Whenever I find myself growing grim...

...whenever it is a damp, drizzly November in my soul...I account it high time to get to the sea as soon as I can.

That's a quote from Herman Melville. Lately, I've found myself growing a bit grim. I thought it was high time I got to the sea as soon as I could.

So, we went to Seabrook, Washington, which is only about a 2-1/2 hour drive from here.

Seabrook is a little planned community on the Washington coast. It's only been there since 2005. Ryan and Marcela went there a few years ago, we'd heard a lot about it, so we decided to try it out.

We rented a little vacation home that was a 10 minute walk from the beach. It was glorious! If you're thinking about going to Seabrook, I would TOTALLY go, but we learned a few things along the way. First, there's really no place to get groceries, so bring all you need. They do have a little pantry there and there's a "grocery store" (that looks a lot like a bar) in Pacific Beach, but neither carry very much. Second, don't expect a lot to do. If you're there to stare at the ocean for a few days (which we were) or to do any other beach type things, then this is the place to go. There's not much else to do. And lastly, it's a sandy beach, which is kind of unusual around here. There were a lot of crab parts around (someone said that was because there was an eagle's nest nearby. We did see eagles so that might be true) but you could actually make a sandcastle. The sand wasn't always warm, but it was there.

Here's some pictures...(you knew I'd have a ton of those)
Here's Brent poking the sand with a stick. While my plan was to stare at the ocean, his was to fly kites. Unfortunately, Saturday morning wasn't windy enough for kites, so he had to go beach combing with me.
Later in the morning, the wind picked up so he pulled out the big kite.
As I said, there were a lot of dead crab parts around, so I got to into the habit of flipping over the shells as I walked by. This one didn't flip..it pulled out it's big old claws and looked at us. Kind of surprised me! (I say it was at least a foot across, but Brent says it's was only 9".) I stopped flipping the shells after that.
Look at that blue sky. It was a GLORIOUS day to be at the beach!
Ever wonder what a sand dollar looked like when it was alive? Well, there you go. I suddenly realized that I had no idea what a sand dollar was. So I googled it. It's related to a sea urchin. In Spanish, the name means Cookie of the Sea. And in South Africa, they're called Pansy Cake. The stuff you can find on the internet!

I found 6 whole sand dollars, which was less that I was expecting because I'd heard you'd find 100's here. I found 100's of pieces, but only 6 whole ones. Well, technically 9 whole ones, but 3 of those were still alive. I think the weather just wasn't turbulent enough to wash them ashore. Today would have been a better day - the waves were HUGE as we left!
There's a seagull in this picture. See if you can find it...
Those are seagull tracks...I just thought they were cool. I love digital cameras!
This was Friday when it was REALLY windy and we didn't have our kites. We did eventually get to fly a couple of them. Brent pulled out the big stunt kite that drags you off your feet when you're doing tricks. Technically that's my kite. I love it, but my weak arm muscles don't love it.
What would a blog be without a scrunch picture or two?

And now for some beautiful views of Pacific Beach...



If you've ever wanted to go clamming, apparently this the place to do it. There are razor clams galore here. If you know how, could you teach us? I must say, I'm curious. But, as I think about it, it might fall under my "if I see it alive, I can't eat it" rule. Maybe, teach Brent, then I could taste them.

It was misty like this almost the whole time.


It was a glorious weekend. There were times that we were the only ones on the beach. How is that for fun? I feel totally recharged and ready for the crazy month and a half I have in store.

I'm thinking this might be a yearly excursion in our household.