Cannon Beach
July 21, 2008
Cannon Beach
This week I am speaking at Cannon Beach Conference Center in Oregon. You couldn’t be much closer to the Pacific Ocean than we are. As I look out my window, I can see the waves rolling onto the beach about 40 yards away. The weather here has been a bit cooler than usual, and a whole lot cooler than Tupelo. Last night the temperature dropped to 50 degrees, and today I don’t think we got above 70. We’ve had cloud cover most of the day, again not unusual. Someone told me that when it is above 90 in Portland (about 80 miles to the east), they get lots of cloud cover on the coast. When it cools down in Portland, the clouds tend to disappear. Yesterday I took a walk on the beach and saw lots of kites flying in the air. At the moment I am watching the sun slowly begin to sink across the western horizon. However, it doesn’t get really dark here until after 9 PM.
Cannon Beach is a true beach resort, with the conference center tucked in to the north end of town. The one main street is filled with touristy shops selling salt water taffy, fudge, and all sorts of souvenirs, and then there are some neat little bookstores, some very nice art galleries, and lots of restaurants, most of them with outdoor seating. Plus the beach stretches for the entire length of the town. All in all, an ideal place to spend a vacation.
I first spoke here two years ago for Moody Week. Last year I spoke for one of the regular family conferences. Jeff Carlson, director of the conference center, said that attendance has been strong all summer.
I haven’t ventured very far except for my walk on the beach. Today I went to the pizza restaurant for a late lunch. Tomorrow I am one of the judges for the sand sculpture contest. And in less than an hour, I will speak at the evening service.
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