April 31, 2006—The Razor Run

We joined up with new friend Glen again on a late morning start to the beaches of Oregon’s magnificent coast. It was my idea to partake of a small Cannon Beach restaurant’s deep fried razor clams for lunch and believe me, there is just about nothing better! If you are ever in the area, Ecola Restaurant and fish market, one block off the main drag is definitely worth the stop. It’s a down home kind of place where you stand in line to place your order and only minutes later go up to get it when they call your number. Marc enjoyed the razors so much he had to have two orders!

Cannon Beach, OR is a charming town that seems to exist primarily to serve the heavy tourist trade it receives. With its proximity to Portland, only 65 miles away, there is rarely a weekend, bad weather or no, when it doesn’t receive massive amounts of traffic so patience is the order of the day. It is also well known for its art’s community and many al fresco dining establishments.

 We knew we wanted to bring back some fresh Dungeness crab for dinner so farther on we stopped at the Jetty Fishery, where Marc checked out the crab. The crab for sale there didn’t look too fresh and were on the small side so we continued on after a short break. Glen took the lead.

After a fuel stop in Garibaldi, before we knew it we were at Glen’s favorite place for ice cream, the Tillamook Cheese Factory. It was doing a booming business. Marc found the crab he was looking for right across the street so into the cooler on ice went three huge crabs!

We peeled off Hwy. 101 at Hwy. 22 for the hour’s return to Salem. The first part of 22 as it leaves the coast road was full of 35 mph twisties, hills and deep, draping forest running alongside a small river. For those of you who aren’t bikers, “twisties” are those gloriously curvy roads that all bikers live for (but that Claudia is still a little nervous on). Back home it was time for our own al fresco dining, cracked out crab compliments of the Crab Killer! What a glorious day!