.
We had great meals, visited a wine shop that is reputed to be owned by a nationally renowned expert on Italian wine, and YES, we did stop in and patronize the local fabric store. I found some great fabric on sale to use in quilts for the hospital. SCORE!
Many of the homes in Cannon Beach are lovely, grey-shingled, weathered and cozy-looking. I liked this one because of its stone foundation and the statue in the yard.
This photo is for Wrigley, smileygirl's sweet Golden Retriever. I saw this in a dog-stuff store, and thought of you; I know you love your crab, Wrigs!

10 comments:

Me said...

Oh my goodness! That is soooo cute! He certainly loves his crabbies!

You guys are hob knobbin all over the place! Your pictures are amazing. You take incredible photographs and capture so much beauty wherever you go.

=)

Busy Bee Suz said...

Looks like a lovely place to get away for you two. Glad that David is enjoying his trip...I am sure he will have some good stories to share when he returns to the nest!!
Sending prayers to **Alexis**

Take care, suz

Anonymous said...

I haven't been online over the past few days - so just read the Camp Goodtimes speech. Thank you so much for posting it. It sounds like a wonderful organisation. I think you really got across, not only how much the camp helped Katie, but also its benefits for David and you and Gregg. It's great to think that in the middle of such turmoil for your family that the kids were able to just "be kids" for a while. While I would love to hope that no family would have to go through what yours did that summer I think a more realistic ambition could be that children could have an outlet like this camp. As a student living on the other side of the world I feel I can't help the camp tangibly, but I am going to add the hope to my Easter prayers that in this time of new beginnnings, with the start of Spring, there are children can have the hope (and anticipation) of attending this year and making new friends, and that it will help them as much as it helped Katie.

Irene

Dawn said...

Beautiful pictures, and it sure does look like a great place to have great fun! Glad you guys could go!

Love,
Dawn

Anonymous said...

What beautiful pictures! I'll have to look on the map to see where Cannon Beach is - it looks gorgeous. I've met Alexis, Austin and Jill at Children's - my sister happens to know Jill's Mom who was with her at the appointment. Beautiful family. Alexis was only 6 or so months old and I was amazed that she was diagnosed so young. We need more pediatric cancer research!
Take care, L in AK

Gannet Girl said...

I was just introduced to your blog by Diane of Contemplative Photography and I'm so very glad to have found you. I see that we have some things in common. We lost a 24yos last September, and our daughter goes to college in Oregon, so you will find Oregon coast photos on Search the Sea and much about our journey without our son there and in the new blog that I started for this first full year without him, Desert Year.

I'll be back.

AnnDeO said...

Your words spoken at the benefit were deep and honest. I love Cannon Beach... I have only been there one time, but I think I have a picture of the same house. I also was inspired by your comments about body image. I am in the depths of finishing a thesis, amidst everything else and I have let taking care of myself and exercising go by the wayside. I was motivated by your statement that it is ok to start over.
I thank you every day that I found your blog.
ps. next time maybe you'll have time to go to Powell's.

Najia said...

Oh, that beach is something straight out of a brooding, romantic English sonnett! I love it.

Your speech is so perfect. Thanks for letting us read it. I wish I had heard you tell it.

HWHL said...

These are beautiful photos - some of them almost look like paintings!

Glad you guys are having such a nice time while David is in France!

Anonymous said...

The pictures are so pretty, glad you had a nice trip!