By 8:30, we were all up. Mom, Kairika, the baby and me- baby number two snug in its mommy's womb. We'd come to Ocean Crest Resort, an old, shoddy place out in the boondocks on the Washington Coast, north of Ocean Shores.
The day got off to another sour note when we realized we needed a beach umbrella- mainly for Kairika's comfort but also for others, as it was going to be the start of another ungodly heat wave (this would have nothing on the "Heat Dome" in June). We were surprised to find the resort didn't lend any out. That's ok, we'd just drive into a local town to look for one, leaving mom behind to get some work done. The town didn't have any. One lady suggested we drive all the way back to Ocean Shores, so we did, knowing we would not get to visit the beach before my son's naptime, which disappointed us. We got there and still no umbrella, so we got a kite instead.
After nap, we finally went to play in the ocean, though mom got delayed by work again. It was a real joy playing with my son. I'd lift him up over the crashing waves going Whoa! every time. We'd chase them and let them chase us like any other family would. It took mom about an hour to come down, setting us behind by that much. We were getting hungry but she wanted to swim with him some more, so she took him to the pool while we cleaned up for dinner. Unfortunately, they did not return when expected. This made us have to scramble for a dinner plan without her. We ended up picking him up and leaving her again, since she hadn't showered. It was almost 7 and we were starving: also, way past our child's dinner time.
We tried going to a pizza place which was so busy that we'd need to wait an hour to be seated. There really isn't much to eat around here- a surprising fact when you consider how much food there is in this country. I have never travelled anywhere and found it so difficult to find affordable food. I decided we would drive back to Ocean Shores- only a 20 minute drive- and get some fast food, which might have taken less time than waiting at the restaurant. But when we got to McDonald's, we saw the line was backed up all the way to the road! It was then that I realized that people were heading to the ocean in droves to get away from the heat in Seattle. That's why it was so busy everywhere. We were in a perfect storm of bad timing.
I tried another restaurant, which again had an hour wait, before trying McDonald's again. We found a space in line, though by this point we were cranky from a combination of exhaustion and hunger. It was feeling like a Chevy Chase vacation at this point. When we got to take our order, it sounded like a robot was talking to us. I figured this was another one of McDonalds' wacky experiments to increase profits. Once we got to the window, I was gobsmacked to hear the same voice being recited by a man. A man trying to sound like a robot. It was the most hilarious thing, a minor detail amplified by the stress into redemptive laughter. (Another example was Kairika trying to get a caterpillar off the windshield wiper using a French fry. These are priceless!)
By the time we got to eat, it was 8 o'clock and the sun was setting. Our drive home was shadowed by more bickering (my fault), where a comment about ending the trip reared its ugly head. Shamefully, I had resolved that the trip was a resounding failure. These thoughts became premature however, as a pinch of light came at the end of the tunnel. The true redeemer of the day was an unreal sunset that looked like a drop from heaven out of a terrible storm. The road to our resort goes through a lovely forest, which suddenly revealed sharp golden gaps between the trees as we wound through it. This golden color that showered us with such natural beauty will remain in my thoughts for a long time. It could only mean that a fabulous sunset was occurring- the first that my son would witness in his short life. I found a beach we could pull over and watch it on. Out on the horizon, light shades of purple and pink lead to the magnificent fiery glow of our Sun, with the thin crescent of the moon off to the left. It was a time of blessing and forgiveness, tools of compassion when it's needed most. I'd like to thank the universe for this saving grace.
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