What a great weekend this turned out to be! I had Friday the 15th and Monday the 18th off, (Wendy has the 14th thru 22nd off which I had originally planned as well but Alan’s stroke changed that) and we had planned a long weekend at the ocean months ago for Penny’s 79th birthday.
Friday morning was fairly leisurely. I got up at 7, wasn’t hungry enough for breakfast so just had a cup of tea, did some preliminary packing, then went out for a haircut and a couple errands at 9am. After I got home we finished packing up the honda and left about 11am headed for the ocean. A decent uneventful drive, arriving in Aberdeen about 1:30. We headed west on 105 towards Westport, for a planned stop at the Westport Winery we wanted to visit. It was halfway between Aberdeen and Westport so not too far out of our way. We tasted and bought several bottles.
We arrived at the Sandpiper about 4:20 and checked in and unloaded the car. We had room 12 which was the largest 3 BR, 1-1/2 bath Suite, more than enough beds for everyone. Wendy & I were up in the loft, the others had their own rooms. The weather was reasonable, mostly sunny, somewhat cool. The forecast indicated better weather on Saturday. Wendy made a fresh batch of mac’n cheese, and string beans for our supper and we enjoyed a walk on the beach after dinner.
Mom, Carolyn, Greg and Mathew arrived after 9pm. They had picked up Mathew, 6, after school, stopped for dinner in Northgate, then had lots of Friday night traffic to contend with all the way to Olympia. After that it was pretty smooth sailing but getting darker so not much to see. We helped them unload, enjoyed a glass or two of wine, and chatted in front of the fireplace until about 11pm.
Saturday Wendy and I were up first about 8:30 and enjoyed the quiet. Mom soon joined us for a fresh cup of coffee and I went out for a walk by myself for 45 minutes. When I got back, I was surprised the rest of them were still not up, but it didn’t matter. They finally did get up and we had a late breakfast, brunch really, about 11:15, consisting of sausage and a hashbrown/red pepper/egg hotdish that Wendy made, and plenty more coffee and juice. One thing we weren’t short on this weekend was food. I was on dishwashing patrol the whole time so once I was finished, everyone had pretty much decided it was nice enough out and time to get the kite and any other toys ready to take to the beach. We soon found the kite was missing a crossbar and we didn’t have anything to substitute, so Wendy bought another one at the giftshop.
The breeze on the beach was just perfect for kites. Mathew got a great start, up about 75 feet, then seemed to lose interest. He handed it to me and I got it almost all the way out to the 500′ limit. Winding it back in took awhile, but I was able to “fly it” down and up, down and up, teasing Mathew with the kites tail as I brought it in. The sky was just clear enough for some warmth and everyone got a little sunburn either on face, neck or legs, regardless of the sunblock. We’d just had that great a time. There was a bald eagle that was feeding on a dead sea lion that had washed up on shore, and it provided us with a little smell whent he wind was just right. We brought out two folding camp chairs and an old sheet to sit on, I had a book and can of pop and it was soooo relaxing.
There were plenty of other people at the Sandpiper too but it was not full. But I’m sure glad we had the top floor because the people below us were somewhat noisy and it would have been annoying if we’d been below them. We originally planned to go out to dinner in Ocean Shores Saturday evening for Mom’s birthday dinner but she said she didn’t want to go out, so we rearranged our meal schedule and cooked in. While there were hot dogs and baked beans for lunch, we had more beans and leftover mac’n cheese and some other stuff for dinner. Wendy had made rice crispy treats before leaving home, and Greg made some chocolate marshmellow treats. Those were our desserts. The fire in the fireplace again allowed us to make smores. Then it was some Rummy and Uno to round out our evening. Bedtime didn’t arrive until Midnite, but before that I took my headlamp and went for a late beach walk. Clear skies and lots of stars. At least another dozen people out there too but none with flashlights that I could see, and not much moon, just the big beachlamp from the Sandpiper.
Sunday most of us were up about 8:30 and Carolyn, Greg, and Mathew had a quick breakfast and packed up and left by 10. Mathew had to get home to mom by 4. As fun as it was, now Penny, Wendy, and I could relax and enjoy the quiet for another day and night. The weather was now overcast but no cooler, low 60’s, so still comfortable. Lots of Rummy and Boggle kept us occupied thruout the afternoon and evening, and a couple more walks got us all the fresh air we needed to sleep well. We had brought a carton of presto logs so we kept a fire going all evening. We hit the sack a little earlier this time, by 11 and up a little earlier Monday morning. After I made oatmeal at 8:30, Wendy and Mom went for one final walk while I cleaned up the dishes and read my book some more. When they got back we quickly got packed and loaded, and checked out at 11 for our drive home. Again the drive was uneventful and the skies cleared more and more as we got closer to home, arriving about 2. I spent the rest of the day first unpacking, then fixing the one kite with a missing part(now using a dowel) and then mowed the lawn and washed the car. Another good dinner of leftovers and its now time for composing this blog and heading for bed. Wendy and Mom are catching up on All My Children and Wendy will take mom home Tuesday morning and spend the rest of the week there. While I have to got back to work for a couple rainy days, I do get to look forward to a long holiday weekend coming up and what appears to be some more nice weather. Photos can now be viewed at http://picasaweb.google.com/cattrain1989/OurLongWeekendAtTheSandpiperInn