This weekend 'Canada Day' was celebrated all around British Columbia...which means a long-weekend for all Canadians (hurrah!).
We celebrated Canada Day by heading to the States (there is some irony in that). We went to Portland, or Portlandia as it has been re-branded following the popular TV show (love that program).
Our adventure started on Friday evening when we boldly drove over the border having not booked a campsite. We've done this before, and undoubtedly we'll do it again: the campsite was closed when we arrived (it was almost midnight) so we found a quiet spot with a pretty view & slept in the back of our car.
On Saturday morning, we had a sleepy ride down to Portland, and we stopped off at a wildlife sanctuary on route. We saw a snake, which was cool: we got eaten alive by mosquitoes & attacked by stinging nettles, not so cool.
Portland was awesome & lived up to its reputation. Very hippy-ish & relaxed. The sun was shining & the cyclists that Portland is known for were out in droves. We joined them, jumped on our bikes & toured the city.
It was an excellent ride, other than me flying over my handle bars & landing on my face. It has been a while since I rode. I'd forgotten the strength of my front breaks.
We took the time to visit Powells, Portland's famous & huge bookshop. It was an awesome place, and somewhat overwhelming even for a bookworm like me. We also enjoyed coffee & watching the world go by.
We later spotted a cycling museum. It would have been rude not to visit. David was in his element:
The second half of our trip was spent in Cannon Beach, a stunning area with many surf spots. We stayed at two camp sites, one called Wrights for Camping, which was awesome (yes, that's the correct spelling).
The beaches were also stunning. My favourite was Short Sands beach, set in a cove surrounded by forest, that's a ten minute walk from the main road. I'd go as far as to say it's competing for my best beach spot ever. Here are some photos:
We also tried out Indian Beach in Ecola State Park. It was another great place, but for me, Short Sands won the day.
There are few places we'd go back for a second time. However Portland & Cannon Beach both make the list as destinations requiring a repeat visit.
An excellent start to our summer adventures. We even made it back to Vancouver in time to see the Canada Day fireworks in town, which was a treat.
CS/G
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