Manzanita Weekend

 Nestled just a few miles south of Cannon beach, in an arguably more pristine, more relaxed environment is Manzanita.  With a few nice little coffee shops, some nice bakeries and places to get food, it is without doubt one of the nicest spots on the Oregon coast.Living in the US, packing the car seems to be all part of the fun and games.  Napsack, whicker basket, surf boards, hammock, wetsuits, football, anything else really is loaded up.  And in case your wondering why we are always seemingly at the beach on the weekend?  Well this is why... Its been like this pretty much for 4 weeks since we got back from France and we have another couple of weeks of this non AC misery.Therefore when getting to the beach, the only thing to do is feet up, beer and a book.  Its about time I learn the ropes. Mum has got the routine down also.The local beach being short sands is pretty damn epic, even if the waves were a bit small, they were great fun, and what better to welcome the weekend than this.Madam Blume herself enjoying her spot on the washed up log.  Not me or my board are the washed up log by the way.The classic post surf photo oppportunity with my parents who are in tow for a couple of weeks of good food, some plane spotting and some good hikes.We also decided to take on the hike near short sands, called Neahkahnie which takes you from the Pacific Coast up into the mountainI think this is a slug but not sure what the tail thing is.Its a pretty amazing site though hiking up. Even if it is was a touch cloudy.By the time we reached the top, it had turned out so cloudy that we couldn't see anything and i had been told the view was epic.  Oh well, next time!This was probably the next best though, this view which has Cannon Beach off in the distance.The second morning we tried surfing but wind, rain, and no waves kind of stopped that, but my dad posed for this rather telling picture of a sunday morning at 8am with only a dog for company.For our last night there, we posted up on the beach and enjoyed some nice takeaway Pizza, couple of ciders and all that the coast had to offer.This is how a mother can look when a mini sand dune and a cider are combined at sunset.Thank You Oregon.  Another wonderful weekend.