Seaside, Oregon

This posting is more travelogue than hiking blog but I promise the next posting will be all about the trail. In the meantime, Dollie and I are still in Seaside with in-laws, children, and our children's children. After our morning bike ride to Fort Stevens, we quickly got cleaned up and headed out to the helipad with Jessie (daughter) and Trevor (belongs to Jessie).

Not doing as I was told

At the helipad, we had to watch a safety video that basically told us how to buckle up and how to use the microphone and headset for communication in the noisy helicopter. A eager young man named Patrick then explained in a very loud voice the boarding protocol which basically amounted to "...do what I tell you!"

Seaside,...yip, yip!

While waiting for our ride, we observed the small copter taking off and I think all four of us got the yips as we watched it fly away. Soon it was our turn and we shoehorned ourselves into the back seat. The ground dropped away rapidly as we took off and in no time at all several tons of metal was where it had no business being: in the air, thousands of feet above Seaside. More yips were felt.

View to Tillamook Head

There was a wildfire near Mount Hood and smoke from that fire prevented us from seeing Mount Ranier but we could see a lot of other cool stuff like Seaside, Tillamook Head, the Columbia River, Saddle Mountain, and the Necanicum River as it exited at Seaside. The view was so cool, we all soon forgot about having the yips.

Cowabunga!

After dinner, we all headed to the beach to enjoy a summer evening. Roy brought boogie boards and he, Andy, Spencer, and Trevor skidded on the wet sand, some more gracefully than others.  Not wanting to embarrass myself, I was content to merely take pictures of the boarders. Young Spencer was a natural and displayed perfect form nearly every time. Andy has his mother's coordination and enough said about that.

Sunset at Seaside

The sun gradually sank in the sky and provided us another great coastal sunset. The beach was dotted with bonfires like the Trojan beaches during the Greek siege, there was a noticeable chill to the air once the sun departed. Dollie and I had taken a short bike ride around Seaside prior to the beach festivities and as we headed back to the vacation rental, I was still feeling energetic so I took a right turn on the promenade and hiked into Seaside.

Sunset fans

It was more night than day but there still was a faint glow on the horizon as the lanterns illuminated the promenade. Sunset lovers abounded, watching the spectacular end of the day from the Seaside Roundabout. Below, several teens were creatively dancing with torches while children played on swing sets. Totally festive and in keeping with our brief stay in Seaside.  

Seaside makes Jessie jump for joy!

For more pictures of Seaside, please visit the Flickr album.

Seaside promenade

Fire dancers

Monsters roamed the shops at night