Cannon Beach

You all know how much I love this place, so we'll skip the preamble and get to the pretty pictures.

 The view from our room. That's Ecola Creek- we were not tempted to dip our tootsies in the water.

 Sunset on the Pacific

 The Rock!

 The Rock, closer!

A rare afternoon find on the sand.

 It took a few tries to catch the irridescence.

Self-explanatory

 Also self-explanatory

 There had been some high tides lately.

We've used these beach stairs for 26 years and counting

Not as many seagulls in the winter, but some stick around.

I do love the panorama function on my phone camera.

Ecola Park

I took a lot of pictures on this trip (man, I love the camera in the iPhone 4)- enough that I can divide them out for several days' worth of posts now that I'm finally working on a computer with some speed (I'm looking for a tablet- the mini is officially retired).

Today, I bring you the drive to Cannon Beach, and our visit to Ecola Park. We went there first, even before we checked in, because the sun was shining and the sky was blue, and that can be a rarity any time of the year in Coastal Oregon.

 It had snowed recently in the Coast Range- the roads were clear and dry though.

Lots of very tall trees, the kind that fall over in a wind storm.

 I always take this picture. I don't know why.

 Ah, the Goonies view. The drive up to Ecola Park is amazing, but there is no place to stop and take pics of craggy trees and hanging moss. Lots of room for photos at the top, however.

Another Goonie view (the subject, not the scenery).

 Looking the other direction. Lots of pretty.

 More pretty.

And even more.

 The wind sculpts the trees.

 I saw a lot of this airy, hairy moss.

 New growth in January. Imagine that.

So beautiful.
Tomorrow: Sand!

More videos

I've taken a couple hundred pics since we got to Oregon, but I'm having a hard time getting them uploaded to the blog (the mini is incredibly slow, and the phone pics want to upload upside down), so I'm going to wait until I get home for the full report.

In the meantime- this is why I love it here so.

Where we are...

This 'n That

Did you enter the Sex and Salmonella magnet/note card giveaway? Did you win? Check here to find out.

Speaking of Curtis Taylor, as I often do, in addition to the fantastic covers that he's designing for the eBook versions of my mysteries (The Hotel South Dakota should be available within a few weeks), his CafePress store also features items using some of his other illustrations and designs. My new favorites are the Haystack Rock and Cannon Beach themed goodies.

I love the tee, note cards, and the glass. I just ordered the Cannon Beach logo hoodie. Woohoo!

Have I ever shown you the beer glasses? (note: the picture is fuzzy, the images on the glasses are not). I'm planning to get them for all of the new covers. The two on the left are more of Curt's designs. The images are translucent, which I did not expect (I thought they would have opaque backgrounds), but I really love the look, especially when they're in use...

See?

This morning, I am gathering supplies and printing handouts for my classes at the Michigan Fiber Festival (link on the upper right of the main page), which opens next week. I'll be teaching next Wednesday (Fair Isle Design), and Friday (Writing Patterns for Publication, and Little Tips and Knitting Tricks)(there are a couple more spots open in each of the classes for on-site signups). I'm excited about the trip to Michigan, where we will spend time with The Hub's sister Jayne. And I'm thrilled to be invited to teach at this festival.

Wool! Yarn! Sheep! Woohoo!

So, I'd best get to work. But I'll leave you with this absolutely gorgeous photo of my new daughter in law, Cassy. 

That's Haystack Rock in the background, and a certain wedding shawl draped around her lovely shoulders.