Wednesday at the Oregon Coast

We took our time making breakfast and letting Sydney sleep before we headed out Wednesday morning.  The boys seized the opportunity to go in the hot tub downstairs, then then the adults walked along the beach near the house for a bit while Cat babysat the kids.  At the beach I was struck by three things: the amazing landscape, the prevalence of driftwood and smooth rocks, and the intensity of the wind.

Once everyone was up and going for the morning we drove about an hour north to Face Rock in Bandon.  (We'd hoped to stop at a light house on our way but it was closed due to COVID.)  We ate a picnic lunch at a park overlooking the shore, then walked down to the beach.  We enjoyed walking around and appreciating the scenery, but the real fun began when we discovered that what we thought was a cave was actually a tunnel to a rocky area with tidepools.  We spotted a starfish, some crabs, a few tiny fish, and tons of anemones.  So cool!

After exploring at the beach for a little while, we drove to Face Rock Creamery in town for ice cream (and picked up some cheese for later).  The kids cone portions were HUGE.

After our afternoon treat we headed south and stopped at a spot that caught our eye earlier in the day: Battle Rock in Port Orford.  We parked in the parking area and planned to hike on this huge rock, but unfortunately the kids were too eager to wait and embark as a group.  Jack, Eliza, Luke, and Sawyer took off.  I hurried after them once I realized what was going on but they were on top of the rock by the time I reached them.  It was really windy and there were some steep drop-offs, but thankfully they were all okay!  They got a firm talking-to from multiple adults, and were escorted back down the rock soon thereafter.

We stuck around and explored for a little while, with the boys running around on the sand and in the water.  Jack made battle plans and they coordinated their efforts to fight the ocean.  A suicide mission if ever there was one, but they took it on with fervor.  Luke was complaining that his pants were falling down, they were so weighed down with sand and water, while the rest of us (the sane ones) were bundled up with jackets to guard against the chilly wind.  (We wised up and put the kids in bathing suits when we went out exploring the next day, since they just had to be in the water.)  As you might expect, the ocean was freezing, too.  Eliza stood in the water holding Sydney while Andy and Amy climbed Battle Rock and after several minutes I advised her to get out of the water so her feet wouldn't get cold.  She said, "My feet aren't cold.  I can't feel them."

After getting the boys as clean as we could, we drove back to the house and had takeout BBQ for dinner, and Amy made us shave ice for dessert.  It was a great day at the coast!