I have been spending every day in the studio for the past 2 weeks, getting moved in, enjoying the afternoon light. But I was feeling anxious and realized that I needed a dose of adventure. Salty air. A stunning view. In Oregon, all of this is so close to us, and yet I forget so often how simple it is to take a few hours out of the day (ones that I would just be sleeping through most likely!) and get out into the wideness of the world and reset. I had a photoshoot planned for the afternoon on Saturday, but it wasn’t until 4pm. Plenty of time for a spontaneous trip!

So, on Saturday morning we a woke to a 7am alarm, which we promptly snoozed through until around 8, made some oatmeal, grabbed rain boots, jackets and headed out the door with Donut.

The drive to Tillamook, Oregon is about 1.5 hours, and we listened to a great and fascinating history podcast the whole way making the drive go so smooth, the scenery fly by. I made mental notes on good spots for picking roadside flowers on our return.

Once we arrived in the little town, streets were blocked off for a parade and the farmers market was in full swing. We parked and bought a pound of Rainer cherries, artichoke hummus, and some delicious handmade crackers.

Our destination for the morning was Bay Ocean Spit.

On a June day there were a handful of cars, mostly trucks, and one horse trailer in the parking lot. The sky threatened rain. There were horse hoof tracks in the balmy sand, guiding us through the tall scratchy grass. I was grateful that it wasn’t too hot, for the long jeans I was wearing covering my legs as we forded the green windy fields.

On the walk towards the ocean, with the full scent of heavy clouds overhead, the very green smelling grass sharp and sweet in our nostrils, and the waves throwing armfuls of salt into the air, we talked about how we should do this more often. We had only 1 hour to be on the beach before turning back and heading home and it was so worth every moment.

We sat on a driftwood pile and ate all the cherries. The sky loomed dark, but the rain held until we were finished, catching the pits in the bag they came in to pack out. All of a sudden the sprinkling sky dumped heavy rain on us and the wind blew it’s hardest in the direction we needed to go. Donut was soaked. Luckily we had our raincoats in a tote bag, and hurried them on.

Back at the car we made a note for the next time, dry jeans, a thermos of something hot, and a towel for the dog all would have been really nice. Next time.

On the drive out, the rain covered up the coast range.

All of a sudden we were so hungry! Time was moving quickly, and I had wanted to get back in town to pick up some flowers and prepare for the afternoon, but we had a window to eat, and stopped into the Pelican Brewery. We had a super yummy and way hoppy seasonal beer that was so good, and the burger was satisfying in a coastal brew pub sort of way. It got the job done. There were long lines of traffic being directed by a traffic control person waving people this way and that to get around the parade that was starting, and I navigated us through some backstreets, circumventing the idling masses.

We were back on the road in a flash and the rain stopped at the perfect spot for me to jump out and gather some flowers.

I hope this becomes a ritual for us, taking just 5 hours to go on an adventure, to get wet, to laugh because my glasses were covered in raindrops, to smell the ocean breeze, to watch the little dog run on the sand.

The day filled me up in a way that I knew I needed, and sometimes in those moments when you especially need the fresh air, it is hard to remember the remedy. We found it yesterday, on the drive, on the beach.