We continued our trek along the Pacific coast and headed south for Cape Disappointment State Park. Our luck of great campgrounds continued. Our spot which was about a block or so from the beach, was tucked back amongst pines. And even though it was Labor Day weekend and the campground was full, it didn’t really feel full. The spots were fairly large so we were never on top of our neighbors.

The following day we hiked the North Head Trail and up to the trail’s namesake lighthouse, the North Head Lighthouse. The lighthouse sits above the beach behind the campground on an outcropping of a cliff-like rock. It is available for tours so we decided to check it out. The lighthouse has been there since the late 1800’s, is still active, and helps the ships navigate the coast near the Columbia River. The area is pretty treacherous, and according the guide, well over 2,000 ships have sunk in the area – yikes! Obviously over the years, the the lighthouse has been modernized, and what was once lit by kerosine, is now lit by a lightbulb no bigger than what you would find in the headlight of a typical car. It uses a lens to project and focus its beam several miles into the Pacific. Crazy!

Later we drove into the small beach town of Ocean City to find a place to catch the UK game. From the moment we pulled into the park we had noticed an odd amount of classic cars, hotrods and ratrods. It was when we go to town we discovered we fell into our second festival of the week, their unofficial annual hotrod festival. People lined up and down the main drag with coolers, bag chairs and homemade signs urging drivers to “REV IT UP!” Before we headed to the restaurant, we hung out with everyone else and took in the cars and felt the rumble. Maya might have loved it the most…we have discovered she is a hot rod junky.

Earlier in the trip we introduced the kids to one of my all-time favorite kids movies, Goonies. The majority of the exterior scenes for the movie were shot in Astoria, OR which just happens to be a half hour down the road from Cape Disappointment. Looking to expand their cultural minds as much as possible while on this trip, we hopped in the truck to check things out.

Located on Duane Street in downtown Asoria, is the Oregon Film Museum. The museum is actually an old county jailhouse which was the same jailhouse used in the opening scene of Goonies – nerd alert. Of course for me Goonies was the biggest draw, but we learned several stellar flicks of my youth were filmed in the area too, including Short Circuit, Kindergarten Cop and just down the road, scenes from The Shining. The museum houses a few props from Goonies and one of the cells was used in the initial Fratelli scene. Beyond Goonies, the museum had a cool interactive component. They had a few sets built – complete with green screens, lights, slider dollies, camera, etc…  – so you could shoot your own scenes. The kids had a blast filming their own creations, all of which ended in some kind of staged fight scene.

All of that culture worked up a thirst, so we went to Buoy Brewing for lunch. Their restaurant and brewery sits on an old dock along the Columbia River. The river is also home to harbor seals and when they built their space they installed four glass panels in the floor so you could look down at the seals relaxing below. It was actually pretty cool. For our resident animal-lover, the seals might have been a bigger hit than Goonies. For the adults in our party, the beer at Buoy might have been the best we’ve had a brewery on this trip, and their food was really good too, so smiles all around. Yay!

We rounded out our afternoon in Oregon with a drive down highway 101 to Cannon Beach. Cannon Beach is a seaside vacation town but probably better known for its iconic Pacific coast rock formation, Haystack Rock. For those Goonies fans out there, it’s also the location of Fratelli’s 4×4 race escape route at the end of the opening scene – Goonies never die.

We took a small walk down the coast and hung out on the beach for the remainder of our afternoon. Wyatt brought his football and he and Maya played a makeshift game of tackle in the sand, while Nikki and I enjoyed the sea air and our view of Haystack Rock.

Like most of us who grew up in the South, the vast majority of my beach time has been along the Gulf Coast. 30A, especially in the early fall when the crowds are low, is one of my happy places.  But I have to say after spending time along the upper Pacific coast, the Gulf might have a challenger for me. The scenery of the jagged rocks combined with the boarder of hillsides pines is awesome. Maybe it’s because it’s just so different than what we are used to, but it was a great place to spend the late afternoon.

Cape Disappointment is home to two lighthouses, so we took a small hike to see the second one. It’s under the jurisdiction of the Coast Guard so we weren’t able to tour it but from the outside it was pretty neat and its overlook into the bay below was pretty fantastic.

Just up the road from the lighthouse is the Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center. It was a great way for the kids (and embarrassingly, us, too) to learn more about the infamous expedition which ended not too far from the park. We had the kids write down a few facts along the way so we can officially count it as a homeschool educational experience.

After all of that learning, we drove to small town of Oysterville for an afternoon snack. When I say “small town” I’m talking about a couple of dozen houses small. But what it lacks in size, it makes up for it in cuteness. All of the homes are little beachy cottages, most of which are filled with colorful gardens in their front yards. But the main attraction is Oysterville Sea Farms and their fresh-shucked oysters. We ordered a dozen and a half that came with a side of crabbiness. Shucker attitude aside, they oysters were some of the best we’ve had on the trip.

We wrapped up our stay at Cape Disappointment with an evening on the beach. The kids, who had previously constructed a football field using driftwood, played a tight game of beach football. Between tackles, Maya kept us all entertained with her pregame and halftime announcements. The post game celebration was provided by Mother Nature with an incredible sunset to our great stay.