Driving Hwy 101 to Lincoln City

This morning we woke up and we got our things ready to leave Astoria. Today we are driving from Astoria to Lincoln City. Last night I looked at the map and the letterbox clues and decided what we wanted to do. I knew we couldn't do everything along the way so I decided that we would do things closer to the north and that way we could drive from Lincoln City up a little ways to get things from that end. Our first stop was in Gearhart to find A Little New Mexico Sunshine by rubberpeace and rbrhorno. She had gotten notes that the box wasn't there and we were unable to find it. So I called her and left her a message and then we moved on - a little disappointed to start the day off with a missed box. We arrived in Seaside and I told Thomas that we would only do a few boxes here so we could have time to stop in other places and still get to Lincoln City at a decent hour. We made our way to the Lewis and Clark Saltworks - the starting point for three of the clues I had. We had a nice walk along the promenade and found all three boxes. We returned to the car and were headed to the Lewis and Clark Statue when I remembered I wanted to look for one of X Marks the Spot's boxes. So I took out the clues and we made our way to that area. We quickly found the first landmark and quickly moved from one landmark to another following the clues until we were at the last one. After finding the landmark we read the clue and started looking for the box. After 20 to 30 minutes of searching and trying to figure out if we were in the right spot or not we decided that it was missing. Especially knowing what we were looking for it became painfully obvious that it was missing but I wanted to be sure. 'X' had given me his phone number so I called him. I told him where we were at and walked him through what we had done and he agreed we were in the right area and the box was missing. Now I was really bummed - so far this morning I had given two people bad news about their boxes being missing and we were only 3 for 5 letterboxes. And even though the letterboxing wasn't all that great we were having a good time at the locations. So we continued on.

We headed for Cannon Beach - I wanted to visit Ecola State Park and do some letterboxing there. First we stopped to find A Little Cannon Beach Pride that was located on the road before you turned into the park. It was an easy find and after stamping in I took some pictures of a statue that was part of the clue and I got my first glimpse of Haystack Rock. The box I had found was hidden under a boardwalk and you could see Haystack Rock a little ways off from this point - so I took a couple of pictures and then we headed in to Ecola. Once parked we gathered our things and went to a picnic table to look over the clues and see where we needed to go. I was having a little difficulty deciding where we needed to begin for some of them but we decided to head out to the viewpoint thinking that they were in that direction. As we were walking I noticed a landmark and we went over and had a look-see. We think we were in the right spot because the clue actually made sense but we never found the box. So we continued on to the viewpoint. It was a gorgeous day and we had great views of Haystack Rock and Terrible Tilly. We walked around this area looking for three or four other boxes but nothing made sense - we weren't finding landmarks and we kept hitting dead ends. So we decided to try another trail and see what that brought us. We found the trailhead for Indian Beach Trail and started our hike. We had clues for about eight boxes on this trail. The first one we looked for was a no find. But then we found the second one and we thought our luck had changed but in the end we found only four of the eight we looked for. We kept thinking "What the hell is going on here!" - are the clues just wonky, are the boxes missing or are we just way off our letterboxing game? Good thing the hike was incredible because that really salvaged the day. There were some spectacular viewpoints along the way - we could see the beach below, the lighthouse and some other rocks (one that was shaped as an arch) along the way. I'm guessing it was about a four mile round trip hike and was worth every step. We made it back to the car after finding only four boxes in the park - [still not sure where we went wrong] - and decided to head into Cannon Beach to get something to eat - by this time it was already 2:30pm and we still had a long way to go to Lincoln City. We had lunch at Cranky Sue's - it was pretty good - Thomas had soup and salad and I had fish and chips. While eating we looked at things and made some decisions about what we were going to try and do along the way. We only had time for a couple of stops if we wanted to get to the hotel at a decent hour. I really wanted to stop and get A Place to Embrace by SHH. So when we saw the sign for the area we turned in. We took the short walk and quickly found the box. I took it to an area a few feet away and stamped in while enjoying great views of the ocean and the beach below. This was a great box and carving with absolutely wonderful views - the picture to the side here is the view I had while stamping in. Thanks SHH. Oh, I didn't tell you where we were at because the box is kind of a mystery.

From here we continued on deciding that we probably wouldn't stop again until Lincoln City. As we drove we admired the beautiful little towns and the views of the ocean and just relaxed as we enjoyed the slower speed limits and sparse traffic. Then all at once I saw a sign for a spot I wanted to stop at and place a stamp. There is a box called Oregon Coast Tidepool and it is an add-on box. I had carved a stamp to put in it and I was really glad I saw the sign for the area because I would have hated to return home without leaving that stamp. So we made our way to the parking area and took the short walk to the box. We found it without problems and I sat and stamped in. So far there are seven stamps in the box now that I added mine - it includes an octopus, jellyfish, hermit crab, starfish, chiton, keyhole limpet and the sea urchin that I included. It was a fun box and I am really glad that I noticed the sign and remembered. Again, I didn't say where we were at because it is a little mystery (but pretty easy to figure out). Thanks green army man for a nice box.

We arrived in Lincoln City at about 7:00pm and decided to eat before heading to the hotel. We stopped at a place called 60's Cafe mostly because Thomas was craving a milkshake. The place was pretty busy but we found a place to sit and waited - the waiter rushed by and acknowledged us said he would be back soon. It probably took him 15 minutes before he came back and I guess we were too tired to leave and find another place so we just waited. Finally we placed our orders and he told us he might not be able to do the milkshakes because he hadn't had time to wash dishes and there were no milkshake tins to use, but he would try. About 15 minutes later he returned and said he couldn't do them and did we want something else to drink - so we ordered something else. And Thomas asked him if the burgers had been started yet because we had really just come for the milkshakes - he said the burgers were almost ready so we decided to wait. I guess when he realized we were thinking about leaving he went and washed some glasses and tins and told us he could do the milkshakes. To make a long story a little longer we finally got our food (5o minutes later) and it was all good - great burgers and milkshakes - now realize this isn't the most beautiful place (and probably not the cleanest) but it was pretty good food. Well, we didn't make it to the hotel until around 8:30pm and we are both tired. So, it is off to dream of more letterboxing on the Oregon Coast.