A few weeks back, Dad decided that we were "sufficiently settled and need to go camping before it go to cold." Knowing that I love the beach, he booked us a campsite at a small state park on Oregon's Pacific coast. Avid blog readers know that I love camping and I love the beach. But, I especially love to go camping on/near the beach.
It has been a few years since
our last beach camping trip and I was excited for another try. The last adventure ended with a broken and flooded tent (60+ mph winds and a torrential rainstorm at night that nearly blew our tent away), and complete loss of my bladder control (I was only 2 at the time and salty waves + air makes me pee everywhere). This time we were better equipped: we camped among the trees and brought a lot of extra clothes.
Back in DC, it took 2.5 hours (with no traffic; but there was ALWAYS traffic) to drive to the beach. Another reason I love Oregon - with terrible traffic, it only took us 2.5 hours to reach the State's Central coast! On the way down the coast to our campground, we stopped for taffy, looked out towards the ocean and spotted a whale spout (shooting water out of its blow hole). Dad was so excited!
Anyway, we made it to camp just in time to set up, eat dinner and ride to the beach to see the sunset. I have not seen a sunset in a long time - I'm usually sleeping - and I cannot say that it was very interesting. The sun gets brighter and then fell behind the clouds. I wished it goodnight and then we biked back to the campground. I was glad the sun set, because I like seeing stars.
The next morning, we woke up and went to
Yaquina Head Outstanding Natural Area & Lighthouse. What a crazy name, but for those wondering, it really was outstanding and it protruded into the water. I really wanted to take the lighthouse tour - so Dad and I went. It was the tallest lighthouse in Oregon, 114 steps. It was also the longest lighthouse tour in Oregon, an hour. And the most anti-climatic ending lighthouse tour in Oregon, you can only peek your head up to the top. So, after enduring an hour long tour and 114 steps up, I could not see the final view (too short) at the top. This might be my last lighthouse tour for a while.
In the photos above, you can see me running back down the stairs - get me out of this boring tour. Meanwhile, Memoo and Mom hung out nearby. After the lighthouse - we went to the tidal pools nearby saw starfish.
Next it, was time to hit the beach by the campground. I found all sorts of cool things on the beach. I found Kelp. I found Jellyfish. I found that the kelp can be used to attack the jellyfish. I love the beach.
It was a great camping trip. Our neighbors (the ones with the
chickens and goats) came to join us Saturday afternoon, evening and Sunday morning. I had never been camping with friends, it was fun. I especially loved showing them how to roast a marshmallow and make s'mores.
You can check out all of our beach camping trip photos here.
Peace Out,
Phin
