The Beach

The youth from church got to go on an overnight beach trip, and that meant Tyler and I got to go as well. Did I ever mention that my family (of origin) has never been a camping family. Tyler comes from one, but I think I have rubbed off on him. We didn't even have sleeping bags until the day of the camping trip when I went to pick them up at Freddies.

We crammed 3 15-16 year old boys into our Corolla and ended up at Camp Meriweather in the pitch black RAIN. Duh, Sundy, camping requires more than a sleeping bag. I did not have rain gear (which really is a must for Oregon, anyway), a flashlight, extra socks, etc. It made for a pretty cold and miserable night. After a jog on the beach (I actually found an unbroken sand dollar for the first time in my life, including 6 years of living on the Chesapeake Bay), the rain had cleared enough for us to go on a 5 1/2 mile hike to Cape Look Out. "Look out" is right, particularly after a night full of rain. The mud was thick, and of course it started raining as we made our way through the "temperate" rain forest :). Yes, this picture is me, not a friendly troll, all decked out in three sweatshirts, a blanket, and the emergency poncho I found in our roadside emergency kit in the trunk.

Of course, all of that gear eventually got pulled off and traped back in my arms with my no-longer-white socks when the sun came out. I was so muddy, tired, and cranky, Tyler and I skipped the lunch of hotdogs back at camp and traveled to an oh-so-heavenly beach house at Rockaway Beach (I won lodging at this beach house in a service auction at church, which is a story in itself, but I digress).

What a night and day experience: warmth, light, comfort, & peace filled my soul and body at this sanctuary of civilization, all after "roughin' it" with the youth in the rain.
This is my dazed and happy look of disbelief that I could be so lucky to be at the beach with my honey. . .

Yes, it was a wonderfully romantic trip, and I had to show a picture to make you jealous :)