September 22nd: Lavender, Quilts, and a Little Sandblasting

Mark and I had planned to check out the tide pools by Haystack Rock in the morning, so we got up semi-early to eat breakfast before driving to the beach. Lucky us, it was pouring! Not just raining hard, but POURING. And windy. Oh boy. 

Sue and Wayne set up a waffle bar of sorts for breakfast and we stuffed ourselves with tasty waffles and fruit. Determined (more like stubborn) adventurers that we are, Mark and I finished up our coffee, grabbed our raincoats, and drove to the beach. Ok, it was still raining...but really. How bad could it be?

Holy crap, it was like being sandblasted. We didn't factor in how the wind (which had to be gusting somewhere around 40mph) would blow not only the rain, but the sand, in great stinging sheets down the beach. We only made it partway to Haystack Rock before deciding that hey, we didn't really need to see the tide pools today, and turned around to head back to the car. Which was loads of fun because while the rain had been at our backs on the way out, it was now blowing directly in our faces. Ouch.

We finally made it back to the car, and without being blown off our feet! Nevermind that after only 15 minutes or so, we were completely drenched, head to toe. I'd had the great idea to leave my shoes and socks in the car and roll up my jeans to walk on the beach. I had to roll my jeans back down almost as soon as we got out on the sand because my legs were being sandblasted, and within minutes I was completely caked in wet sand. Oops.

We drove back to the condo, got cleaned up, and decided that it would be much nicer to spend the morning doing a jigsaw puzzle inside the nice warm condo instead of heading back out to the beautiful but evil beach again. Sue, Wayne, and Granny eventually came back (they had gone into town for a little while), and the rain eventually let up, so we all went out to lunch and spent a little while walking around the shops in Cannon Beach.

Mmm...iced coffee and muffins.   :)

We hung out at the condo a little longer, then packed up our stuff, hopped in the cars, and made our way back to Sue and Wayne's house. 

It was still pretty cloudy, but there were a few spots along the way where the sun tried to peek out of the clouds.  :)

Also, one of the things I love about the Pacific Northwest is the trees. They are HUGE! Sue and Wayne said they're Douglas Firs; I told Mark we should buy one and plant it in our yard at home so that we can have the tallest thing in the entire town. 

Did I mention that Sue and Wayne have a lavender farm and a quilt shop? Because they do! We still had a little time before the sun went down after we got back, so they gave us a tour. The field smelled fantastic! They explained how they harvested and dried the lavender, and they gave me a whole big bag of lavender buds that smell amazing. We also got to check out the quilt shop and Sue and I spent a LOT of time talking about all sorts of quilt things. I've always wanted to make a quilt, so Sue offered to long-distance tutor me. I can't wait to get started!   :)    You can check out their website here; they also have a page under the Catalog tab that lists their lavender products.

All of Sue's quilts were gorgeous, but this one was by far my favorite. It's a wall hanging in their living room. I love the colors and the detail!

After hanging out in the quilt shop for a bit, we made our way back up to the house, had dinner (I managed to score the chicken and rice leftovers from the night before - yum!), and hung out in the kitchen, laughing and drinking wine and hard cider, eating (in my case, inhaling) dehydrated pears, and enjoying our last night with them. We had one more full day left in our trip, but because our flight left early the following morning we'd be spending our last night in a hotel by the airport. I wasn't looking forward to leaving!