A Long Weekend at Long Beach

We spent three nights at the Ocean Park house of our friend, Z. Just for fun. Just because we can. It was the Kite Festival Weekend, but we ignored that and only saw some kites flying in the distance once when we were in town. It was an enjoyable three days with a quick drive home on Monday in time to go to a routine doctor's appointment for me. We just relaxed and had a nice visit.

Long Beach sunset.

The Ilwaco Sunday Market.

Shells along Willapa Bay at Leadbetter Point State Park.

Someone was in LOVE. Leadbetter Point loop of trails.

The Pacific.

Sand Dollar skeleton.

Selfie with beach.

We started with a drive out to the Pacific Coast on a Friday, and arrived in time for a nice meal at Castaway's Bar and an orange and gold sunset as we walked back to the truck. There was a lot of smoke in the air from wildfires on the Olympic Peninsula, so the colors are especially vivid at sunset. We're sleeping in our R-Pod (with Cedar) next to the house, instead of in the house with Z. I don't like to leave him too long by himself, he gets lonely for us (and we get lonely for him).

Cedar at the door.

Castaway's Bar. This is a nice spot.

Pasta with Steamer Clams for dinner.

Downtown Ocean Park for dinner.

The beach after dinner. Orange sky at night because of the wildfire smoke.

Setting sun.

More sunset.

Last rays of the day.

Birds on the shore.

Beautiful reflections on the day.

The table at Z's house.

Wild blackberry pie for dessert.

Stormy.

The next day we got up and went to the Ilwaco Sunday Market. It had a nice mix of craft and art booths and fresh produce booths. I ended up buying a natural beeswax candle in the shape of a pine cone for a cozy holiday vibe at home. Lunch was at the North Jetty Tap Room. We could eat outside on their deck. After a short nap, Russ and I hiked a loop at Leadbetter Point State Park, following the Bay Loop Trail, the Bearberry Trail, the Beach Trail, the Weather Beach trail and the Dune Forest Loop. We went at the end of the day as the sun was lower in the sky. The light was so perfect and I filled my camera roll with too many photos. We picked up a pizza from Jack's Country Store and had that for dinner with Z, adding piles of mushrooms, onion and spinach to the plain cheese pizza. Lots of gin and tonic capped the day and made it feel like a celebration.

The sign didn't lie.

Walking into the the Ilwaco Sunday Market.

The market is at the marina.

Still water on a sunny day.

The row of market tents.

The shadow looked like a dragon to me.

North Jetty Tap Room.

Russ walks past the kitchen window to our table outside.

The list of names. I have no idea what this represented.

The patio (beer garden?)

These signs are real, but in the wrong place. No one needs to be rescued from beer.

Panini with a salad.

Spaghetti loop trails.

The bay side beach.

Shells mark the tide at Willapa beach.

Channel markers. They could also be marking commercial clam or crab fishing locations.

Grass on the shore.

Wildflowers were still blooming.

The beach/tidelands/dunes ecosystem meets the forest.

A straight trail to the Pacific.

Trail marker.

Stay on the trail, please.

The big empty beach. Note the lack of footprints except for Russ'.

The sun low in the sky made for some lovely photos.

Pelicans, sea gulls, and plovers. Maybe some sandpipers too.

Beach grass and sand.

The forest trail back to our car.

More trail markers.

The path less traveled.

Hello, Mr. Red Squirrel!

Gin and Tonic before pizza dinner.

Cross breed cantaloupe (with a watermelon texture).

Pizza at the end of a satisfying day.

Our last day on the Long Beach Peninsula was a quiet one with a good nap. We held out through Sunday night though, because we wanted to eat dinner at Mycovio's, and there was only one available reservation on Sunday night, so we made sure to stay and enjoy one last dinner. It did mean we had to get going earlier on Monday morning, and I was glad that my doctor's visit was the last appointment of the day.

The front door at Mycovio's.

Excellent wine.

Bread and olives.

Deviled egg appetizer.

Dinner.

Clams and pasta for me again.

Russ' choice.

Mirror selfie from the table. The open kitchen is reflected behind me.

Mmmmm. Dessert.

Sunset just outside the front door of the restaurant.

Small but worth it.

From the parking lot.

One last glass of wine and a fire on the porch before bed.

This was such a relaxing and lovely weekend with our friend. It will be a while before we get a chance to return and do this again, but the memories will sustain us until next time.