Coos Bay

Coos Bay, Oregon

September 18 - 22, 2016

Coos Bay is a place we loved.  A setting of low ferns and towering trees.  Cliffs and surf.  Whales and snails.  Each day we merely surrendered to the setting sun and the promise that, tomorrow, it would still all be there.  We perched on rocks and watched the waves crash below us.  Watched the surfers paddle out and surf back in to the rocky beaches. We took long trails, always damp, always green with a pine needle littered floor.  The trees were wiry and full of arms reaching.  The cliffs were high and steep and filled with the low sound of water rushing through caves below us. 

Olive found the best rock face for climbing and Tom took the chance to give rock climbing lessons to both the girls.  Olive's feet always seemed to know just where to go.  By the end of the day, Tom had taught Ivy the same and she stood victorious at the bottom, having finally made it to the top and back again.   I held my breath and my tongue at the bottom.  Eventually, I celebrated with them all when it was finally over.  We came back to to that rock many times over the next few days.

Most days we spent on the hunt for tide pools.  Touching anemones and learning all their names.  We discovered a surf shack and collected sea glass for an entire afternoon.  On one day, we took a drive to an enormous sand dune and spent the day running and sliding, even swimming in the sand.  We only face planted once.

Each day was long and also somehow too short.  Oregon is now on our short list of places we could live.  Who knows?