Coastal Camping

We've had a really busy summer. Between house guests, road trips and projects, we've been on the go almost the whole time. When we got back from visiting Boise and realized we only had one weekend before Troy would head out to Singapore for work, we decided that we needed some quality family time before he left.

We got online and reserved a camping spot at a KOA in Newport, dug through the storage unit to try to find some gear, crammed the Focus till it nearly burst and took off Friday morning. We took the longer route so we could enjoy the Pacific Coast Scenic Byway. Instead of using the portable dvd player to zombie the kids we listened to a radio drama so we could all look out the windows and appreciate the gorgeous scenery.

It was about this time that things started to go a little crazy. I had been struggling with that mysterious joint pain for a few days and by the time we reached Lincoln City for a pit stop I couldn't so much walk as I could waddle...picture walking without moving any joints including all the tiny joints in your feet. Now that I'm no longer in excruciating pain I can totally see the humor in the situation. I was wandering around this tiny bargain grocery store (where the discards of real grocery stores go to die) trying my best not to be a whiner and find the mini-marshmellows I needed for the banana boats I had planned. I was dottering along on my quest while Troy and the kids ran around getting snacks from all around the store. I think they did 7 laps before I got to the other side of the store. I felt like the old lady in her house coat trying to remember where she put her glasses. "Where are the marshmellows?" "OK honey it's time for you to sit back down." "But I need the marshmellows." "Kids, take your mother to the car, she's lost her mind again and she's walking like a penguin that had a flipperectomy." "But the marshmellows..." Of course in the bargain grocery store all there actually was by way of marshmellow were the pink and green tree shaped ones left over from Christmas.

We also noticed that Lincoln City isn't the Kite Capital of the World for nothing. The wind was refreshing and invigorating in the bright summer sun, but also should have been a little bit of a clue as to what the weather was going to be like a few miles down the road at our campsite.

Our campsite was called the Waldport/Newport KOA and is between two tiny resort towns that exist solely to make and sell Salt Water Taffy to tourists. We had printed out our google maps directions and followed them to the letter. Of course once we got to the alleged location we were in the middle of a row of weathered vacation homes with BMWs in the driveways and glorious ocean views...not exactly your typical KOA. Google maps had failed us! We booted up our computer with its trusty GPS and finally found our campground.

We got out of the car, checked out our tiny campsite and nearly froze our buns right off. The wind was whipping so fiercely that we were chilled to the bone. At this point I turned to Troy and asked if, when he was checking out the weather and it said the highs would be 95-100 and lows in the mid 50s, was he actually checking the weather for where we would be or for where he was at the time (sitting on the couch in Wilsonville). He said something like, "ummm heh heh." So we loaded up the kids and drove back to Newport to find some jackets.

An hour later, ten degrees colder but a few layers warmer, we made it back to the campsite. I started setting up the tent while Troy and Scout went off to buy firewood. Rand, Savannah and I had part of one tent partially emptied out of its bag by the time he got back (I couldn't close my fingers tightly enough to grip...I'm really not THAT bad at setting up tents :-P). Troy took over the tents while I started the fire.

I don't know about your experiences with campground firewood but we've always noticed that it's dry and eager to light with only the slightest coaxing. Not so with the Fancy Campwood from the Waldport/Newport KOA. It's the new-fangled slow-burning soggy wood that all the kids are raving about this season. It took forever to get it dried out enough to burn and then even longer to get it down to coals so we could cook the foil dinners we had brought. The foil dinners ended up being the best thing I've ever eaten from a campfire though so it was worth the wait.

The night was cold and I kept worrying that the kids were freezing in their little tent. They did all right and Random even took Scout to the bathroom in the middle of the night. What a good kid.

Breakfast was an egg/potato/sausage foil concoction that I found the recipe for online. Troy was pretty anti-fire in the morning though so I poured it into a frying pan and cooked it on the propane stove. That worked out great, tasted good and gave us lots of greazy fuel for a fun day at the beach.

We followed the signs in the campground to the "trail" to the beach. We found the trail...it was actually a sand cliff that you just sort of banzai down. Tough to do when you can't bend your knees but I made it! The kids found some shells, dead crabs and lots of smelly seaweed. The water was exceptionally cold and the beach was rocky so we decided to drive up the coast and find another beach that wasn't so smelly. Getting back up the "trail" was a feat and by the time we got up all of our thighs were burning and we were pretty sweaty. Gratefully, the wind was still a bajillion knots so we dried off quickly.

We went up the coast and pulled off when we saw some awesome rock outcroppings. We climbed around on those for a while and got back in the car.

Arctic Circle for lunch (Yay for Lime Rickies!) and then off to the Yaquina Head Outstanding Natural Area. First of all, I think that's a hilarious name. It should go in our scrapbook right next to pictures of Virginia's Great Dismal Swamp. It seems like some eager beavers should take a breath and let people add their own adjectives but you know, whatever.

The Yaquina Head Lighthouse is the tallest lighthouse on the Oregon coast and we climbed all the way to the top. The last time I climbed a tower on Oregon's coast it was the Astoria Column. I was 16 and had an undiagnosed case of mono so at least we stuck to the tradition of mysterious illnesses and tall buildings near highway 101.

Next we were off to the tidal pools which were great but we all suffered from a little Lime Ricky revenge and had to hustle back up up up up and up the trail to get to the bathroom...and FAST. We all made it but it was touch and go there for a while for poor Scoutie.

We got back to camp exhausted and found that our tents were nearly on their side being blustered at by that unrelenting wind. Our tent stakes were not up to the task of the cement-like soil of the campsite. We bought the camp store out of stakes and were able to get the tent secured and make dinner.

That night was much warmer so everyone was very comfortable. There was free wifi access (I know...what has camping come to?) at the KOA so Troy and I got online and bought some t-shirts. That was probably my favorite part. Laying on a nice full air mattress and laughing at how geeky I am to have just ordered a Bassoon Hero t-shirt.

The next morning we made pancakes, cleaned up, broke camp and headed home. It was a great camp and I'm glad we didn't let our crazy summer, my crazy broken body or our crazy-small car stand in the way of the memories we made.

Here are more pics from our trip: