Oregon Coast

Ten days ago, Benjy decided we better quit putting off our family vacation to the Oregon Coast (in case a job came up) and just go! So we did. We planned it and reserved motels and packed and left in 5 days. And it was WONDERFUL!!!

This was the kids' first trip to the beach. We drove all 8 1/2 hours on Tuesday and got to Seaside in the evening, left half our stuff in the car and headed straight out to the beach. Annie loved it right away! Riley wasn't so sure - he didn't like the sand getting in between his toes. But as soon as he saw a pack of seagulls he was all in. And once we got out to the wet sand and he could really run, he was enthralled.

First walk on the beach (well, for Annie anyway)

Wednesday the weather was beautiful. We headed out to Short Sands beach in Oswald West State Park. To get to the beach you have to hike a mile through a forest along a little stream - trees covered in moss, ferns filling in every inch of space. It was amazing! More magical than a Disney movie. And then you come out onto a huge cove where the stream washes into the ocean. There were tide pools with starfish and a little cave we could wade into at low tide. Annie played so hard that her feet ached and she could hardly walk the next day. And she wasn't even exagerating.

We headed back for naps mid-afternoon and then got some fresh fish-n-chips for dinner that night and topped it off with Tillamook ice-cream cones.

Thursday we woke up to rain. Riley was pretty tired so he took a long morning nap while Benjy stayed with him at the motel and studied for his sermon on Sunday (oh ya, we decided to go on vacation the week that he was preaching!). That afternoon we decided to head out to another beach, despite the drizzling rain. And I'm so glad we did! It wasn't that cold and we went to another amazing spot at Hug Point. The tide was still low enough that we could explore a couple of little coves - some with caves and one with a little waterfall. We had to keep a tight grip on Riley because he kept wanting to head straight out into the waves.

We got some of Mo's "World Famous" clam chowder on the way home and walked the two blocks into town later that evening to ride the carousel.

By Friday morning, Annie was pretty tired so she stayed in the motel room with Benjy and Riley and I got to play out on the beach. I made sand castles and he destroyed them. It was great fun. Check-out was at noon and that meant the end of our beach vacation. It was too short! We spent one night in fabulous Umatilla on the way back home (halfway between Seaside and Nampa) so we wouldn't have to drive the whole way on Saturday. I was able to get four loads of laundry done that afternoon, so by bedtime the sand was already washed out of our beach towels and vacation was officially over.

But now we have these to look at and remember:

And I'm already planning the next trip!