Coastal respite

Sunset photo of Haystack Rock and Cape Kiwanda from the beach at Pacific City.

Considering how busy we've been all year long, it was great to get away for two nights at the Oregon Coast with our longtime friends, Tom and Elsa. We'd been trying to plan a trip to their beachfront roundhouse in Pacific City since spring but circumstances caused us to postpone twice. What a delight to finally pull it off.

We arrived on a Saturday evening and left Monday afternoon. We ate well, drank generously, played a board game, walked on the beach and on neighborhood roads, brought each other up to date on ourselves and our kids, and just generally relaxed. Lori's birthday was Monday, so we celebrated the night before with a homemade dinner that featured Tom's grilled pork chops and Elsa's bread pudding. Yum.

Sunday was foggy and dreary, but we did take a drive into Netarts for lunch and afterward just chilled at the house. Monday morning we were in shirt sleeves on the beach as our dogs romped in the sand and surf. Around mid-day, the women went shopping and the guys played golf -- nine holes on the soggy but fun course in Neskowin.

 Haystack Rock from the tide pools at Cape Kiwanda.

Tom has done an amazing job of remodeling their house over the past couple of years since they bought it. We've seen it go through the metamorphosis from plain and neglected to spiffy, modern and comfortable. The place has a lot of great features but, really, nothing tops the magnificent view of the Pacific Ocean with its never-ending rolling, thrashing waves.

After a leisurely drive home, we unpacked, took a phone call from Simone (our trip to Pittsburgh comes up in two weeks!) and walked to dinner at a Japanese restaurant a few blocks from our home. October just may be our busiest month of the year, so it was nice to at least catch our breath at the coast.

Photos by Troy McMullin, Pacific Crest Stock