Four Part Harmony

We had parallel weekends at the coast this past weekend. Nicki and Milo went out around Lincoln City Newport with some girlfriends for a bachelorette party, and Anna and I were up in Washington at the mouth of the Columbia River.

It was hot here in Portland all weekend. Really hot. It was up over and around 100 for a few days in a row and never really even cooled off at night. I had initially been planning to take Anna on a short backpacking trip as we haven’t managed to fit one in yet this summer, but as it got closer to Friday we could tell that the heat was just going to be too much. Pretty much all of the Northwest was feeling the heat, except the coast, which was forecasting cloudy mornings and sunny afternoons. We changed our plans at the last minute and decided to head out to Cape Disappointment, a state park that’s right across the Columbia from Astoria. I’d worked there several years back, and had been looking for an excuse to get back there. It’s where (or whereabouts) Lewis and Clark and their entourage first laid eyes on the Pacific Ocean.

The coast was certainly cooler, in fact it was downright chilly. Anna and I drove in the sun and the heat right up until the ocean was in sight, and then caught a glimpse of our little sliver of land shrouded in fog. We got to our campsite and quickly changed into warmer clothes. The above picture is from Nicki’s trip. I can’t provide very interesting captions since I wasn’t there (I’m not even sure who it is in that picture), but it’s nice to see that the cool weather didn’t stop anyone from running around on the beach.

Anna was a great camping companion. She helped with setting up the tent, laying out and arranging the sleeping bags and pillows, cooking dinner, collecting twigs, and making a small fire (no campfire issues there on the misty coastline). She discovered a fondness for trail mix. We didn’t have a real elaborate camping set-up, but I did make sure to bring along plenty of snacks, which pretty much made the weekend for Anna. We sat up by the fire telling stories until dark, then went to bed as it started raining a bit.

Next morning was nicer for us, and we had a walk on the beach after breakfast.

Nicki and the girls had nicer weather on Saturday too, once the morning fog burned off. Here’s Nicki and Milo sitting on the beach. Milo was recovering from a fever that had us in the Emergency Room (!) Thursday evening (it’s turned out OK, and as far as we know was just a little virus). He was probably thankful to be away from the Portland heatwave. I’m not sure what he thought of being the only boy in a house full of girls at a bachelorette/girls weekend, but he seems to have survived it somehow.

He got to spend a lot of time with his friend and fellow newborn Lilly. Here they are relaxing under a beach umbrella and looking pretty content.

Meanwhile, up in Washington, Anna and I went on a short hike up the hill to this old lighthouse right out on the point.

A view to the north on our lighthouse hike. We took our time heading home on Saturday. We stopped in Astoria for lunch and walked along the waterfront there. We got home late in the afternoon, and everything was still pretty hot, so we went down for a dip in the pool down at the Erving’s and ended up staying for dinner. A nice end to the day.

Nicki and Milo and the girls spent Saturday night and Sunday morning at the beach. Sounded like they were having a lot of fun.

Milo seems to have beat his fever, and is getting back to his happy old self again.

This coming weekend we’re back out at the coast again. My band is playing at this festival in Astoria which should be a lot of fun. Come on out if you’re in the neighborhood…