Oregon Coast - Day Three

Wednesday, July 29th

We headed south to Newport today. We went to Agate (pronounced with a short A sound) Beach to do some beach combing through their tide pools. One thing that made this trip really nice is that Becca and Tudy both had older kids (12 and 10.) They were a HUGE help to all the younger kids. My kids loved all the attention from older kids and it was helpful to have extra hands to manage their needs. It was a super arrangement!

The Buddy System in full effect:

Emma Lynn and Johanna


Lainey, Gage, Austin, Colt, Lake and LeBraun

This beach was quite different than all the others we visited. As soon as you reached the beach there were huge sand dunes that you had to trek across before you could even find the ocean. It was very foggy and misty that morning so we couldn't even see where the ocean was.



After walking through the dunes we braved the fog and found the ocean. We combed the edge of the water in search of shells, clams, starfish and other sea life.



Being in the misty fog was very odd and surreal for me. I felt slightly disoriented and was getting a terrible headache. Austin was experiencing the same emotions and Spencer didn't want to walk so with Rooster in tow we parted from the group and went back to the dunes. The 3 kids were so much happier (and so was I!) to run and jump and play in the super soft sand.





After playing for quite a while Austin started to worry about meeting up with the rest of our group. So we loaded Rooster back in the carry-back pack and emerged back into the foggy mist. We didn't last very long. Spencer started up the whining about being tired and not wanting to walk. Just about the same time the fog nearly over took Austin's ability to stay calm. He was very worked up (or freaking out, whatever you want to call it!) He was sure that we were lost, he had no idea which way was up or down and he was certain that we would never get out of the fog, find Emma and our friends, or our way home. "Austin, I know where we are. Do you trust me? I can get us home." After a prayer and much convincing that I was not lost we made it out of the fog and slowly, very slowly found our family and friends. So many great life lessons to be learned from this experience. The mist of darkness from Lehi's dream is very real in my mind as we groped around for reality and something firm to hold onto. And yet the Lord is always there through those mist of darkness saying, "I know where you are. Do you trust me? I can get you home."

Emma Lynn had a wonderful time with the beach combing group. She didn't complain about all the walking and found lots of cool shells. Her and Jacqlyn loved squishing jellyfish into the sand. I'm so glad that she was able to make a very independent decision and had a great time. She is definitely making progress and growing up.

After a picnic lunch we drove to Devil's Punch Bowl. (Sadly my camera died at this point.) It was a very amazing natural wonder. The cliffs make a bowl with an opening at the bottom so as the tide rises the bowl fills with water. From the top you can watch it all. (I'm pretty sure they show Devil's Punch Bowl in "Goonies.") Then we walked down a million steep stairs to the beach below. There were hundreds of surfers (remember it is the same very foggy day.) But the beach was fantastic and the kids had a ball climbing and exploring the rocks, cliffs and caves. Plus the sand was pretty great too. We found a ton of hermit crabs as we were digging. 11 month old Rye found the first one. The older kids kept begging to go back to that beach later in the week. As far as the kids were concerned, 5 stars Best Beach on the Coast!