Oregon Day 2 Beach no Surf Day and Hiking the Sand Dune

August 17th

I got up around 8am feeling much more refreshed and antsy to do something before the start of our day. The rest of the crew was a bit later to waking up, which is understandable after our packed day yesterday and their fun night at the bar. With the slow morning, I prepped my breakfast and made coffee for the house.

That was preemptive move of mine and ditched the black coffee when I heard whisperings of going to the cafe in town. And just like that, Ben was driving Colton, Shannon, and I to Stimulus Coffee. Since it was a Sunday morning at 9am, the line for the cafe was out of the door but we committed to the bit. Upon first sip, I understood why this place was so busy. The coffee was actually really good. We had to wait in line at least 30 minutes, but it gave us time to chat more and I enjoyed my conversations with them.

The cafe was right on the ocean, so we had full view of the waves rolling in. We were trying to figure out if today would be a good day to go surfing and I chimed in, based on my plethora of surfing experience in SE Asia, that the waves were way higher than we could ever do as a group of beginners. But, Ben really wanted to go surfing today, and Jacob and Ryan were both down to join him in it. But, the surf shop opened at 10am for them to get their rentals, so we still had some time to kill before then.

We went back to the airbnb, I finished my yummy coffee, ate my oatmeal, and got ready for our now declared beach day (previously titled surf day). People were slowly starting to wake up, and having been up for hours, I was ready to get to my favorite place: the beach.

So, I joined the first crew of people going to the surf shop. Moment Surf Co. was the cutest store ever, not only did they have board rentals, but also the cutest surf apparel. It was just the coolest vibe and I loved walking around the store while the guys got their rental sorted. As the guys got fitted with their surf stuff, and I took a quick look at the waves and water and ran into the rest of the group while doing so. I let the surfers hang loose and joined the beachers to scope out our plant spot for the day. We got our stuff situated and slowly trickled in more and more people. I sat for about 30-60 minutes, until I was ready to get moving. I watched the guys battle the waves, it was a challenging day to break through the surf and get out deep enough to catch a viable wave and not white wash.

After I 'watched' the guys surf a bit, I was antsy to go on a walk. I asked the beach crew twice if anyone wanted to go on a beach walk with me, and after a 'no' response both times, I decided to go for a walk by myself. Funny enough, at the beginning of my solo but didn't want to be solo walk, Sean called me to make sure I was watching his stuff. I was doing a stellar job of that haha. But, I assured him that someone will definitely be at our camp, and so I inquired him of his current adventure and if I could join. So, I climbed up the massive sand hill that gathered at the end of the beach. It looked way worse than what it actually was to hike, and just like that, I found Sean and Matt.

And it was actually such an incredible view up there. 

I have come to learn that I don’t really travel to sit and do nothing because I am exhausted, over the cold, or stressed from work, its actually the exact opposite. I get antsy after sitting in a desk chair for months on end and I want to travel to move my body, explore, and adventure. To see as much natural beauty as I can. I had so much fun up there with them. Matt found me on my sand hill hike and of course I instantly requested photos because it was so pretty there. I was grateful that he didn’t mind taking a photo or two of me (or hundreds hahaha). We explored all we could on the sand dunes. We walked to all the beautiful viewpoints we could. I can’t believe us three were the only ones to go up there and it was so amazing and so close to our place.

We were on the sand hill for at least an hour and in the late afternoon. That meant the sand was boiling beneath us and burning our feet each step. We finally went back down to our campsite because we were getting hungry and the guys wanted to join in on the lunch plans at the brewery. I ended up eating the vegan breakfast sandwich at the cafe with Rena. After I housed my meal, we then walked across the street to the brewery and joined the big group there.

The brewery was fun, I didn’t get anything there, I did chow on some stray french fries, but the whole table feasted on their hearty meals and beer flights. Part of the lunch trip was to get out of the sun. The weather was a bit inclement which in turn affect the wave size. The forecast did say the UV wouldn't be very high today so a lot of people didn't put on sunscreen. However, I still put it on because I was so used to doing that when traveling or spending any sort of time outside, especially in Hawaii were the sun was full strength. I also thought I might as well put it on my arms, and my legs were covered by my pants so that was ok. But, I was the only one not to get seriously burnt. A mix of luck and travel experience, I was feeling quite grateful for my intuitions carrying me today.

After the late lunch, most of us returned to the beach. We tossed around a football for a bit, but then I sat out to just chill after feeling a bit tired from the sun and my little hike. I had to do a fantasy draft at 6:30pm and a lot of people went back at 4:30, but I stayed at the beach with Alayna and Shannon until the very last minute. We were the last people there, and I treasure the last hour we spent together us three. They encouraged me as I finished my book (current read: James), and then once I was back to talk again, we were awing over the beautiful ocean in front of us. They are two sweet, positive, and kind friends of mine and I was grateful to have that moment with them to relish the joys of travel and appreciate them with recognition.

I made it my goal to finish the book at the beach and stay near the sound of the ocean as long as I could, but once I got minutes from the draft, I headed back. This league was with this friend group too, and they were all sitting in or around the hot tub, so I hopped in and drafted from there so I could warm up and finally get some time in the hot tub. It was fun being together for the draft and I’m hopeful that I have a good team this year. 

I was getting hot from the tub so I hopped out, showered, and joined everyone on the couch. We were all super tired so we had a chill night. We didn’t do anything crazy for dinner, having such a late and filling lunch. I ended up eating popcorn and the pb&j that I packed for the beach day. Bowl of popcorn in hand, I stole the remote and watched more White Lotus. Two episodes down, a lounged on the couch, and in close proximity to friends. Doesn't get much better than that.