As the crow flies

The Beach

There's just something about being at the beach that I enjoy so much. I've thought about what it is, but I just can't define or describe it. Even when its rainy and windy, its still the beach. But it has to be an ocean beach, on the open ocean - Vancouver beaches are decent, but they don't have the constant dull roar of the changing, crashing surf.

The cottage we stayed at this weekend on the Oregon Coast was great - huge windows looking out at the beach, a minute walk down to the water, and a nice wood paneled interior. It was so nice to just sit and look out the window at the ocean, the wind blowing the dune grass. But we didn't spend all the time indoors looking at the ocean. I went on a hike out to Cape Falcon in the pouring rain and whipping wind. Most of the hike was in the forest so we were somewhat sheltered from the rain and wind, but out at the viewpoints on the cape the rain hurt as it hit you in the face as it was blown sideways by the wind. Back down at the beach the sand was being whisked north by the wind and you could lean into it and have some of your weight supported by the force of the wind. The next day was not windy but had showers in the morning and early afternoon. I built a castle in the sand with my dad and brother, only to have the preliminary construction washed over by a rogue wave. But we started over again and eventually finished in time to be able to watch the tide come and wash it away. Something I had never seen at the beach before was all this foam getting washed onto shore and getting stuck on our castle. It was quite intriguing to look down the beach and see all these fluffy cream coloured foam piles sitting in a haphazard arrangement.

I think I have decided that the Oregon coast is one of my favourite places to be. You have the ocean, long perfectly sandy beaches, steep cliffs and rock formations in the water, surf beaches, hiking trails in the lush forest with gigantic trees, and small hills to walk up.

Here's some pictures of Oregon.

This picture I took last year when I was there in April. If you know where to look you can see the cottage we stayed in.

The view from our deck - the first day we were there when it wasn't raining.

Some of the dune grass.

Here's that foam I was talking about.

Ecola State Park - you can see Cannon Beach's famous Haystack Rock in the background.

posted by Aaron @ 12:41 PM