Friday, July 3, 2020

Raven Escapes To Ocean Shores With Kristin, Michele & The Tacoma Trio

I learned last night that to temporarily escape being housebound in Tacoma, or cabinbound on Harstine Island, the Tacoma Trio decided it was a good time to take a summer time look at the Pacific Ocean.

Doing so took the Tacoma Trio to Ocean Shores.

I have blogged about Ocean Shores a couple times on one of my other blogs, first in a blogging titled Ocean Shores Washington and a second time in Washington's Pacific Ocean's Ocean Shores is Celebrating 50 Years of Coasting.

In the first photo that is David, Kristin, Ruby, Michele & David, being guarded by Raven. I do not know where Raven's step brother, Eddie is.

Maybe Eddie took the picture.

That is the body of water known as the Pacific Ocean behind Raven and his family.

When I was the Tacoma Trio's age going to Ocean Shores was just about my favorite place we'd go on weekend camping trips. Only we simply called it "going to the coast".  And we did not usually stay in Ocean Shores, which is a town created in the 1960s. We usually stayed a few miles north in the little town of Copalis, where my little brother and I always had fun buying a balsa wood airplane to fly til it broke.

The Pacific Ocean beach at Ocean Shores, and for miles north and south, is a wide sandy swath, so wide two lanes of traffic drive on the "beach".

The last time I did so was way back in 2004, if memory serves me correctly.


Above that appears to be Ruby, Michele and Theo running towards the waves.


And now it appears Ruby, Michele and Theo are preparing to run in the other direction to escape the incoming waves.


Here we see David, Ruby, Theo and Raven on the big rocks which make up the spit which sticks way out into the ocean at the entry to Grays Harbor. The waves can get mighty big at this location. When I was last there, in 2004, we watched a big herd of seals frolicking in the surf. And whales spouting further out.

This is also the location of my one and only time experiencing what is known as a rogue wave.

It was a Sunday morning, long long ago. Ruby's mama Michele was about five years younger than Ruby is now. We joined throngs of others walking the beach at low tide.

Suddenly it was obvious an incoming wave was way bigger than the rest.

People began running to dry land. I picked up little Michele, and ran as fast as I could go, eventually getting high on a piece of driftwood, which ended up not being high enough, as we got swept off, and totally wet. The getting wet thing pretty much ended the drama as the wave retreated.

I remember this incident so clearly. I have previously asked Michele if she remembers it. She does not. One of the more vivid things I remember was, with it being Sunday, many of the beach goers were still wearing their going to church attire, including a lady wearing a ridiculously big fur coat. She could not run fast enough and was totally knocked down by the rogue wave. Her fur coat probably never recovered.


The information accompanying the Ocean Shores photos made no mention of staying overnight in one of the many Ocean Shores motels, but the above photo indicates such was the case. Maybe they stayed at the Gitchee Gumee. The last time I overnighted in Ocean Shores, with Michele, and mom and dad, was at the Gitchee Gumee. And one of the attractions was the indoor pool.

Months ago I was 100% certain I would be in Washington this month, having fun with the Tacoma Trio, swimming, sand castle building and mountain biking. But, last week the reservations at Birch Bay were cancelled, putting an end to what had become an ever decreasing chance of roadtripping to the Pacific Northwest this summer.

Someday, I hope, this current nightmare will end. Maybe in time to roadtrip to the Pacific Northwest for David's high school graduation. Or Spencer Jack's wedding. Or something else which currently seems like it would be way into the future...

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