After we sent the last guest from the wedding reception on their way home, Miguel and I said our goodbyes to the Moms and Dads and we made our way to the Oregon Coast for our week-long honeymoon vacation.
Most of my memories of the Oregon Coast involve grey skies, windy weather and rain. The day we left, however, was sunny and hot, so I was rather excited. We ended up staying at a run-of-the-mill campground the first night (and actually several of the nights) with tons of RVs and electric hook-ups. These places situate campers snugly together to minimize impact, which is understandable. It just isn't the solitude we tend to seek out when 'camping'. Three big advantages though: they have free showers, its not against the law to park there, and they have recycling opportunities.
When we arrived at Beachside, it was dark but we went on a walk along the beach in the moonlight. In the morning we headed south and since we weren't on a schedule, had the freedom to stop whenever we wanted at the various overlooks, viewpoints, and state parks. For Miguel and Heather to not be on a schedule, this welcomes waking up between 8:30 and 9 in the morning and going to bed at 9 or 10. I think we got almost 11 hours of sleep every night of our vacation, and it was soooooo good.
Lucy and Mocha made sure that we did a plethora of beach activities. Fetching sticks was always an option, and Miguel tends to find anything climbable to keep he and Lucy occupied. Lucy fetched so many sticks out there that she started catching waves on the way in, which I'm sure was very exhilerating albeit tiring. Something I hope people keep in mind about dogs and beaches is that they need lots of fresh water to drink. We got back to camp a couple of times and Lucy and Mocha drank about a liter of water each. Not only are they working hard running around, but they are inadvertently swallowing saltwater which dehydrates them even more. Luckily, I'm the dog water fairy, and I think about it all the time, so I think we were safe.
We headed all the way to Brookings, where we got another dousing of sun on the beach, and were able to enjoy a roasted "chook" overlooking the rocky shores before spending another couple of hours throwing and fetching sticks. We ended that day by endulging in the rest of the leftover wedding cake.
For the southernmost part of our journey, we stayed a night at Jedidiah Smith State Park in the Redwoods. This was Miguel's first time with the big ol' trees, and it was awesome for me to see them again. Luckily we ignored the "campground full" sign and scored the last tent-spot in the whole place. We took a swim in the morning in the Smith River and then Miguel talked me into 'poaching' one of the mountian biking trails in the park. This was technically 'poaching', because it clearly states on all the maps and at the beginning of the trail that 'dogs are not allowed'. We did it anyway. They allow horses and bikes, but not dogs. Our dogs stay on the trails and get out of the way, so really they should be allowed. Me and my rule-minded self had a very hard time with this. I was outwardly breaking the law by having dogs. There were no cars in the parking lot, so our only chance of getting caught was if a ranger decided to hike up behind us. Basically, I was having a severe case of paranoia and self-talk on the way up and down. "Its ok, so what? What's the worst that could happen? People like our dogs. What will I say if they ask me why I brought the dogs? We shoudln't be doing this. We're going to get caught. What's the worst that could happen? $500, $1000? Jail? No, not jail, just shame. We shouldn't be doing this." Stuff like that. We did the ride, all the way to the top, had a photo and something to eat, and headed back down. Stupidly, we did the rid mid-day, and not only was I freaking out about getting caught, but I was also hyper-concerned about the dogs overheating on the way down. We had to keep stopping to give them water, when all I wanted to do was get off the trail ASAP. This was very frustrating. But, we made it up, down and back to the car with no rangers, no fines, nothing but a lot of anxiety on my part. The dogs were happy and tired for the rest of the day.
