Today was a bit frustrating at times and very tiring, but still a good day. We did not drive very far, less than 200km, as we spent the day walking around at various locations. Our first stop was at some sand dunes, which the area north of Coos Bay is famous for. I had gone through the park website last night and found what looked like the perfect trail through the dunes out of the 20 or so they had - it was easy to walk, half of it was wheelchair accessible, and it ended at the beach, where the kids could play in the sand and water. It sounds so perfect when I write it - if only it had actually turned out that way.
At first, we could not even find the wheelchair accessible area, as the main route everyone else was taking was down a very steep sand dune to a bunch of other dunes. We looked at it and decided it would be almost impossible to take the kids down that, so we searched in the other direction and found the paved path down to the dunes. It was steep, but paved, so it was not too bad. After a short walk, we arrived at the dunes, which meant that we could no longer push the strollers. This was also the point where my brain slipped out of gear. The trip down wasn't very far, and the website had said that the paved portion was half the trip, so that meant the beach was just a short trip over the dunes. I should have realized that we had not walked even close to 1/2 a mile and that the path was a mile long. So, we started walking over the dunes with Sandra carrying Evan and pulling his stroller behind her, while I carried a bag, the folded up second stroller and led Xander as he walked. Crossing the dunes was easy, after which we entered a path
through some bush. A path that went on and on and on and on. I was ready to give up and go back well before we left the bush and arrived at a bunch of low hills, since it seemed like we would never reach the beach. However, Sandra was a fair ways ahead of me, so I was unable to call to her to stop. When she did stop, she scouted ahead a bit and saw only more hills, so we turned around, at which point we met a couple who told us the beach was just over the next hill and then they drug the strollers up it for us.
We spent about 40 minutes playing in the sand, except for Evan, who was so tired that he screamed whenever you put him down, so one of us had to carry him the entire time. The beach was beautiful, though, with pure white sand and nice waves. We finally decided to leave and started back with both strollers in tow. Luckily, the same couple was also on the way back and they pulled Evan's stroller, while Sandra carried him and I walked with Xander and carried his stroller. I had to bribe him with treats, but he walked all the way back to the paved
section, though it took us a lot longer than everyone else. We then climbed the hill and got back in our car. All in all, it was a pretty dumb trail to take the kids on and I should have realized that if the trail was a mile long, we had a lot of walking to do (and abandoned the strollers).
After a quick lunch in the next town, we drove to a sea lion tourist trap, where there is a cave you take an elevator down to in order to see the sea lions. First, we walked to a lookout point, where you could see all the sea lions down on the rocks below, and we also saw a grey whale swimming past and surfacing every once in awhile. We then took the elevator down and explored the cave a bit. It was nice to see, but Evan had to walk around on his own, even though the cave was almost completely dark and quite sloped in places. Then, on the way back, we ended up pretty much carrying the kids, so we were both quite tired when we got back to the car.
Our next stop was a lighthouse not far from the sea lions. There was a pretty busy beach nearby, due to the fact that today is a holiday, and we had to park in the overflow parking. That meant a long walk to the path up to the lighthouse and then a very long uphill climb to the lighthouse. We put both kids in the strollers for this trip, and Evan quickly fell asleep. This beach was also beautiful, with a rocky coastline ending in a nice sandy beach - Sandra stopped and took a lot of pictures on the way up. At the top, I rested, while Sandra took a bunch of pictures and played with Xander a bit. Then we took the path down to our car, where Sandra managed to transfer Evan to his car seat without waking him up.
We then drove to Newport and found a seaside Best Western to stay in. After a quick supper in the restaurant, Sandra put Evan to sleep, while Xander and I walked out to the beach to play in the sand. We had a good time, even though the beach is huge - it took us five minutes to walk from the entrance to the water. While we were playing in the sand, a couple of guys arrived and started flying model airplanes from the smooth sand on the beach, which was pretty exciting to watch. Anyway, hopefully tomorrow is lot more relaxing, as I don't know how many days like today I can take.
Today was a bit frustrating at times and very tiring, but still a good day. We did not drive very far, less than 200km, as we spent the day walking around at various locations. Our first stop was at some sand dunes, which the area north of Coos Bay is famous for. I had gone through the park website last night and found what looked like the perfect trail through the dunes out of the 20 or so they had - it was easy to walk, half of it was wheelchair accessible, and it ended at the beach, where the kids could play in the sand and water. It sounds so perfect when I write it - if only it had actually turned out that way.
At first, we could not even find the wheelchair accessible area, as the main route everyone else was taking was down a very steep sand dune to a bunch of other dunes. We looked at it and decided it would be almost impossible to take the kids down that, so we searched in the other direction and found the paved path down to the dunes. It was steep, but paved, so it was not too bad. After a short walk, we arrived at the dunes, which meant that we could no longer push the strollers. This was also the point where my brain slipped out of gear. The trip down wasn't very far, and the website had said that the paved portion was half the trip, so that meant the beach was just a short trip over the dunes. I should have realized that we had not walked even close to 1/2 a mile and that the path was a mile long. So, we started walking over the dunes with Sandra carrying Evan and pulling his stroller behind her, while I carried a bag, the folded up second stroller and led Xander as he walked. Crossing the dunes was easy, after which we entered a path 
through some bush. A path that went on and on and on and on. I was ready to give up and go back well before we left the bush and arrived at a bunch of low hills, since it seemed like we would never reach the beach. However, Sandra was a fair ways ahead of me, so I was unable to call to her to stop. When she did stop, she scouted ahead a bit and saw only more hills, so we turned around, at which point we met a couple who told us the beach was just over the next hill and then they drug the strollers up it for us.
We spent about 40 minutes playing in the sand, except for Evan, who was so tired that he screamed whenever you put him down, so one of us had to carry him the entire time. The beach was beautiful, though, with pure white sand and nice waves. We finally decided to leave and started back with both strollers in tow. Luckily, the same couple was also on the way back and they pulled Evan's stroller, while Sandra carried him and I walked with Xander and carried his stroller. I had to bribe him with treats, but he walked all the way back to the paved 
section, though it took us a lot longer than everyone else. We then climbed the hill and got back in our car. All in all, it was a pretty dumb trail to take the kids on and I should have realized that if the trail was a mile long, we had a lot of walking to do (and abandoned the strollers).
After a quick lunch in the next town, we drove to a sea lion tourist trap, where there is a cave you take an elevator down to in order to see the sea lions. First, we walked to a lookout point, where you could see all the sea lions down on the rocks below, and we also saw a grey whale swimming past and surfacing every once in awhile. We then took the elevator down and explored the cave a bit. It was nice to see, but Evan had to walk around on his own, even though the cave was almost completely dark and quite sloped in places. Then, on the way back, we ended up pretty much carrying the kids, so we were both quite tired when we got back to the car.
Our next stop was a lighthouse not far from the sea lions. There was a pretty busy beach nearby, due to the fact that today is a holiday, and we had to park in the overflow parking. That meant a long walk to the path up to the lighthouse and then a very long uphill climb to the lighthouse. We put both kids in the strollers for this trip, and Evan quickly fell asleep. This beach was also beautiful, with a rocky coastline ending in a nice sandy beach - Sandra stopped and took a lot of pictures on the way up. At the top, I rested, while Sandra took a bunch of pictures and played with Xander a bit. Then we took the path down to our car, where Sandra managed to transfer Evan to his car seat without waking him up.
We then drove to Newport and found a seaside Best Western to stay in. After a quick supper in the restaurant, Sandra put Evan to sleep, while Xander and I walked out to the beach to play in the sand. We had a good time, even though the beach is huge - it took us five minutes to walk from the entrance to the water. While we were playing in the sand, a couple of guys arrived and started flying model airplanes from the smooth sand on the beach, which was pretty exciting to watch. Anyway, hopefully tomorrow is lot more relaxing, as I don't know how many days like today I can take.
2 comments:
The ocean sounds so pretty. Hope your next outing isn't so strenuous, it made me tired just reading it all! By the way, have you noticed any of the state quarters? Just asking...
I think I actually sighed with relief for you when you said Sandra got Evan into the car seat without waking him - I can imagine the little happy dance that occured shortly after that!
Whew! Have fun today!
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