To Seaside And Back

Just got home from a one-day getaway with my two eldest daughters. This genius idea came from my first-born, who was feeling a mini-road trip in honor of her birthday. In order to keep the scheduling logistics manageable and our spontaneity intact, she suggested that we keep it a threesome. Again, smart thinking. 

We trekked four hours south to Seaside, Oregon, and plopped ourselves down on the edge of the Pacific Ocean. It was glorious. Here are the trip highlights:

Before we left the driveway, I was notified that my sunglasses were unacceptable. Umm, ok.  Thankfully, I was able to borrow these floral pups, and once the upgraded pair was on my face, we were good to go.

Within fifteen minutes of walking into the door of our room, all three of us took multiple shots of the beach from our balcony, edited up a favorite and posted to Instagram. This was my offering.

After piling on more clothes and sand-friendly footwear, we headed out. It was windy and cold, but we did a brief tour of the beach area directly in front of our hotel, then headed off to explore the environs. Between the three of us, we took at least a billion pictures. 

Please don't tell Ranger...but there were other dogs on this beach. Note the paw prints.  He did not get to come with us this time, and he would be soooo jealous and sad.

Saw lots of broken sand dollars and razor clam shells along the way, sure signs of a Pacific Northwest beach. I always get excited when I see a perfect pair of shells, still intact, despite all the forces destined to tear them apart. 

This big bluff guarded the southern end of our beach area and served as the unofficial goal of our hike. We went as far as the place where the beach curved outward, then sat in the sun on a log and enjoyed a brief reappearance of the sun.

Hunger drove us up off our log and back towards civilization. Well, that's an exaggeration...we were never out of cell service...but we did promptly point ourselves in the direction of the nearest pizza place. This creation was to die for - lots of cheese with a crispy, just-the-right-amount-of-thickness crust. We ate the leftovers in the car on the ride home.

Glorious sunset, and we watched it unfold from the comfort and warmth of our little chamber.  Again, between the three of us, we took enough photos to sink a battleship, and spent time sharing, comparing and debating shots and edits. We definitely bond over Instagramming. 

Once the sun finally went down and our photography frenzy wore itself out, we went down to the pool and hot tub to recuperate. We spent most of the time in the hot tub, still thawing ourselves out from the breezy cold weather, and yes, I did force my daughters to play catch with this beach ball. I love tossing around a ball in the pool. LOVE. Is that weird?

After a good long soak in the hot water, we took a few polar bear plunges into the regular pool. I love to get that hot/cold/hot/cold/hot thing going on. Is that weird too?

{After swimming, we went back to our room, unapologetically watched the Kardashians and Buddy the cake elf, and ate the most heavenly fudge. I wish I could show that chocolate to you; it was bliss. But we ate it without hesitation, and not one of us took a single picture. It was that good.}

In the morning, we ate a nondescript continental breakfast and went out to play on these swings. And take more pics of the beach. And edit and filter and compare with each other and discuss our favorite effects. So fun.

We wandered only a little to the north side of the beach, and found this determined beach grass. We also came across the remnants of someone's party from the night before; I saw only litter but my daughter ended up with a really nice photo from the rubble. Just goes to show what a creative eye can see.

I went for the easy target - pink flowers. They never fail to make me happy.

It was a bit warmer this morning - well, wait. It was less freezing. But I still was very happy to have my headband from Headbands for Vietnam, crocheted by my third-born who is selling them to raise money for her mission trip this summer. Kept me warm and toasty.

And then we packed up our bags, hopped in the car, and headed for home. Eating that still-glorious leftover pizza, bumping tunes, posting more Instagrams, and crossing this fabulous bridge across the Columbia River, we were home in time for dinner.

I even had time to bake a birthday cake.