Then & Now, Thirty-five Years~

During our first year in Washington state, we'd found employment that included an apartment.  A great way to get our start.  By the second, the dust had settled & we were married!  On a very tight budget & we'd only made one trip to the Washington Coast for me to see the ocean.  A honeymoon on the Oregon coast sounded perfect.  We'd planned on going further south, but as soon as we saw Haystack Rock, we knew we'd arrived.

Then - 10/1982

In those long-ago days, you didn't need reservations. Cannon Beach was a sleepy little tourist town, hardly anyone around by summers end. Every year, for our anniversary, we'd go down & spend a weekend. We had a favorite little motel, right on the beach, with a kitchenette & the owners gave us a great deal.

As the years went by - that changed. The owners retired, the motel was sold & knocked down to make way for a luxury high rise hotel. The town had been discovered in a big way. It was no longer a place we could enjoy. Way too many people & reservations had to be made months in advance for overpriced rooms. We made one more visit a few years ago. Friends drove from Portland to meet us for dinner, the town was jam packed. The proximity to a growing Portland & improved roads had contributed to the town's ever increasing popularity.

Now - 12/31/2017

Here we were though, New Year's Eve & not far up the coast.  The day had turned overcast, but I remembered those sunsets & we decided to make the drive.  Butch found a place to park - it had to be the only open spot in town.  It was at the north end & the rock is further south.  Once on the beach, we walked fast!  I was determined to get to the spot we both remembered so well.  We made it with minutes to spare.  A lady walking her dog was kind enough to get our photo.

West, almost sunset~

There were lots & lots of people out.  More than we'd ever seen, but when we got right up to the edge of the surf, it was still like we were the only ones there.  With the low lying clouds, I didn't expect much of a sunset, but mother nature is good at playing tricks on the unsuspecting.  Minute by minute the scene became one of wonder...

North up the beach~

To the north - the scene was so rich!  Pinks, lavender, silver & gray.  To the south, brilliant oranges, reds, golds.  Two entirely different worlds, connected by the incoming tide.

The last sunset of 2017~

We stayed until dark fell.  Behind us, the full moon rose above the hills.  It was a fitting end to the year & our trip.  A reminder of how very far we've come & how blessed we've been to travel these years together~