Disclaimer: This post is one of those that ended up being written years after the experience was had. Sadly, there were no notes taken so whatever is shared here must be extracted from the images and what memories they may have lent us. Fortunately, there was an itinerary still in my directory of travel plans, so that will help with some details. As to why this wasn’t noted or blogged about, I was in the throes of writing/editing my book Stay In The Magic and felt that any other deep writing would derail that fragile effort.

Back when we stayed here in Pacific City, Oregon, for the first time, we had no idea that its “sea stack” is the world’s 4th largest monolith and that the one up the coast at Cannon Beach is the 3rd largest. The 2nd largest is a monolith called Ben Amera in Mauritania, while the largest is obviously Uluru (formerly known as Ayers Rock) in Australia. To be honest, when we stayed in Pacific City in November 2020, I certainly didn’t know the above fact then either (thanks, Internet!). Caroline may have, as she knows everything.

A sunrise walk under clear skies in the grassy dunes at the southern end of town seemed like a good idea.

That good idea only grew larger as the sun came up over the horizon with a stream of fog still hugging the Nestucca River, capturing the golden light of morning.

From our motel to the Haystack Rock down the coast and back will have us walking a little more than 4 miles.

This is the smile that says, “Great day!”

With nothing but time and curiosity driving us forward, we headed inland for some sightseeing.

Without notes, there’s little I can share other than we must have been having an amazing time out here.

Here we are back at Pacific City Beach with an even better view of the 327-foot-tall monolith, but it’s not exactly why we’ve returned.

Our visit just happened to coincide with the Cape Kiwanda Longboard Classic. As we’d never attended a surfing event, this sounded like the perfect way to spend a part of our day that had nothing else scheduled.

Re-entering the water with style. While this may look like great form, the guy is no longer on his board at all and is about to enter the surf, but damn, he looks good.

Time for more sightseeing as we head north. Later today, we have something on the schedule, but that shows up below. The view is from Cape Lookout.

I could share 20 or 30 photos along Netarts Bay I’ve taken over the years; how would one ever get bored of these views?

From Netarts Bay, we turned inland towards Tillamook.

Ah, a late lunch at Blue Heron and the home of smoked brie cheese. I don’t know if we were on a diet or what, but there’s not a photo of us at the Tillamook Cheese Factory where getting an ice cream of one sort or another seems mandatory, especially a local Oregonian berry flavor.

We’ve arrived at the Port of Garibaldi but are too early for our 4:30 appointment; better go check some other things out.

Just 5 miles further up the road is Rockaway Beach.

Trying to write up this entry ten years after the fact, I have this strange fascination with this “other couple’s adventure.” They sure seem to pack each day with the experiences of many.

Two walks along the ocean, a surfing contest, a couple of scenic drives, an iconic cheese shop for lunch, and the day isn’t over yet.

4:30 rolls around, and we’re back at the Port of Garibaldi for some kayaking.

Yes, we’re in a tandem kayak, which works out for me as I’m mildly terrified of deep water. The only problem is that my terror is manifested as panic. I am trying to speak calmly with Caroline, whose every move threatens to make my nightmares come true. That smile up there is the look of control that she now has me exactly where she wants me. Maniacal, isn’t it?

That is fake calm on my face as somehow I was in denial of the fact that had we turned over, I would have had zero experience getting back in a kayak from the water. Worse, I would have been in a state of panic trying to figure out the situation of getting back atop the kayak from the bitter depths of Miami Cove. Fortunately, everything worked out once again, and as I hit dry land, I could thank my lucky stars that I was able to live to see another day.

After dinner at the Fisherman’s Korner restaurant, also in Garibaldi, nothing more of this day is recorded. Our motel was the Harborview Inn down the street for the bargain price of only $69, which has gone up to $119 here in 2021.