Wahoooo! We are on our way...
Oh my - Forks, WA - maybe we'll see Edward!
Having chosen to forego our week-long camping trip at our favorite place on the Washington Coast this past summer, we opted to have a family weekend in same said same heavenly location. It was sooo worth the wait!
I managed to pick the one weekend in October that didn't have seventeen other things scheduled. No lacrosse tournaments, no midterm exams, no unexpected illnesses and best of all NO RAIN!
Mike picked me up after work Thursday evening and we drove as far as the Olympia area to spend the night with our daughter-in-law Debbie. Matt, Brit and Taten followed us over in their car too. It was a late arrival but so much nicer to be able to get up "almost there" and have a leisurely morning.
Our oldest granddaughter Andi arrived, helped with some last minute food prep and we loaded coolers into cars to head for the coast. Our crew in Moscow finished up their morning classes and were able to hit the road in the afternoon "island time". Even the Oregon family hit the road to join in on the weekend. We were 19 Shaws in total.
We had sporadic rain on the drive over - but it cleared after we had the cars unpacked. Just in time to hit the beach. The crew from Moscow had rain showers, and a delay from an accident which stopped traffic on the interstate for over an hour. They arrived in time for a bowl of chili to warm their tummies and low tide at 11:30pm. The young adults promptly took off to enjoy the beach after dark (while their more chronologically advanced cabin mates went to bed).
We woke Saturday to SUNSHINE! It was a stunning day. I don't think we could have requested anything nicer. As our family walked on the beach, enjoying the warm sunshine, looking for agates, we reminisced about visits to Kalaloch over the years. The two littlest guys found walking sticks like the big boys, and tossed large rocks into the surf. The little girls followed them around, cooing and being attentive. The air was warm - sweatshirts were sufficient to keep comfortable.
The evening passed with delicious bowls of chicken n'dumplings (a Kalaloch tradition), glasses of wine & beer, laughter, conversations among family members, card games, board games, way too much candy, chips & cookies. I'll be detoxing the month of November just to survive the holidays.
Sunday morning came before any of us were ready to leave. Our weekend together passed quickly and the time spent together was precious. After breakfast, we packed up our cars and headed for home. Our family made one last visit to Beach 2 - where Mike's parents cremains were scattered.
We'll pray God will find us, together, back on the beaches in July.
(L) Portland Shaws
(R) Idaho Shaws
Sunday morning came before any of us were ready to leave. Our weekend together passed quickly and the time spent together was precious. After breakfast, we packed up our cars and headed for home. Our family made one last visit to Beach 2 - where Mike's parents cremains were scattered.
Kalaloch 2009
We'll pray God will find us, together, back on the beaches in July.
