The Family in Forks, Pt. 2

Day 2 of the Forks trip: beach day! We drove down to La Push and took a quick look at the town, then back-tracked a little bit so that we could hike down to Second Beach.


It's about a 1/2 hour easy hike to the beach through a beautiful forested area. When you get near the water, you catch glimpses of it through the trees and can faintly hear the sound of the waves. Then, there's a rapid descent down a series of stairs and then...driftwood logs. Lots and lots of driftwood logs. It kinda throws you off a bit at first when the nice trail suddenly dead ends. It's quite the adventure to climb over the logs, especially when they are rather slick and you're holding a dog in your arms as you climb and your shoes don't have very good traction!


We all made it safely to the beach and spent the rest of the afternoon walking along the water, throwing the football around, eating lunch and just chatting as we took in the sights and sounds. It was Dalton's first trip to an ocean and it was great fun to watch him play in the water. Of course, being the pacific northwest, the water was VERY cold, but that didn't stop Davin, Stetson and Dalton from getting out in it. Eventually, I couldn't resist and was soon in the water as well. I took Mikka out with me for a bit, but she was scared out of her mind so I left her with Adam and went back out with the boys. I was glad they enjoyed themselves - they were all a little freaked out because prior to their visit, I had mentioned it might be possible to see some jellyfish. Unfortunately, they had watched "Seven Pounds" recently and apparently there's a scary jelly fish scene, so everyone was a bit nervous to get in the water. Happily, not one jellyfish was spotted and so everyone was able to enjoy themselves!


Before leaving, Mikka and I took a run on the beach, which she loved, and then everyone but mom and Adam climbed out on a large rock that was nearly surrounded by water and watched the waves come crash up against us and the saltwater spray all over us.

It was a wonderful day and I'm glad that the weather turned out so well for Dalton's first beach experience.

Although the beaches up here definitely aren't the type for sunbathing or warm swimming, I have to say that there's something incredibly beautiful about the rugged terrain of the majority of them. How I love the Pacific Northwest!