Trip to Oregon Part 2

We woke up the next morning, and thankfully had no further incidents through the night. Our final destination this evening was to be my sisters house in Oregon City, Oregon. We had a quick breakfast and continued our journey on the PCH. We have traveled quite a ways on the PCH but had yet to see the ocean. After only about 30 minutes the ocean surprised us, and popped out. It was the most beautiful sight. So Chris pulled over at the next stop and we played for a few hours at Clam Beach. Jack and I were so excited we just took off running and left Chris and Audrey to catch up later. We started running on the soft sand and it was too hard with our shoes, so we ripped off our socks and shoes and started running barefoot. We finally reached the ocean and started playing. Now remember we are in Northern California, and the water was COLD!! Doesn't matter to me though, it was still great to be on the beach. Chris and Audrey eventually caught up to us. Audrey was a little concerned about the water, she didn't trust it. We all paddled just our toes in the ocean and strolled up the bank. But the best part was when we found this little tide pool. It was actually warm, so Jack really started playing in the water. We had rolled his pants up, but soon noticed that he was wet up to his knees anyway. He kept asking us to go get his swim suit, but we were just like, "Why do you need your suit, just swim in what you are wearing." So he ripped off his shirt and dove in. Chris soon noticed that this tide pool was filled with Ghost Shrimp. They are little baby shrimp that are clear, you can actually see through them, they are as thin as a piece of pencil lead, and as along as a bottle cap. And boy, are they hard to catch. The boys had so much fun, catching them. Audrey, became more interested when she noticed the water was warm, and got wet up to her knees and elbows. She soon became transfixed with the wet sand, she was digging in it, watching it fall through her fingers, and had fun burying my feet. It was a great way to start the morning. We eventually made it back to the car changed the kids and headed on our way.
Before we left Chris spoke to some local people about places further up the highway, and someone mentioned Trinidad was a cute little town. We traveled there and pulled off. It had the most beautiful rocky beach. Perfect for some more tide pooling. We headed down to the beach. Turns out we were at the top of a big mountain and had to hike down a bunch of stairs to get to the beach. 208 stairs to be exact. And yes, we had to come back up the stairs later. But what a gorgeous beach it was. Going to the beach with Chris has so many advantages. He was raised near the ocean and is familiar with all its animal life. Little things that a normal 'inlander' like myself would just pass by, Chris points out and shows us what it is. We saw hundreds, yes hundreds of starfish, anemones, barnacles, sea slugs, and off in the near distance we saw sea lions, lounging about on a rock, as fat and happy as a sea lion can be. And their was a baby sea lion as well, baby starfish too. Audrey was finding the baby starfish left and right. Don't forget all the moss, and seaweed, and kelp. It was amazing! Such a time of discovery for all of us, but especially the kids. We hike along driftwood and over all the rocks. It was fun to step on the sand in between rocks thinking it was solid, just to have it disintegrate beneath your feet.
There was this big, massive rock that was actually growing grass, trees, and wild strawberries on top. Chris, of course, had to climb to the top. Jack, of course, had to follow along. Audrey, of course, could not be left out. And myself, of course, just wanted to have fun with the family. So we all climbed to the top of this big rock and sat and overlooked the ocean for awhile. I was proud of Audrey. She wanted to climb up this big rock, so Chris made her do it, all by herself. He right there beside her, but he made her do the work. So she actually climbed the whole thing by herself. It was funny, because sometimes she would lose her footing and curse. No, she didn't swear, but she did say "Crap" over and over again. We just laughed when we heard her say that.
When we climbed down from there. Chris wanted to climb over the rocks to get to the boardwalk on the other side of this cliff (don't worry, we are at the bottom) It was not something Audrey could do, or someone holding her. So the boys went off on their own adventure and Audrey and I had an adventure of our own climbing back up those steps. She made it by herself for about 50 steps, but then I had to carry her the rest of the way. Thank goodness there were benches to rest on. Going down, I was under the impression they were there to look at the scenery, not to save the people dying on the way back up.
We picked up Jack and Chris and as I was driving to pick them up I noticed a fresh fish market. Of course we had passed a ton of these, but this one had easy access. We stopped in there excited to buy something. It was a small shop, with just standing room in front of a counter. We went in together as a family, and the shop owner had the biggest problem with our children being there. He was saying all kinds of rude things, finally, like after 30 seconds, I just walked out with them and let Chris get whatever he wanted. My children did not need to get yelled for being just being alive. They weren't even doing anything, they stood by us and didn't speak the whole time we were in there. The guy was a jerk. But the salmon we bought was great!!
Up to this point Chris had been driving the whole time. Well, we finally got tired and I took a turn. We drove through the city of Eureka, we didn't stop, but we fell in love with the city. Chris loved it so much, he pulled out the computer and started to look for jobs in the area. Although, we would take a major pay cut to live out there, we would love to someday live by the ocean. Finally, the driving route called us away from the PCH and we headed through Jedediah Smith State Park. It was a beautiful drive, but the whole family fell asleep, and I was the only one able to enjoy the scenery. We easily made the rest of our way into Oregon, and finally made it to my sisters house at about 8:00 PM that night. The whole family was there, except my brother. And it was good see them all. It was quite a memorable day, probably my favorite of our whole trip. Stay tuned for the final installment of "Oregon Trip Part 3: The Beach House"

Family picture on top of the big rock we all had to climb.

Audrey petting only some of the hundreds of starfish we found. These were the first ones she saw.Jack looking as good as ever.
Scenery shot. You can see a boarwalk off on the right. That is where Jack and Chris eventually hiked over to.
Audrey going up some of the 208 steps to the top.

This is the big rock. Its big right? And Audrey climb it all by herself. She is my tough little princess tomboy.
Jack showing off an upside down starfish.
The girls.
I love this picture - Oh, and the scenery is nice too.
Audrey showing off her baby starfish.
Fat, and happy sea lions.
Can you imagine how many sea urchens live in and around all these rocks? We had so much fun finding them all. Look at that grin, completely in his element.
Family pic on Clam Beach.

Where did her feet go?
My happy boy! Loves the water and loves the sand!

Chris and Jack on Clam Beach catching ghost shrimp

Audrey and Mom on Clam Beach (notice my fabulous tie dye shirt)