"I shall wear white flannel trousers, and walk upon the beach." -T.S. Elliot
There is something baffling about the Oregon Coast. The entire coast line is public land, and yet the coast is filled with miles and miles of gorgeous empty beaches. I don't understand it. I suppose it's no different than the shocked look I get from out-of-staters when I mention to them that I don't ski. For one who lives in the desert, I can't imagine living so close to the sea and not going out to admire it every day of my life. But I suppose that if this was my every day life, perhaps I wouldn't be relishing the ocean every minute of every day, just like I don't relish the mountains every moment of every day, even though they are beautiful beautiful mountains that few people get to experience.
I'm guessing that another explanation for the empty beaches, is that Oregon beaches are different than California or Florida beaches. They are cold! The water is bitingly cold. I've never gotten passed my ankles in an Oregon ocean. You don't show up in Oregon with your bikini. You show up with your hoody or cardigan. Many of the beaches are a little more rustic than other beaches. It isn't just miles of sandy beaches. There are cliffs and rocks and drift wood along the Oregon shores. I love it! I just love it! I love that it is chilly in July. I love the fog that rolls in nearly every day. I love the wind having a party with my hair. And I love that we have miles of beach practically to ourselves. The sort of people that you run into on an Oregon beach are a delightful sort. They are generally the type that enjoy the simple pleasures, a quiet, respectful sort of people.
So as we got up early on Tuesday to try to gather some more sand dollars, and put on our multiple layers of coats and jackets, and walked out onto our virtually empty personal beach, I was content as content could be.
The kids were better equipped with buckets in hand, this day. Even the teenager wrastled herself out of bed to join the early morning search party.
Another incredibly low-tide made for some good tide-pooling. We greeted our little aquatic friends before beginning to scour the beach.
Because I was behind the rest of the pack shooting photographs, I didn't come across a single sand dollar. I was afraid that my poor children were being skunked this morning.
The reason I hadn't come across a single sand dollar, was because my children had scooped up any lovely specimen they stumbled upon as they raced ahead of me. Neil was just as thrilled as the kids to find sand dollars. He grew up combing Oregon beaches and never came across a sand dollar. He was thrilled to do so on this trip. He also came across a cute little crab.
The problem with beach-combing is that you can walk for miles and miles without even realizing it. And when your feet get to that so-cold-they're-numb point, and you turn around to go back, you realize that you have a long journey ahead of you, only now you are walking into the wind. It is times like this that little brothers are glad for big sisters who decided to get up early and join the family for a sand dollar search. This big sister carried this little brother almost all the way back to the house.
We got home chilled to the bone. It's a good thing that we had purchased hot cocoa mix the day before as well as whipping cream and marshmallows. There is nothing like sitting in front of the fire with cups of hot chocolate in the middle of July.
We decided to go into Lincoln City today. First stop, was the Alder House, a quaint little house nestled in the woods where local glass-blowers work their craft all day. And I could watch them all day. I'm so glad that such artisans are still alive and well in this country. Sometimes you just have to drive into the woods to find them.
This gentleman made me a vase last summer that sits on my shelf and reminds me of the coast every time I look at it. Sabrina and Spencer each selected a piece of blown-glass to take home. But Jonah insisted that this gentleman make him a customized piece of art. But Jonah only had $20.00 to spend, not enough for an elaborate vase. All he really wanted was a plain blue glass ball, a paper-weight really. No glass blowing was even necessary for what Jonah wanted. It was a little beneath the glass-blowers skill level, but he was so cute with Jonah and willing to make him his glass ball. I was grateful for this skilled artisan who was willing to make my ten year old's afternoon special.
Now that the glass was cooling, we were off to the Christmas Cottage. We were thrilled to see that even through the recessions and hard times, places like the Christmas Cottage still remain. Perhaps tourists like ourselves keep such establishments profitable.
Everyone picked an ornament to remind them of their trip to Oregon. Spencer and Sabrina both picked carousel horses. Jessica couldn't decide between a T-Rex and an electric cello. Despite her new obsession with T-Rex's and their inconveniently tiny arms, her continuous love for the cello won out.
And Jonah chose a tiny ship covered in Christmas lights. It reminded me of our last trip to the Christmas Cottage, in 2009. Jonah picked a delicate glass lighthouse ornament. Before heading home, Neil carefully put all of the boxed ornaments safely under the van seats so that they would make it home safely. Somehow, Jonah's lighthouse got completely mushed. Jonah was devastated. We called up the Christmas Cottage and described in detail Jonah's shattered lighthouse. They had another one and were willing to ship it to us. The original ornament cost $8.00. We paid another $8.00 for its replacement and $12.00 for shipping. Every year, Jonah puts his ornament on the tree, and we think of the Christmas Cottage, and the most expensive ornament we ever bought. Mind you, all of the ornaments made it home in one piece this year, as did the blown-glass.
Now we were hungry. I had been looking forward to dinner at Kyllos since we ate there last summer. It sits right over the world's shortest river. The D River, it's called. It's little more than a puddle, but somehow won the title of a river.
Kyllos offers a great view of the Lincoln beaches from just about any seat, and the food is fabulous. Neil was thrilled to finally get himself some local seafood. A halibut dish that was melt-in-your-mouth. We were all getting a little tired now and wanted to go back to our house by the sea. Neil stopped at the outlets to buy some UnderArmor, then we made a quick stop at the quaint town of Depoe Bay for some ice cream. We took 30 seconds to try to spot the resident whale. No luck. Time to go home.
We spent the rest of the day with our feet up at the house. We finished the night by enjoying a movie as a family. Mom and Tony hadn't seen Lincoln yet, and it's one of my favorite movies, and we happened to bring it with us. We couldn't get the microwave to pop our popcorn, so we sent Neil and Tony to the movie theater to buy us three tubs. We had enough popcorn to feed Grant's army, a warm fire going, and plenty of room to put our feet up and watch an amazing story unfold. A simple night, but a highlight.
Our trip was now half over, and I didn't want it to end. This pretend life we were enjoying was starting to feel like reality, and I didn't want to say good-bye. But time is relentless. It stops for no one. All I could do was try my best to enjoy my last days, with my precious family, in our bungalow by the sea.
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