Sudden Family Road Trip
We rarely go on outings as a family. Mostly this is my fault. I do not travel well with children. I used to love to travel or take drives with Philip but since having a kid I find it's a nightmare to anticipate all the things we'll need for Max and Max is not a child who takes it lightly when you've forgotten his essential toy that you didn't even know he had or left behind his favorite snack.
So I avoid going to far afield with my kid and husband. I find it's less stressful to be close to home. But yesterday I got a sudden urge to go run amok on the beach. I don't like beaches where dogs have to be on leashes. Pacific City is perfect because there's a giant vertical dune that the kid and the dog love to scramble up and down and Chick can run free of restraint. So everyone gets lots of fresh air and exercise. When we're done there's a restaurant with award winning beer and fantastic fries.
Our car hasn't been working for two weeks so it was uncertain whether we would be able to do this sudden family road trip. In my opinion, Sundays are not generally lucky days, so I wasn't holding my breath for a happy outcome.
Apparently you need to give cars oil if you want them to start and run.
Here are some highlights of our road trip to the beach:- Stopping at the side of the road so that Max could carve his initial in the snow with hot pee. I still find it incredible that I made this strange man-creature in my womb, a creature that feels compelled to make armpit farts and enjoys peeing as though it was a sport.
- Seeing a car suspended in a tree somewhere near Grand Ronde. I can't imagine how the hell anyone was able to hoist it up there but it's quite amusing. Except for the patriotic way it's painted. Cars in trees: Oregonians are so wacky!
- Watching the dog and the kid run like wild things as soon as they hit the cold wet sand. A boy and a dog have a lot of energy to expend and expel, they sometimes look jet fueled. There's a joy of spirit that exudes from them when they are allowed to express themselves without restraints. I can barely make it up the dunes one time but these two can run up it like it was paved in tarmac and not slippery sliding sand.
- Discovering a dead seal. They're big. And pretty skanky when they've been dead for a while and pecked at by seagulls. I kept walking right past it because I could see in the briefest glance that the image of a dead seal wasn't the last one I wanted in my head before dinner. Life with a boy means that you will get all the gross details of life and death whether you want them or not. What could be more fascinating than a decaying water mammal that the seagulls have toyed with? Max had to poke it and then talk about it for the rest of the night. "Remember when we saw the dead seal and I poked it and it jiggled? I wish I had touched it!" Ugh.
- Agreeing as a family, over french fries, that none of us wanted to live at the ocean because of the tsunami potential and because it's always windy and when it's bright it's unrelentingly bright (the kind of weather that makes me exceedingly angry). We decided that the beach is a great place to visit but we're happy living inland in our small town that's not so small it's without amenities but not so big that it's noisy and hideously packed with people. We decided, as a family, that we're very happy with where we live.
Coming soon: I received in the mail the most amazing gift I've ever been given...I have yet to take good pictures of it but when I do I will post it! Just to whet your curiosity I will tell you that the person who sent it is none other than Pam from Pam Kitty Morning, so you know it was something amazing!
Labels: beach, dunes, family, food, kids, pets, road trip, Sunday adventure