Day 3 – Splitting for the Coast

So day three of the trip, we started off the day with a bit of a lazy morning. Camp-fire cooked bacon, eggs, and hash browns for breakfast followed by some lazy time soaking up some sun down by the river. While sunning ourselves down by the water we came upon the same idea that most people do, at least once, in their lifetime....we need to buy a bar!! (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8dsjWRinnVs) But instead of buying a bar, we came up with ideas on how we would start our own growler fill-up station. From that point on ideas were cascading down, out of our minds, like Niagara Falls. Some good, some bad but most were great and some were awesome! Add it to the checklist of things to do. This blog is named “Living your Dream, whatever it might be!” and if you want to own a growler fill up station I don’t see any reason why not! Keep a look out for us. I will not go into any more detail about it because our business name and our business plan are epic and they will be released when the time is right *wink wink.

Once we were able to come back to reality after spending some time on Fantasy Island (http://www.moviefanatic.com/quotes/are-you-seeing-planes-is-your-name-tattoo-because-i-swear-to-go/), living our lives as the World’s Greatest Growler Fill-up Station Owners, it was time to pack up and head out....we had missed out check out time anyway...good reason to leave I think.

Our next stop was the Oregon Coast, to do some surfing! Or at least go out into the water with a board and pretend to be surfing. Once in the car we solicited the knowledge of our trustee GPS to tell us where to go next. Once our plan was brought to life right before our eyes, as the GPS systems are renown for doing, we realized that in looking for a campsite the day before we ended up doing a big circle and somehow ending up further away from the coast then we had while doing our time in Portland. Not ideal, in the day-to-day definition of the word, but we would not have had the great day we had the day before if we had not ventured in that direction. Once we had regained our bearings we headed due west for the next leg of our journey.

The temperature dropped significantly as we approached the coast. It was not unexpected as I had heard time and time again that it is windy and cold. I have known of two people who have lost tents to the strong winds of Cannon Beach and we didn’t expect much different at Beverly Beach, just a bit south from there. The drive along the coast was beautiful. Oregon, in my opinion, is just bursting with character and the coastal cities spoke true to that opinion. All sorts of eye-catching signs to reel in the tourist, not necessarily my kind of thing (let’s be honest, thoughts of surfing took up the majority of my brain, leaving little room for anything else) but I can see the draw. The weather was clear and the view was one to be remembered. I could feel the excitement start to build. It had been almost a full year since the last time I was surfing, far too long and I was jonesing to get out there and shred! I could see the waves breaking onto the beach to our right, as we turned left into our campsite, our home for the next couple of days.

After having the air-conditioning blasting most of the trip it was a bit of a surprise to leave the car and feel colder than we had in the car. We went from cooling ourselves with icy pints of beer, to warming ourselves with a lunch of wonton soup. Word to the wise, as quick and easy as it is to make the wonton soup from Trader Joe’s, remember to add water...the only instruction other than to heat it up. Though it was palatable on its own, one cannot stray from the thought of how much better it would have been if made correctly. Much little Peter Griffin who had thought dogs laid eggs (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7obgSCc7zC0), we learned something today J.

Following our warm lunch, we bundled up (sunny but the wind cooled you down quick) and headed to the beach on foot. This was a nice feature for us since most surf trips rely on us to drive to the specific area of the coast that is conducive to surfing. This also limits one of us in our ability to join in on the beer consumption that goes hand-in-hand with surfing. Not that I support excessive drinking before swimming out into the ocean, I do not, because that would be irresponsible. Irresponsible not only for me to suggest such a thing, but irresponsible for anyone that thought that was a good recommendation. Everything in moderation J. But it is nice to indulge without the worry of having to drive home. Walking to the beach does come with a cost though. It is never a short walk no matter what it may look like. But we are young fit people so we do not complain...much. Our surfboards are light, which is good, but they are also easily victimized by the wind, which is not. However, when the sun is shining, you have a cooler full of good food and drinks and you are on vacation, any small convenience is easily forgotten. How aggravated could someone be when they are going surfing! Wooohoooo!!

The biggest issue I face when surfing is finding the best place to do it. It’s one thing to do your research and seek out the right spot before you leave but you can get confused and disoriented quite quickly when you are the only one out in the water. Am I in the right place? Why is there no one else out here? Is it because the conditions are bad today? Is it because the conditions are bad always? Is it even safe to surf here? Are their sharks? Is this where the Ogopogo spends his vacation (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ogopogo)? All these things shoot through you mind all at once. How do I cope? Well I follow the “just surf” rule. The rule is that if you are at the beach and you see waves breaking, than just surf. Doesn’t really matter if the waves are big or small, choppy or clean, consistent or sporadic, just surf. In following this rule I have made the best of some not so ideal surfing conditions. When you travel hundreds of miles to ride the waves you are going to give it a shot even if you’re the only one out there. You don’t have the luxury to wait for a better day.

Did I catch any great big waves? No, not really. Did I have the ride of my life? No, far from it. Did I enjoy the absolute hell out of the day? You’re damn right I did. The ocean is my “happy place.” Sure I don’t have girls walking around in lingerie holding pitchers of beer, or grandmas hitting the jackpot on slot machines, like Happy Gilmore (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9z5qpyxRR-A), but it does the trick. Shannon and I had a great time sipping some ice cold beer, getting some sun color and enjoying life.

As the day light started to dissipate, or hunger did the opposite, so we decided to head back to camp for a candle light dinner of lamb meatballs and pasta with truffle sauce.....and of course some wine. Another tips for shopping at Trader Joe’s, be portion aware. If you have a healthy post-surf appetite, like myself, one bag of pasta for two people is just not enough. Delicious, yes, but not large enough to satisfy my calorie replenishment needs.

So after a long day or driving, surfing, and fun it was time to build us a nice big fire and relax our way through the rest of the evening. The big fat fire was a must because unlike our last campsite we needed it for the heat and not just the ambiance. So once we had it going well enough to keep us nice and toasty, we just sat back and enjoyed a couple choice beverages and some qualities tunes.....and a little bit of drama from our camping neighbors.

When our neighbors arrived there was one woman that, no sooner had they arrived and started setting up camp, started asking where her medication was, and why she didn’t have a glass of wine in her hand. Fast-forward several hours and I can only imagine several more glasses of wine to occupy her time, she says something that upsets her daughter, causing the daughter to retreat to the hammock for a good cry. The dad comes over to try and settle things, and he seems to be doing a descent job, up until the mom stumbles over and tries to slur her way through an explanation. In the process she becomes wise to the fact that it was not just something she had said to her daughter, but it also included a comment made by a young boy that was amongst the group of campers. So she drags this kid over saying “don’t worry you’re not in trouble, we just want to know what you said.” He, wisely, is hesitant knowing the chances are slim that if he admits what he said to hurt the daughters feeling, he most likely will get in trouble despite her assurances to the contrary. As entertaining as it was, my synopsis of the situation was that the boy was cruel, saying what he did, the mom made things worse with what she had said, and the girl was right to be upset. Kids will be kids, and unfortunately that means they are inappropriate from time to time. It’s not an excuse but it is more or less expected. But adults should not being getting loaded in situations where they are interacting with kids. Kids do not need to be witness to their parents being incoherently drunk. How can you respect them the next day when they act like everything is ok because they don’t remember anything from the night before? Adults at least understand why this would be the case, kids, I imagine, would just be confused.

It was an interesting end to an interesting and fun day! First day on the Oregon coast gets an 11/10!!