Needopedia

We began the day with a Forced March of Misery, long hand for “family walk” with appropriate bar setting.  Luckily, setting expectations low enough means we really do have a decent walk together on the nature trails that circumnavigates campground at Beverly Beach State Park.  It had a few kissing bridges and good trails set in the amazing coastal forest.

We broke up our 20 minute journey to South Beach State Park with a 90-minute break at Walmart.  We were not feeling confident about our sagging tires and the extra-long-hose air compressor I purchased did not reach the back tires when plugged into the cigarette lighter.  So, in addition to milk, we bought *another* air compressor that could be plugged in to a regular outlet.  At first seemed like a waste to carry around two, until we realized that it takes about 10 minutes to get the 80psi of pressure in a single tire. And we have six tires. 

After that spurt of adulting, we got to South Beach, which is on the south side of Newport and the northern end of Sand Dune lane.  [It will take us approximately 2.5 hours to drive to Sunset State Park tomorrow, which is the southern end of the dunes.]  Since we already had a reserved campsite, we headed right over the day use lot and straight away for the dunes. 

It was the earliest we had made it to the beach yet—hours before dinner time.  Optimistically, we thought the fog would clear up by evening, but we got more chilly wind than sunshine.  The kids still got plenty wet, and Wes realized that the sand in his eyes/ears/hair probably came from rolling down the dunes.  However, one by one, the kids beached out and headed back to the trailer. 

We hadn’t eaten at camp yet, so when I found myself finishing dinner at the picnic table, and not the beach, I took Susanne-the-Great’s idea, filled up two dish pans, brought them outside, and Kyla washed, Piper rinsed, and Wesley dried, while Dwayne and I put away food and clean dishes.  I love this.

Wes, finally having enough cell reception to talk to BFF at home, was the only one not wanting to explore the campground and surrounding trails on bike.  The girls’ memory must be lousy, because they voted me to lead the bike ride. I really do the best expeditions, but there are always stretches when we find ourselves in, er, challenging terrain.  Tonight, we explored some of paved paths out and around, and then went off-roading.  We were all surprised when we suddenly hit what felt like quicksand—really just puddles of sand on dirt trails that stop a bike cold.  But if we hadn’t gone off the beaten path, we never would have seen the velvet-antlered elk grazing out on the disc golf course, or matched pace with them as they galloped along with (well, perhaps, “away from”) us. 

Wes, in particular, has loved these days and evenings of sand, RV-ing, and little adventures.  The comforts of the motorhome has made us all really happy.  Except for that little time today. The kids may have started competing for who gets to push the slide-out buttons.  We had already brought the slides in when we realized that we hadn’t put Wes’s bike in its travel mode—on our bed.  Once we got it in, Piper was determined to be the first kid to press the “in” button…without looking 2 feet in front of her.  Kyla was putting a few towels away in the bathroom, and Piper closed the slide right into the open bathroom door, completely knocking the entire door frame out of the wall.  Mama was not pleased, and while Piper’s Cheshire grin might be her way of expressing “Oops, I shouldn’t have done that”, it is not really a personal acceptance of responsibility and consequence.  Dwayne and I and the Tool Bucket were able to fix it, and luckily, Dwayne was able to help Piper repair the bigger damage and guided her in a taking more responsibility for setting up the next campsite.

We have just one more night at the beach before heading down to Redwoods—crossing fingers for some serious sunshine tomorrow!