Francesca's Trip to the Beach

I'm so excited! Cinnamon assigned the beach story to ME! So I can tell you about my trip to see the ocean for the very first time. It was quite a journey.

So here's my story:

Road Trip!
It was morning and things were different. We weren't getting ready to go to the dog park. We were packing and loading some things into the car. Toys, food, towels and some of my owner's things all went into the car. I just paced around wondering what was happening.

I grew up in Yamhill County and just hung out. I didn't get to go on trips, to the park or anywhere. So I was surprised when our owner said, "We're going to the beach and you're going too, Francesca!"

Road Trip! I'm the one in the "box!"

I had heard about the beach from Cinnamon. She said it was full of good smells and soft sand. And, she said, the water was different from inland water. It MOVED! So I was curious about the ocean and the beach. And happy to jump into the car and head out on the highway.

We stopped for gas after we got through Portland. Was this the beach? No, it wasn't. And we didn't get to stretch our legs or anything.

About another half hour down the road (the beach must be really far!) we pulled into a place called the Tillamook Forest Center. Yep, there was a forest all right. But the best part was that we got to get out and go for a little hike. Soon we turned down a trail, went down some stairs and found a rocky beach and water. THIS MUST BE THE OCEAN! But it didn't have much sand and the water didn't really move. Maybe not. Later, I found out this was the Wilson River. We sipped the cool water and then got back into the car.

We got a sip of water out of the Wilson River

Down the road we went... for a long, long time! We wound through the forest, passed dairy farms (I could smell them) and finally we pulled in to a little town called Neskowin. Was this the beach? We parked and got out. I smelled something different and heard a loud roar in the distance.

THIS WAS THE BEACH!

My First Look at the Pacific Ocean
We walked through some sand and I peered over some rocks and there it was! It was blue and it moved... with lots of noise. I was excited. I could smell things like crab shells, old beach fires and drying kelp. OH BOY!

Here I am seeing the Pacific Ocean for the very first time

We walked right down onto the beach and out to the water. I dipped my paw in. It wasn't too cold. I waded up to the top of my paws but Cinnamon said, "Don't go any farther!" She was scared. She thought the waves might pull me out in the BIG OCEAN.

We walked along the water until we came to a magical place. It was a big rock with mist swirling around it. Cinnamon told me it was Proposal Rock.  I thought it might be something exciting. But the water was coming in and we had to turn back.

Here's Proposal Rock. It looked very mysterious in the mist.

On the way back I tried to take some bleached crab shells I found but my owner made me drop them. Drat! One even had a pincher on it!

Soon we were back in the car (all too soon) and headed for the Anchor Inn. That was to be where we were going to spend the night and see our friends. FRIENDS! I was getting excited. I just knew they would want to pet me!

So this is as far as I want to write today. I have so much to tell you. So much excitement. So watch for more tomorrow about my overnight at the scary pirate motel and an even bigger beach with big swimming animals!

by Francesca, the Intern

Photography by Cinnamon