Like a Trip to the Beach
For more than four years now every summer I have tentatively planned to return to the beach for at least one weekend. I never actually got around to planning that trip or taking it. I decided this year that this was going to change. With one good weekend left of the kids summer vacation I decided it was this weekend or bust. Trust me there were many times where Bust was exactly what I thought it was going to end up being.
So I watched NOAA closely all week and up to the weekend. I showed rain on Saturday but none on Sunday. I still really wanted to go Saturday so I didn't really cement the day until I was sure which one we were going to actually spend at the beach. Saturday morning I gave in and planned for the trip to be Sunday. As it turned out there wasn't much rain on Saturday but I don't live on the coast either.
I got up this morning and checked NOAA again just to make sure and wouldn't you know it but rain had seeped into the forecast. -_- I was getting disheartened by the minute. Not long after my grandma called asking if I could take her to the store. I reminded her that I was going to the beach but I had to go to the store anyway (I was hoping she could keep her trip short with that… no two hour trip to two grocery stores. -_-).
So I picked up grandma and took her to the store. When I left I gave explicit instructions to my daughter to be ready when I got back. Naturally when I returned an hour later she was no closer to being dressed. -_- Better yet Bo wasn't even up. The only one ready was my son and he was asleep when I left. Ingrid stopped by and picked up Butt-dan (who had stayed the night) and we worked to get ready to leave. Despite all my efforts we didn't leave until 2:15.
While we were at the store it had rained so I was certain our trip would be ruined before it began but I figured it would at least be a drive to the beach even if we couldn't enjoy it. We got started out with my son at the wheel. It was his first time to cross the Lewis & Clark bridge (which I hate) into Oregon. He did really good and had no problems. I, on the other hand, was barely keeping it together. -_-
The drive seemed longer than it really was, but I think that's mostly because it had been so long since I had driven it that I didn't really remember much about where we were going. It didn't help that the directions didn't always match the signs. For instance Alternate route 101 had barely a street sign that said Alt 101 and you didn't know you had to turn until you had passed it. -_-
So after some quick thinking we got back on track. It was frustrating though for both me and my son. We finally found the entrance we were looking for and promptly lost our way. I got us re-directed to a pass center that apparently sells day passes as well as camping passes. There was a line. -_-
The good news is that that day pass was only $3 and that's all day. She even gave us directions to the picnic area I was looking for (coffenbury lake) and then to the beach from there. Naturally I didn't hear the part about going right at the crossroad and we ended up in the camping ground area. -_- My son was listening though and knew right where to go. As we passed through the camping area to leave we passed a section that has teepee like sleeping arrangements. I though it might be interesting to camp at the park some weekend. :D
We finally got to the picnic grounds destination and got out all of the picnic stuff. I noticed as we parked that they sold the day passes at a machine in the parking area. -_- That means we could have bypassed the whole permit center thing. At least we know for next time.
We sat down for our (now late) lunch and enjoyed being outdoors. It was slightly windy but not cold or overly warm. There were also no mosquitoes around. ^_^ My daughter finished first and headed down to the lake to play around for a while. We saw a doe go by at one point too which was pretty cool.
After lunch we packed up our stuff and headed to the beach. I never really knew just how close the picnic area was to the beach but apparently it's almost literally right around the corner. We could even hear the waves from our picnic area. I was surprised at how many people were there for a Sunday. We parked and got out our things. Naturally my son and Bo hadn't listened to me about bringing either a spare set of clothes or swimming gear.
The thing I like most about Peter Iredale beach is the beached ship (the Peter Iredale naturally). By now there is very little left of it. When I was a kid I remember there being large sections of the ship still there. Bo and my son walked around checking out he wrecked hull. My daughter, meanwhile, headed straight for the waves. There were rip tide warnings out so I warned them to be careful of undertow and now to actually swim in the ocean. Beyond that anything goes.
We spent an hour just playing in the waves. Eventually Bo took off his shoes and got into the surf as well. My son inadvertently got wet and made the best of it after that by playing around in the water as much as possible. There were a few people with kites and one couple who were out there for artistic reasons. They made me laugh because they reminded me of the stereotypical "beatnick"s you might see in something like a Monkee's episode. ^_^ They were all dressed in black (she had her hair up in a banded scarf). They had a bottle out and were taking artistic pictures of the waves and such. Bo made a comment about them that made me laugh. I wont repeat it here for my own reasons, but it wasn't derogatory.
After spending the hour on the beach we headed back to the car. It took us another 20 minutes or so to get all cleaned up. I am glad I had the foresight to bring a gallon jug of water to wash off with. Though next time I think it will be two.
I had thought that we would take a quick trip up to Battery Russell after that but decided against it in the end because it was getting close to 6:30 and I figured we needed to head home early to be able to get dinner before places closed. I drove from the beach to Warrenton at which point we switched drivers. I would have driven all the way to dinner but I just can't stomach driving across the two big bridges we had to cross to get home. -_-
After a brief stop at the gas station in Warrenton we were on our way home. I found the Costco my mom was talking about on our way out. It's really close to the Young's Bay Bridge so I know where to go next time. ^_^
The drive back seemed to go by very quickly. I figured it's because we knew where we were going this time. For dinner we stopped at a place called "Fultano's Pizza". It was not only a really nice restaurant but really good food. The tables reminded me of granite counter tops, they had a good salad bar, even ice cream for Bo. ^_^ The shrimp on pizza was the large kind that I like not the small cheaper kind. It was an all around good experience. I even noticed that they have an enclosed patio for eating on and free Wi Fi. ^_^ I got a to-go menu so that we could possibly go there sometime when my parents are in town. ^_^
After a good and filling dinner we headed back home. We got home at around 9pm and it was just enough time to get online quickly to check mail before heading to bed. I knew I had work in the morning but I didn't care. It was a really nice, well rounded weekend!
So I watched NOAA closely all week and up to the weekend. I showed rain on Saturday but none on Sunday. I still really wanted to go Saturday so I didn't really cement the day until I was sure which one we were going to actually spend at the beach. Saturday morning I gave in and planned for the trip to be Sunday. As it turned out there wasn't much rain on Saturday but I don't live on the coast either.
I got up this morning and checked NOAA again just to make sure and wouldn't you know it but rain had seeped into the forecast. -_- I was getting disheartened by the minute. Not long after my grandma called asking if I could take her to the store. I reminded her that I was going to the beach but I had to go to the store anyway (I was hoping she could keep her trip short with that… no two hour trip to two grocery stores. -_-).
So I picked up grandma and took her to the store. When I left I gave explicit instructions to my daughter to be ready when I got back. Naturally when I returned an hour later she was no closer to being dressed. -_- Better yet Bo wasn't even up. The only one ready was my son and he was asleep when I left. Ingrid stopped by and picked up Butt-dan (who had stayed the night) and we worked to get ready to leave. Despite all my efforts we didn't leave until 2:15.
While we were at the store it had rained so I was certain our trip would be ruined before it began but I figured it would at least be a drive to the beach even if we couldn't enjoy it. We got started out with my son at the wheel. It was his first time to cross the Lewis & Clark bridge (which I hate) into Oregon. He did really good and had no problems. I, on the other hand, was barely keeping it together. -_-
The drive seemed longer than it really was, but I think that's mostly because it had been so long since I had driven it that I didn't really remember much about where we were going. It didn't help that the directions didn't always match the signs. For instance Alternate route 101 had barely a street sign that said Alt 101 and you didn't know you had to turn until you had passed it. -_-
So after some quick thinking we got back on track. It was frustrating though for both me and my son. We finally found the entrance we were looking for and promptly lost our way. I got us re-directed to a pass center that apparently sells day passes as well as camping passes. There was a line. -_-
The good news is that that day pass was only $3 and that's all day. She even gave us directions to the picnic area I was looking for (coffenbury lake) and then to the beach from there. Naturally I didn't hear the part about going right at the crossroad and we ended up in the camping ground area. -_- My son was listening though and knew right where to go. As we passed through the camping area to leave we passed a section that has teepee like sleeping arrangements. I though it might be interesting to camp at the park some weekend. :D
We finally got to the picnic grounds destination and got out all of the picnic stuff. I noticed as we parked that they sold the day passes at a machine in the parking area. -_- That means we could have bypassed the whole permit center thing. At least we know for next time.
We sat down for our (now late) lunch and enjoyed being outdoors. It was slightly windy but not cold or overly warm. There were also no mosquitoes around. ^_^ My daughter finished first and headed down to the lake to play around for a while. We saw a doe go by at one point too which was pretty cool.
After lunch we packed up our stuff and headed to the beach. I never really knew just how close the picnic area was to the beach but apparently it's almost literally right around the corner. We could even hear the waves from our picnic area. I was surprised at how many people were there for a Sunday. We parked and got out our things. Naturally my son and Bo hadn't listened to me about bringing either a spare set of clothes or swimming gear.
The thing I like most about Peter Iredale beach is the beached ship (the Peter Iredale naturally). By now there is very little left of it. When I was a kid I remember there being large sections of the ship still there. Bo and my son walked around checking out he wrecked hull. My daughter, meanwhile, headed straight for the waves. There were rip tide warnings out so I warned them to be careful of undertow and now to actually swim in the ocean. Beyond that anything goes.
We spent an hour just playing in the waves. Eventually Bo took off his shoes and got into the surf as well. My son inadvertently got wet and made the best of it after that by playing around in the water as much as possible. There were a few people with kites and one couple who were out there for artistic reasons. They made me laugh because they reminded me of the stereotypical "beatnick"s you might see in something like a Monkee's episode. ^_^ They were all dressed in black (she had her hair up in a banded scarf). They had a bottle out and were taking artistic pictures of the waves and such. Bo made a comment about them that made me laugh. I wont repeat it here for my own reasons, but it wasn't derogatory.
After spending the hour on the beach we headed back to the car. It took us another 20 minutes or so to get all cleaned up. I am glad I had the foresight to bring a gallon jug of water to wash off with. Though next time I think it will be two.
I had thought that we would take a quick trip up to Battery Russell after that but decided against it in the end because it was getting close to 6:30 and I figured we needed to head home early to be able to get dinner before places closed. I drove from the beach to Warrenton at which point we switched drivers. I would have driven all the way to dinner but I just can't stomach driving across the two big bridges we had to cross to get home. -_-
After a brief stop at the gas station in Warrenton we were on our way home. I found the Costco my mom was talking about on our way out. It's really close to the Young's Bay Bridge so I know where to go next time. ^_^
The drive back seemed to go by very quickly. I figured it's because we knew where we were going this time. For dinner we stopped at a place called "Fultano's Pizza". It was not only a really nice restaurant but really good food. The tables reminded me of granite counter tops, they had a good salad bar, even ice cream for Bo. ^_^ The shrimp on pizza was the large kind that I like not the small cheaper kind. It was an all around good experience. I even noticed that they have an enclosed patio for eating on and free Wi Fi. ^_^ I got a to-go menu so that we could possibly go there sometime when my parents are in town. ^_^
After a good and filling dinner we headed back home. We got home at around 9pm and it was just enough time to get online quickly to check mail before heading to bed. I knew I had work in the morning but I didn't care. It was a really nice, well rounded weekend!