If your from Hawai'i, and someone says let's go to the beach! I automatically think sunscreen,…read moreswimwear, googles, towels & fins. At home, these things are always in my car, just in case!
This summer however, we drove from Seattle to Oregon along the coast of the Pacific Northwest. Our destination was the beach, specifically, Cape Meares. It somehow never dawned on me, that I would not need my swimwear! I love to swim, couldn't imagine hanging out at this beach house for a week, without my swimwear, so I brought all my gear from Hawai'i.
What a different beach experience this was. Even though, it was August!
Not only did I not take out my swimwear out of my suitcase but I had to wear my turtle neck sweaters everyday, while exploring this beach . No swimming in these cold waters, not even in the summer! The only reason we had our turtlenecks, uggs, coats, gloves & jackets was we stopped in Alaska before Seattle to go halibut/black cod fishing before our stop in Seattle. So glad I had my warm clothes when we arrived in Cape Meares.
It was really cold, funny to me ...because it was just as cold as Alaska.
Exploring this beach was very cool.
Lots of things we don't see in Hawai'i. Watching the seagulls catch Dungeness crabs, razor clams & fish for dinner was my favorite pastime for the week.
I also enjoyed watching the fresh mountain water run off and marry into the sea .
Sunrise and sunset walks were mesmerizing.
Discovering and plucking interesting things off the sand every morning was also fun. Things like squid, parts of other creatures & Dungeness crab bodies was most common. Loved the interesting colors , shapes & sizes of the starfish & sea shells. Spent time wondering what I would cook using the extremely large kelp that washed up on shore.
At night, it appears that wild buffalo and wild horses run on this large wide stretch of beach. We never saw
any but the folks around us who lived in the neighborhood told us about them. We did see quite a bit of animal tracks on our third morning.
It's foreign territory for me to be at a beach house for a week without actually swimming. Would I return?
Absolutely. It was quite different from any beach that I've ever experienced. Opening my perspective of beach life and how others go to the beach.