Long Beach, WA

Garth recently purchased a used tent trailer so for Spring Break, we decided to go somewhere and try it out.  He has been wanting to go to the Washington peninsula for a long time so we packed up and headed to Long Beach.

The first night was a true test of the trailer.  Had there been any holes, we would have found out because it dumped buckets on us ALL night long.  The kids were troopers, they donned their rain gear and went off exploring.

The visitor’s center.

Whale skeleton

This guy is the king of the dutch oven!

 

 

 

Day 3 was so rainy that we got in the car and drove south to Oregon.  We spent the afternoon at the Tillamook Cheese Factory watching workers, driving the baby loaf, and eating yummy ice cream!

We spent time at the beach every day.  It’s not exactly the warm tropical experience I’ve had before but still beautiful.

Who knew driftwood could be so fun?                                  There are lighthouses in two spots along the peninsula.  This one is the North Head Lighthouse.

Sydney and I tried to hike up to it but due to all the rain, the trail eventually washed out and we were up to our ankles in mud. 

So later that day, we all drove up to it.

This is where the Columbia River meets the Pacific Ocean.  It is really cool to see, of course the picture doesn’t do it justice.

Garth had a birthday while we were there so we headed into town and he bought everyone a kite and we spent the afternoon flying kites on the beach.

Then we went out to dinner and Garth said that all he wanted for his birthday was for everyone to do an oyster shooter.  Everyone but Carter chickened out.  And though he looks reluctant in the picture, once he got it in his mouth, he swears he loved it!

We borrowed a bike trailer from Garth’s brother and a trail bike attachment from my cousin so we could all go on some rides together.  We are not really a bike riding family (mostly because when the weather is nice, we are on the boat).  But it was super fun to ride together, and on this day, we rode up to the other lighthouse, the Cape Disappointment Lighthouse.

Cape Disappointment is the furthest West that the Lewis and Clark Expedition went.  They spent many months there learning about the mouth of the Columbia River.  Up by the lighthouse, there is a Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center we took the kids to.

Now the real reason Garth wanted to come to Long Beach was to dig for razor clams.  The beach turns into the highway with miles and miles of cars parked right on the sand and hoards of people walking around looking for clam holes. 

Razor clams are big (not like steamers) and have a more fragile shell (this we discovered after crushing a couple).  Carter caught the biggest one!