Day 21

We leave Portland and head for the coast again, stopping at another AAA store along the way. By the early afternoon, we’ve reached the filming location for famed cinematic masterpiece “The Goonies” -- Astoria, OR. After viewing the town from a hilltop observatory called the Astoria Column, I call my mom and coach her through a long Googling process that eventually yields the address of Sean Astin’s house in the movie. We drive to the house, get out, walk up the driveway, and reenact the movie’s best parts.

I do the Truffle Shuffle. I recite some dialogue. I walk into the neighbor’s driveway, stomp my feet, and shout “I want my bike! I want my bike!” No less than seven other people walk up the driveway while we’re there, proof that I'm not the only person who still loves this movie. The driveway must get a lot of visitors.

Driving away from the house, we see the corner store used in the one of the film’s deleted scenes. Man. Who’s a big-time “Goonies” fan? Me.

Like a lot of small towns, Astoria has sheltered its quaint Main St. area from the presence of chain stores. Everything is locally owned and semi-overpriced, but we find a good restaurant and have a very late lunch. It’s well past 4:00 by the time we get back in the car and leave, passing the local jail (also in the movie!!) on our way out.

Thus begins our long trek down US-101, also called the Pacific Coast Highway. The road is a little crazy this far up the coast; it parallels the shoreline exactly, ,meaning there's a lot of sharp curves. We park the car and stretch our legs at Cannon Beach, where the mammoth Haystack Rock looms offshore. We could’ve hiked right up to the rock if we had arrived during low-tide, but approximately twenty yards of rough ocean water is splashing in our way right now. Instead, we walk along the beach until our legs get tired, and then we hit the road once more. Our plan to reach the bottom of Oregon by midnight has been thwarted by our slow-moving progress on US-1, so we cut our losses and crash in Lincoln City instead.