I did something different than the past few years and went out of town for the weekend. My friend Stacey came over from the East Coast and me, Stacey and Michelle went to the Oregon Coast. Michelle and I picked Stacey up from PDX on Friday morning and headed west. The traffic was kinda bad outside Portland but we were able to escape it eventually because a lot of people were headed to Seaside which is not where we were headed. I managed to find something 3 weeks before the holiday and I totally lucked out. I got a small rental at Tierra del Mar which was the only thing available in the entire state of Oregon. Seriously, I checked VBRO, hotels, campgrounds, cabins…even yurts. The plus side of the rental was that we could be right close to the beach and not have to make a huge effort to get to the beach when we wanted to see the ocean. For the most part it was only private access so there were fewer people than other beaches. It just worked out so well. The rental was just what we needed.
We got there mid-afternoon on Friday and went down for a walk on the beach. We ended up walking all the way to the sand dune that splits Tierra del Mar and Kiwanda Shores which is about 2 miles. You can see Haystack Rock from the beach, although Kiwanda Shores has the better view. Michelle brought her dog, Charlie, and he had a great time making friends with all the other dogs and running away from the tide as it chased him. He was quite entertaining. After our walk we drove to a grocery store in town and bought frozen pizza for dinner. After dinner we watched “It Happened to Jane” which for some reason I associate with Independence Day. “It Happened to Jane” is a Doris Day/Jack Lemon movie and it is super cute. Doris is a widow living with her two children in Cape Anne, Maine. She is trying to run a lobster business and sell to fancy restaurants in big cities in New England. George (Jack) is her bff from growing up but the other bff got to marry Jane first and George doesn’t realize he loves her. George is a small town lawyer who is always trying to be elected to the city council but loses every year because the town always elects the same person. Jane’s problems start when a railroad tycoon ruins her business because he is trying to save money and the lobsters aren’t delivered by the railroad. Jane enlists George to help her fight the tycoon and it is a cute story of small town gal versus big city money. I guess I get America from the setting, small town in Maine that has Revolutionary War heritage, and the fact that Jane and George are local scout leaders and have a number where they sing about being a “Real good Scout” after a lobster bake. My dad loves this song and we sing it to him sometimes. Anyway, super cute movie. After the movie we went to bed.
On Saturday we headed north to Rockaway Beach. Stacey had found out they had some Independence Day celebrations so we went to check them out. I had never been there before and I liked it a lot. It is a bigger town for the OC and there were a ton of people there. We caught the last half of a parade that ended with the local fire truck spraying everyone with its hose. I loved it and felt very American. We then checked out the beach which was really nice and had a cool rock structure to look at as well. Then we went to the city park and saw the wiener dog races that were billed as the “national championships”. It was hilarious. The dogs were held at one end of a grassy area and their owners were at the finish line calling them, first one across the line was the winner. They even had heats, other races for bigger dogs, and they tried a “minefield” race where they put hot dogs on the course to distract the puppies. (It didn’t really work). The whole time I was like, only in America. After that we walked back to our car; the town was so crowded and mile after mile of cars were trying to get in. I think they must do a good firework show or something. I was so glad we were going the opposite direction. Then we drove to the best place on the OC, the Tillamook Cheese Factory!!! Sadly, the production lines weren’t going because it was Saturday but the cheese sample lines and ice cream counters were still open and that’s what matters!! It was so packed but Tillamook Ice Cream is worth it. Mmmmm. Then we drove back down to Tierra Del Mar and went to hang out on the beach for awhile. It was so nice to lie down on the warm sand and listen to the ocean. The weather was perfect both days we were there, hardly any wind, sunny and only the tiniest bit of fog in the morning. I did end up jumping some waves just to play in the water but the OC is so cold!! You just kind of get numb and then you can handle being in the water. It also felt good on my sunburns that I had gotten earlier in the day. For dinner we drove into town and picked up burgers and fries, they were pretty decent. A good American dinner. Then we got ready to go watch the nightfall and see the bonfire and fireworks on the beach!
One of our neighbors had set up a giant bonfire on the beach. About 4 guys hauled in a ton of these logs that were at least 10 feet long. I’m not sure when they lit it but it burned for a long time. I couldn’t get too close or the heat would make my sunburn hurt but we had such a great night being on the beach, watching the sun go down and seeing everyone set off their fireworks. Some people had legit ones too. It was surround sound in fireworks. Of course I made my friends listen to “America” by Neil Diamond, (high five for my Neil Diamond app!). Michelle brought glow sticks which were fun. When it got really late and the fireworks were done and the smoke dissipated the stars were visible. I was so content sitting in the sand, watching the bonfire and feeling grateful for the land that I love and the liberty I enjoy.
The next morning the sky was overcast and it was a little colder (usual OC weather). We really lucked out with the weather and our accommodations. After cleaning up and packing up we got in the car for the drive home. Richland was 102 degrees when I got back and I thought I was going to melt. I had ice cream for dinner.
It was a fabulous trip and I’m grateful I was able to go out of town. The only bad things were the fact that I got really bad sunburns, I didn’t take my usual firework pictures (because I didn’t want to get sand in my camera, and I didn’t know how close I’d be to the pyrotechnics) and that I did not have my patriotic Jell-O. I’ll have to just make that one sometime just because. Happy 4th of July!!
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