Pandemic Vacation Beach Day

Day three of our pandemic vacation found me and my boys on Arcadia Beach on the Oregon Coast. Low tide was at 9 am so I got up early and was on the road by 7:30. We were on the beach a little after 9:00. There were only about ten cars in the parking lot when we got there.

It’s 80 miles to drive from my house in SW Portland to the coast. It really is wonderful to be able to take a really easy day trip to the beach and get refreshed and recharged in a matter of a few hours. There’s nothing like a few hours on the beach — the salt air, the surf, the wind, wide open spaces — to make all the stresses and worries fade away.

The dogs absolutely love the beach. They know when we get close and they start whining about ten miles before we reach our destination. Maybe they can smell the sea air. It’s torture for them to have to pose on a rock. But it’s a tradition that we take a picture of them posing on something when we go to the beach. They would rather just RUN!

I always check the tide tables before I go to the beach because my favorite beach is bordered by a cliff. So you really need to be aware of where the tides are and whether they’re coming in or going out. The tide this morning was really low. I’ve been coming to this beach for ten years and I’ve only seen it this low one other time. This meant that I could walk from my beach to Cannon Beach to the North and Hug Point Beach on the south.

It was so beautiful today. It was supposed to be cloudy with a high of 64 degrees, but the marine layer burned off by about 10 am and the sky was so incredibly blue. It was perfect weather!

I walked  6.33 miles on the beach! The dogs must have run 20 miles… literally! As I walk, they are running almost constantly. They had actually slowed down by the time we got back to the car!

When I first moved to Oregon, the sea stars were plentiful. You would see the orange and purple ones, some as big as dinner plates, all over the rocks. And then over several years, they all disappeared. I don’t think they ever figured out what happened to them. It was so sad to see them disappear. But now, they’re coming back and we saw quite a few today. Not like the old days, but they appear to be having a come back.

This one was bigger than my two hands combined.

It was odd to take a trip to the coast and not stop anywhere. There’s a lovely little quilting store in Cannon Beach that I always stop at and spend some money. But I didn’t stop today. I just don’t want to go into stores that aren’t absolutely essential. And as essential as fabric is, I have a room full of fabric!

We were so efficient, we got home just after 2:00. So I called a friend who visited often before the pandemic and we would always go to the beach when she was in town. She wanted to see photos and hear about our beach trip. She’s the one who introduced me to Kaffe Fassett Fabrics and to quilting. She gave me my very first scrap of yellow brassica and I can remember how incredible it was to me. And look at me now!

After telling my friend about our day trip, I spent some time cleaning up my sewing room… putting away that huge pile of batik scraps and doing some general straightening.

I sewed the final seams and pressed my scrappy batik quilt top last night. It all went together so easily and nicely. It turned out about 64 x 74 inches.

I’m going to finish it without a border. Trying to decide what to use for a backing. I’ll need to buy something as I don’t have a piece that’s right. I’d like to have a large print, multi color batik for this one.

I was famished by 4:30 so I made a big salad for dinner and then took the dogs for another 3.77 mile walk while I listened to music to end the evening. We walked over 10 miles today! I can’t believe how much better I feel. Could have easily walked five more miles! I’m sure we’ll all sleep really well tonight.

Tomorrow morning I’m meeting a friend back at Frenchman’s Bar for a hike and a swim in the Columbia. I’m planning on starting my Moss Garden quilt tomorrow.