IX. Sunset and Fire

I think I mentioned that Sebastian had been hoping and hoping just to see a single pretty sunset over the beach while we were in Oregon. And, while of course the grey sky has its own beauty, he had not gotten his wish. So we felt almost guilty sending him pictures of one of the most beautiful and amazing sunsets we'd ever seen, the night after he went home! (But we DID send him pictures. We couldn't help it.)

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VI. Clams and Cannon Beach

Have you ever considered clams? Truly considered them? We have already established that I consider them from time to time. I considered what it would be like to dig them up, last time we visited Netarts Bay. I considered, at great length, the way they squirt out water as you run across their beds, like spouts as you run across a splash pad. I considered the weird way they burrow down into the sand. (Your life will never be the same after you watch that video.) 

After all that considering, on this trip I finally felt it was time to try cooking some. I like clam chowder! And I like fried clams. But cooking them yourself is a whole different story. Still, I was ready. So (not being able to dig our own easily, with the tides being what they were)—I went to the fish store and bought some.

This was a Saturday, and I wanted to cook them on Sunday, and the first thing I learned was that the clams are alive till you cook them!! !! You want them alive. That is weird. You tap the shell and if it doesn't close tighter,  the clam is dead and you should throw it out!And they don't have to be in water to stay alive, but they do have to be in ice…or in the fridge. The girl at the store did not seem concerned, as if there were a chance they might die by my negligence, when she told me this. She just said to leave them in the fridge till ready to cook, and then put them in a salt water bath for a few hours so they could spit out any remaining sand inside them.

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V. Hikes, walks, sunsets, and hummus

Some pretty sights near Netarts Bay, Oregon. The bay beach in early morning. Herons and pelicans and gulls everywhere!

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IV(a). Hug Point

There are some great tide pools at Hug Point, and even though the tide wasn't super low when we went, it was low enough to see a lot of cool animals! (Last time we were there we saw a bunny! Although not, it must be admitted, in the tide pools. Either way, no such luck this time. But Gus does look a little like Ky in this picture!)

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IV. Birthday at the beach

Clementine turned four while we were staying by Netarts Bay. It was a weird house with the kitchen on the top floor, a beautiful living room and dining room view, and a lower-level bunkroom with towering three-high bunk beds. The outer corridors smelled so strongly of Dog that Daisy and Junie couldn't even sleep in the bunk room and had to move upstairs to couches! But it was a lovely place to stay all the same. We stayed in this same neighborhood in a house with Sam's parents when we came to Oregon in 2017, and we loved watching the tides come in and out of the bay so much that I looked for a place nearby so we could do it again. If you want to play in the waves, you have to walk out past the waters of the bay to the real ocean, but the bay beach is peaceful and beautiful in its own right.

Clementine was up early on her birthday, and promptly put on her new strawberry dress, which I'd gotten for her at the strawberry farm we'd picked berries at near Hubbard. (Smart of them to sell cute little dresses there. I certainly couldn't resist them, not when Clementine had already proclaimed, "I'm a strawberry girl!")

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A day in Vinalhaven, Fox Islands

I had never so much as heard of the Fox Islands a year ago. But as we were preparing for our trip I started reading about our ancestors who lived in Kirtland and Nauvoo. One of them was Jonathan Hale, who joined the church early on and went to live in Kirtland with his family. I read in his history that he and Wilford Woodruff were called on a mission to the Fox Islands in Maine.

I forgot about that until we were listening to Saints as we drove to Nauvoo and Kirtland, and Jonathan Hale's story was mentioned again there with a little more detail. I thought, "That's cool; we are going to go to Maine too." But I didn't know where the islands were or how to get to them, though I read a "memory" on FamilySearch by another of the Hale descendants who shared a story about being able to visit there. 

Then, while we were staying at Andrea's house in Maine, I was looking for one more thing we could do on our last day there. We wanted to go out to the coast again but it was hard to tell which beaches would be worth the drive, especially with the weather looking a little cool and unpredictable. I suddenly thought of the Fox Islands and just got curious how one would even get there. I didn't know if there was a ferry or if you had to charter a boat or what. When I looked it up, it looked like there was a ferry, but it had to be scheduled in advance and was sort of tricky. The website had all these instructions bolded and underlined about how you had to call this phone number and get a line number, and then appear at the office no later than one hour before and show the line number, and if you weren't on time you may not get on the ferry and you may be stuck on the island and so forth. But after mulling it over, I thought, "Well, why not try it?" I thought the kids would really enjoy a ferry ride. But we could always just do something else once we were out on the coast if it didn't work out.

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Part VII: Creatures of the sea

I was talking to my niece one time and she said something like "I'm not really a 'beach person.'" I was thinking about that while we were in Puerto Rico. Am I a beach person? What is a beach person? If it's someone who likes to sunbathe in a swimming suit—no, I am not one either. Good at surfing? No. Tan, with windswept, salt-water tousled hair? No. Likes to eat sand, as some of my babies seem to have? No. But I love the beach. I've loved it all this time even before I knew the water could be warm! I love watching the waves. I love just…I don't know, looking at the endless expanse of ocean, and listening to it. I love picking up tiny, pathetic pieces of shells or polished pebbles of agate and becoming attached to them, as if they were beautiful museum-quality specimens. So the other reason, besides the biobay, that I was excited about Vieques was that I read it had "some of the best beaches in the world." I don't know how one would even choose a "best beach." You'd rank them based on being beautiful, I guess, or peaceful or unspoiled. But who decides?

I still don't know, but whoever they are I think I agree with them. The main reason the beaches here felt "best" to me was that it felt like we were the only ones in the world to ever visit them! Of all the beaches we visited in a few days on Vieques (and we went to lots!)—there were other people on two of them. Maybe three. And even those times, it was maybe one other little group, way down at the other end of the sand, who left a half hour later. So it almost felt like Sam, Sebastian, and I were alone on some enchanted isle, enjoying the endless sky and the warm, calm, turquoise water.

The other "best," I guess, was the snorkeling! I haven't ever snorkeled much, but I was amazed at how many beautiful and colorful fish were even on the (comparatively) crowded beach we went to in Rincon, just swimming right around by the people! And here where there was no one around—I felt like we were in a nature documentary. Being able to swim and see under the water opens up a whole new dimension to the beach. It gives you something to do when you get tired of gazing at the ocean from the top side. It effectively doubles the beach's space, so you feel you're getting to see twice as much! The terrain underwater is always quite different than I would have imagined it, with trenches and hills and huge fields of water grasses you didn't even guess at from above. And underwater it's so quiet and strange. Even the filtered light is alien. I always came out with a sense of unreality, disoriented, as if I were returning to earth from another planet.

Another reason I think I'm a "beach person" is that I love seeing the water in different lights. I love how it changes all through the day, starting before sunrise when it might be pale and grey—under the marine layer in California and Oregon, misty and chilly—or, here in Puerto Rico, lavender as the sky starts to lighten. 

Even after sunset when you think it must have already passed its prettiest time, the ocean suddenly seems to turn into a huge silver mirror, as if it has collected all the light that just faded from the sky and spread it out paper-thin over its surface.

Sam and I went down to the beach early one morning. It was already hot, of course. The sun was peeking out through the cloud layer in the distance.

Looks like the beginning of a solar eclipse!

Ah, there's the full sun.

If there's one thing we like, it's crabs. Especially tiny hermit crabs.

The morning water looks so shimmery!

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Sunsets

This is what you expect to see in Hawaii. Beautiful white beaches and palm trees! On our last day, our flight didn't leave until almost 11 pm, so we checked out of our house and had a whole day to do a few more things. We couldn't really swim (though I really wanted to, because as I've mentioned, the water was WARM and I've never been anywhere else where you aren't freezing on the beach!) unless we wanted to pack wet and sandy clothes in our suitcases. So we just waded and looked in lava-rock tide pools and watched the airplanes fly in low over the beach. 

Light and shell-y. So different from the black sand beach we went to on the south side of the island.

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Hiking, Black Sand, and the South End of the Island

We spent our last few days on the drier, sunnier side of the island (the westish…southish…side) and it was SO beautiful. (I liked the rainy side best. But was so glad to get to experience both!) We stayed right by a pebble beach, all made of black lava rock. It was beautiful to look at but definitely not a place to frolic barefoot, even though the rocks were smooth and round and looked like they might feel nice…but there was just too much variation in their size and placement. Plus, your feet would sink into the pebbles and that made it feel like you were sliding two steps back for every one forward. Very daunting. We did try wading in the water a little but it was just TOO painful! The waves caught the pebbles and tossed them up at your legs and feet, none too gently! Ouch! (I do think it would have been fine if we'd had water shoes, so if we ever go back, we'll know to bring some!)

However…wading or no wading, it was a great beach for exploring! The sound of the water on the pebbles was amazing. Amid the usual growl of the waves you could hear the constant clacking and shifting of the pebbles sliding against each other, and the quiet rattle of rocks being tossed up and down when a wave swept back out to sea. In the Stormlight Archive books I just read with Abe, there's a world (Shadesmar) where the ocean is made of millions of little glass spheres. This beach sounded just how I imagined those Shadesmar beaches must sound, with their endless clatter of shifting spheres.

Such pretty black pebbles. They had that same reflective quality that we saw on the lava fields, where the black turns into silver from certain angles. I also thought it was pretty to see little pieces of white coral nestled in among the rocks.

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Our own little beach

One never expects to really do much playing in the water on the beach in Oregon. But we were lucky enough to have some sunny afternoons, and while I didn't get IN the water myself, the children seemed to stay warm enough! They would run in and play and then come out and dry off and warm up, and I mostly held Ziggy and Teddy's hands as they got braver and braver jumping over the waves, and watched everyone laughing and making up games and burying each other in the sand. It was lovely. And this picture above makes me so happy every time I look at it! Look at Seb's smile! I love seeing that smile.

The other great thing is just that we were all by ourselves here, which always makes a place feel like your own. It was great not to have to worry that we might be bothering someone…or to have anyone bothering us! Ha ha. It was such a great little secluded spot.

The bravest among us.

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The Southern Coast

 

Before when we've taken this trip we've always stayed on the upper end of the coast, and we love it there. We love the steam train, and Rockaway Beach, and we love to go to the Tillamook Creamery and get ice cream and cheese. But when I planned this trip I didn't even know if the Tillamook Creamery—or anything—would be open again after the pandemic closures! It was too sad to think of NOT being able to go there, and I found a rental house down on the Southern Coast that looked good, so I figured we'd just find new things to do in a new place!

But there was a general uproar when I said we might head down the coast without going up to Tillamook first. It turned out that the Creamery WAS open, and the coastal drive was just as fast as the other way, with the added bonus that we could eat at our favorite restaurant, The Fish Peddler, if we went up that way first. So that was settled! We took the loveliest route (bypassing Portland on small roads) to Tillamook Bay and then planned to drive all the way down the coast from there to Coos Bay where we were staying.

While we waited for lunch, we played on the rocky beach of the bay. Teddy discovered that when he lifted up any of the rocks, a whole bunch of tiny crabs would scuttle away. They were so cute! Junie managed to catch one in a shell:

And Gus was totally enthralled with them! He made cute squeaky noises at them to show how cute they were.

The daisies were out in full force as well!

Somehow I have driven up the lower part of the Oregon/California Coast (above San Francisco, and through Crescent City etc.) and I have driven the upper part between Netarts and Seaside, nearly up to Washington, but I have never been along the middle part of the coast. It was such a beautiful drive! Sam and I loved it. There are beautiful rocky cliffs and green forests, as on the upper coast, but as you get further south there is also a long stretch of sand dunes right along the beach, which was cool to see. And there are lots of bays and inlets and bridges, many built in the same Art Deco style.

We ended up driving back north a little ways (on another day) to find the sand dunes. It was a little tricky because everywhere seemed geared completely toward ATV's and not just people playing in the dunes, but we did finally find a spot where ATV's weren't allowed. (We actually looked into renting one for the big boys, and they were excited about that, but it turned out Abe couldn't drive anyone except himself, and Sam and I didn't want to have to leave the little kids behind and drive one, so that didn't work out either. The big boys were SUCH good sports about it! Even though they were disappointed.) We had a good time anyway, jumping around and digging in the sand.

Gus blundered around falling down every two seconds, and laughing about it. Sometimes he would just stay down and start rolling rather than try to get up again. He was THE DIRTIEST by the end. But he enjoyed every second of it!

Another fun thing on the southern coast, south of Coos Bay in Bannon, was this little wild animal park/zoo. They had quite a few cool animals like tigers and lions and gorillas, and the kids even got to pet a baby cheetah. There were lots of goats and deer to pet too. Gus and Ziggy and Teddy loved it!

A fox with his nose tucked under his tail—I didn't know they really slept like that!

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Beach days

I was afraid it would be too chilly to do much swimming at the beach. But it was totally fine! I mean, not for ME…but it was lovely to just sit outside and watch the children play in the water…or let some of them go out by themselves while some of us stayed in with nappers. We had some sunny days and some more misty, but it didn't ever feel COLD in the afternoons. So, it was great. "A beach is a beach, but an Oregon beach…ah!" as Mr. Elton would say.

I liked to go out running by the water (hahaha, actually walking as my foot was hurt, but I'll call it running till my dying day) when I couldn't sleep in the early mornings. It was usually so grey and cool and misty, and quiet except for the waves...perfect. One morning I saw these big brown birds picking at something in the seaweed down the beach.

And they were bald eagles! See their white heads? They turned to look at me a little while later as I carefully edged closer, and they had the most disdainful looks on their faces. As if they were offended that I thought they might be startled by ME. And then they DID fly away, but slowly and deliberately to show me they were NOT being driven off.

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Oregon Coast Tide Pools at Hug Point and Cannon Beach

We were so lucky to have some extra low tides while we were in Oregon! I was excited when I looked at the tide charts because they were going to be so low. I do so like tide pools. I don't know if everyone else likes them as much as I do—the others didn't seem quite as keen on getting up at 6 a.m. to arrive at the lowest tide—but by golly I was going to make sure everyone got there and enjoyed it whether they liked it or not! And they did like it. Once we got going, anyway. Isn't that what mothers are for? :)

The drive up the coast is always so great. I LOVE this sort of scenery. Trees above cliffs and rocky beaches.

And daisies! Wild daisies everywhere.

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