At the beach

We spent last week in Moclips, WA, a tiny beach town on the Washington coast. There's nothing there but houses and a few motels, a general store and miles of sandy beach. We bring in everything, including food, and spend our days taking long walks, reading books, and generally relaxing. It's a very quiet vacation, just what the educator needs after a long year of teaching high school.


The Moclips beach is particularly dog friendly. We missed having Pumpkin with us. He used to love romping on the sand and getting really dirty, although he was never all that interested in going into the Pacific Ocean or the mighty Moclips River. Bobka LOVED running on the beach with Rik, chasing seagulls and greeting other dogs and their people. His first experience of an ocean wave was so unexpected, it toppled him off his feet. But his doggy swimming instinct kicked in (they don't call it the "dog paddle" for nothing).


We visited with friends, made a couple of bonfires on the beach to roast marshmallows for s'mores and sing Beatles tunes, ate well, and walked every day. The weather was sunny and fine for three days, then got misty and cool for the rest of the week. That was okay with us, since it turned out we missed a serious heat wave in Seattle, with temps in the 90s.

I felt really good the entire time. It might have been the sunshine, the salt air, or the good company, but I felt almost normal for the first time in a month.