Cannon Beach 2011 - Part 1 of 4

This past weekend we took a trip to the Oregon Coast.  We were heading to Cannon Beach.  We left late Thursday evening and decided to get a hotel room half way there to break up the trip.  We woke up to a phone call from my dad around 4:30 am.  You know it's never good to get a call that early from a loved one.  He told us to turn on the news.  This is when we first heard about the devastating earthquake and tsunami in Japan.  We didn't know if our trip would be canceled or not so we just hung out in the hotel room and watched the news. They started evacuating the town of Cannon Beach around 4am due to the possibility of a tsunami.  The place we were renting for the weekend was right on the beach.  Thankfully we were still an hour and a half away from the beach and had a TV to keep us updated.   

The hotel had some breakfast for us and here is Lulu enjoying hers in bed.

Here is Mark trying to keep the kids entertained while we just waited.

Finally the time had passed when the tsunami was going to hit Cannon Beach.  And since Hawaii wasn't hit to bad we felt it was safe to start heading to the beach.

We got to Cannon Beach around 10am.  There are two ways into Cannon Beach.  One from the North and one from the South.  We normally come in from the North, but they had it blocked and closed off with fire truck and flares.  So we headed South and tried to come in from the other direction.  This is what we found.  A line up of cars being stopped by police.  Some would talk to the officer then turn around and some were being let into town.  So when Mark told the officer where we were staying, he told Mark that is right on the beach and he would highly suggest us not going there until they get the OK to do so.  But he did tell us there was one restaurant open and we could go there and wait.

We then decided to go get an early lunch and wait.  We first did drive down to our motel on the beach.  No one was there and no one was in town.  It was truly a ghost town.  Mark and I both felt odd and that's when we headed back to the restaurant. 

While we were having our lunch we heard that the town was officially opened now.  So we finished up and headed into town to our little cabin room on the beach.  When we got there the owner was still gone and we reached him on his cell phone.  He said the room was open but not fully ready but to head in and make our self at home.  We then got bundled up and headed into town.

Here is Lulu and Levi, so happy to be out of the car and walking around.

The only store that was open at this time was the candy store.  The kids got a fun sucker and we sat on the board walk and watched the ghost town come back to life slowly. 

Here is Mark, Lulu and Levi standing on our deck of the room we rented, getting ready to head to the beach.  We were right on the water.  The entire weekend we kept looking out at the waves and wondering if that "big" tsunami wave was coming.  It was a bit odd and creepy.  Our prayers were for the people in Japan this entire weekend.  The footage of the tsunami over there was so devastating and sad to watch.  For us being right on the opposite side of the Pacific ocean from them was very sobering.  I just kept thinking about the mom's, dad's and children that were over there dealing with loss and the hardships to come.  I can't even imagine what they are going through.

Here is Levi enjoying the beach.  It was sunny, windy and a bit cold.  He loved it!

Lulu loved digging in the sand.

I love this picture.  This is Lulu's first pair of jeans.  We got them for the beach and her sandy little bottom is so cute.

This first day was interesting.  It turned out to be a great day for us.  The weather was just beautiful.  Our hearts were burdened for Japan, but seeing out little children with no worries in the world made us enjoy the day so much.

Lord please be with those families over in Japan that have been devastated by the earthquake and tsunami.  Allow this to bring them closer to You and see how comforting You are in times like these.  Amen.