Ice Cream ~ West Coast RV Adventure 2023 ~ Day 21

We got going this morning, and Mom and Dad were clearly excited about something. Mom put me in my little car seat, and I just wasn’t having it today. Lately they’ve been letting me lay in the bed between them, and it’s much more comfortable. I’m pretty good at communicating my wishes to Mom, and she totally understood what I was saying. 

 

We were driving through really pretty countryside with mountains in the background, green pastures and the Tillamook River running through it. But a couple things were off. First, when Mom rolled down the window to take a picture, it smelled really BAD! And then as we drove through into town, Dad started laughing. There was a tractor driving down the street coming toward us!! Too bad Mom didn’t get a picture of that! Yep, we were officially in COW-town, otherwise known as Tillamook!! 

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Mom planned a pretty special morning. Unfortunately I wasn’t a part of it, but she told me all about it. Mom and Dad did the Ultimate Ice Cream Experience at the Tillamook Dairy. They were gone for quite a while, and evidently in that time, they ate a lot of ice cream! Remember, it’s the morning, right?? They gave them white coats to wear so they didn’t spill on their clothing. I think they looked pretty goofy in them. Dad said they also learned how it was made, that Tillamook has been making ice cream since 1946 and that they usually have about 30 different flavors in production. He also said their “Brand Ambassador” whatever that is, was a pretty big guy. He said he and the other employees get to take home the ice cream and cheese that doesn’t pass inspection. Yep, he has two freezers at home and a whole lot of friends! Lucky guy!! So basically, Mom and Dad got to eat ice cream and cheese all morning while I protected the LHOW. 

 

We left Tillamook and drove along Tillamook Bay for a while. It was really big. Dad drove until the sugar crash set in. Not very long….haha. He pulled over, and we all enjoyed a nice nap! Then it was onward to Canon Beach through more of Oregon’s very diverse countryside: creeks, pastureland, marshes, tree covered hills, lakes, rivers and then the ocean again. Sometimes it’s a rocky coast and other times is a big beach. Oregon is very pretty and green but also kinda confusing.

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But man, when we see the ocean again, Mom gets so happy! And it was so pretty again today. We got to Canon Beach and found an easy parking spot for the LHOW. That’s always a stress point in these cute little beach towns. We walked down to the beach, and man alive!!! Dad and I couldn’t believe how HUGE it was. It was a long ways from the stairs to the water, and it just went on for a long time! Lots of people and dogs were enjoying the beach today. They have a really BIG rock (they’re really called haystacks) sticking out of the water that everyone takes a picture of, so Mom did too. 

 

 

After we’d been walking for a little bit, Dad said to Mom, “Hey, you haven’t found any sand dollars on this trip.” We had seen lots of broken ones, but no whole ones yet. So for a little background, if you know my Mom’s story about sand dollars, you know her pretty well. For those of you who don’t, God gives Mom sand dollars. He’s done it for years and years, and she has lots of sweet stories about the times He has. (Ask her about the one God gave her on the big island of Hawaii once. They only have lava, rocky beaches. But God is God, and He’s good too. And clearly He can do whatever He chooses to do.) So back to Cannon Beach…do you know what happened? Not five seconds later, Dad said, “Oh my gosh! Look!” And there was a tiny, whole sand dollar in the sand. Then, boom! Boom! Boom! Mom found three more little ones! They were so tiny and perfect and beautiful. Dad said not to get greedy, so we stopped looking after that. Besides, people kept coming up to me wanting to pet me and tell us their dachshund story. That happens every day, but those sand dallars were pretty cool. God’s timing is amazing…

 

Dad got hungry, so we walked back into town. Mom and Dad ate at a dog friendly place with an outdoor warm fire pit and really good seafood. Afterwards, Mom ran across the street to a cute little store to buy something. Dad and I just did what we do when we’re waiting for Mom…chill…

 

 

From Cannon Beach, we headed north to Cape Disappointment to our campsite for the night. We had to drive over a really long bridge. The Astoria Melgar bridge connects Oregon and Washington over the

Columbia River and is 4.1 miles long because the river is SO wide!  

 

We made it to Cape Disappointment campgrounds. While Dad was checking in, Mom and I watched these cute little blue birds flit about. We got set up at our campsite, and then did our usual walk to the beach. On our walk, a deer crossed the road right in front of us!! We couldn’t believe it! She stopped in the shrubbery by our campsite and ate. She acted liked she lived here and we were the visitors. I guess she was right, eh? 

 

The beach was another HUGE beach, both to the water and how far it went! At the north end it had a nice lighthouse. Even though it was still sunny, it was REALLY windy and that made it cold. But it also made the sand blow!!! Do you know what it feels like to walk on a beach when the sand is blowing??!! I felt like I was getting sandblasted! Uh, hello, Mom, I didn’t sign up for an exfoliation treatment! And I don’t want another shower. 

 

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