Cannon Beach

It was our final trip to the Oregon Coast with Jayden before he goes on his mission. Another "last". A big thanks to Karen who was able to score our accommodations from her boss! It was an awesome room! We stayed at the Inn at Cannon Beach and our room was connected by a porch to Karen and Travis'. They were beautiful and nearly new; had two awesome queens, a fireplace and an enormous bathroom. Colby bunked with us so he didn't have to sleep on the floor:) We had a complimentary breakfast each morning and could even rent videos.

John, Jayden, Shyane and I left Thursday afternoon and stayed in Longview so we didn't have to do our heavy traveling on Friday, which left more play time. We took our time and toured a little of Longview, and then drove over to Long Beach so we could check out the town, shops and museum. Karen and Travis met us there when they got into town. Of course, we had to sample some scrumptious homemade clam chowder.

On the way over to Astoria, we went through Ilwaco ~ a little city of about 950 that sits on the Long Beach Peninsula. There are fishing charters and a processing business right on the bay. Hence, the photos of John's dream job. Afterward, we went to Astoria where we had to get our pictures taken at the "Goonies" house!

The weekend consisted of shopping, playing at the beach, eating lots of fun food and spending time together. It was a good time to capture these memories in our hearts. Saturday afternoon we drove on down to Oswald State Park where John proposed to me back in 1994 and played on the beach there. At night, we dropped the kids off at the Fun Center in Seaside and the adults had a wonderful dinner at McKeown's Restaurant down the street. The food was fabulous and it was a time to relax, reflect and be grateful.

There seemed to be a lot of emotions during this weekend. I know for me personally, I was trying to hold Jayden close, to remember everything we were doing so that I can draw on these memories when he's gone.