While in Oregon visiting Janene's sister, we decided to visit the coast spend some time on the beach. We were surprised when we got there to find that the tide was extremely high and the rocks we can normally walk around looking in tide pools were far under water. There was not really much beach accessible at the overlook. We had to sneak (insert the word "run") around the cliff face to get to where we could walk along the beach.
We had never seen a dead seal on the beach before, but we were treated to one here. The smell was not too pretty. I was reminded of the time I came across a dead walrus on the beach near Point Barrow in Alaska. We continued our walk even though storms were threatening. We were all bundled up in our winter coats and I had donned the rain gear I normally use in the Uintas. While we were taking pictures of the dunes and grasses on the shoreline, I noticed something big out of the corner of my eye. Just as I realized it was a huge wave, I hollered at Janene and Devennie and jumped up on a sand dune just as the wave crashed over us. I turned to look and I could only see Janene's head sticking out of the water. Devennie was nowhere to be found.
As the wave receded, I jumped back down to grab one of Janene's hands to keep her from washing out to sea. She couldn't catch her breath, the water was so cold. Devennie was scrambling up the beach on all fours and in a moment it was all over. The girls were entirely drenched... and laughing as hard as they could.
As we took stock of what had just happened, Janene noticed her new camera was shooting sparks from the LCD screen, Devennie's new I-pod Touch with camera and all was completely full of sand and water, and all their pockets were filled with sand. I would not have been surprised to see a fish fall out of their clothing, so complete was the dunking they took. We hurried back to the car where we had no dry clothing. I gave Devennie my rain gear, which she wore without the wet clothing underneath. We should have headed straight for home, but nothing could stop the girls from heading into Bandon Old Town and visiting Cranberry Sweets for a few bags of chocolate. The moral of the story is - If you want to look fashionable while shopping in Bandon, you have to keep one eye out for the sneaker wave. Otherwise, just enjoy the trip with sand in your teeth.
3 comments:
While I am sorry about the broken electronics, I have a feeling the funny ocean memory will last much longer than the camera would have anyway, right?
Ah, how fleeting is the flesh! I feel lucky to have a mom and aunts who can laugh about something like that right away. We went to see Grandma Marie this last weekend, and her jolly look is reflected in Devennie's face- the look that says, "That hurts; what a lovely day."
Just thought I better catch up on the adventures of the Phillips clan. I'm so glad you are keeping up with your blog. It's great. Hope I can get back into the swing of it.
Post a Comment