Ocean coasts: Why I love them

There's just something about the coast. It doesn't matter which coast as long as it's an ocean coast. Oregon, Florida, Hawaii, Bahamas, California, Puerto Rico, Washington, British Columbia, Massachusetts, Maine, South Carolina, New York, North Carolina. Been there; love them. I love the scent of ocean air. I love the sound of waves on the shore. I love the feel of sand between my toes. But most of all, I love the openness of the water and the possibilities that lie beyond. That open water and the realization that there's another completely different coast thousands of miles away puts me in my place. It makes me realize how small I am in a very large world.

That might seem kind of weird.

It's the same reason I like storms. It reminds me that I'm not in control of everything. There's something bigger out there that can have a huge affect on me regardless of how well I live or how well I prepare myself for any particular situation. Mother Nature is still there, and she's in charge. I like these realizations because it keeps me from getting too worked up about things I can't control. While I certainly have the ability to change the course of my life through my actions, things like the open expanse of oceans and thunderstorms remind me that there's always a risk that things won't go as planned; and for whatever reason, that soothes me.

Enough of that. Our weekend at the coast was mostly good. We started out in Astoria where we located the Goonies house. Unfortunately, it's up a private driveway that you have to walk up, and when we got up there, people were outside the house and on the deck. Being mindful of others' privacy, we didn't want to be the gawking tourists taking pictures of the house. Marc did snap a couple before we spotted the residents, though. After that, we headed down to Fort Stevens and walked around old batteries and viewing platforms.

Cool stuff. By then, we were starving. We headed down to Cannon Beach and checked into our room at the Hallmark early, then it was off to the Fireside for their wonderfully creamy clam chowder. Yummy! We went back to the room and then enjoyed lounging in the sand in front of the monolith--which our room also had an incredible view of.

We had seafood for dinner at Doogers. Then we sat on our balcony and watched the sun set. No computers, very little television. It was a good disconnecting break from our normal day-to-day activities.

Now let me talk a little more about watching the sunset from the balcony. About 20-30 minutes before the sunset, I noticed a newly married couple being posed for pictures and video on the stairs down to the beach from our hotel. Nothing weird there--it's a beautiful setting. After some still shots and video, they moved on down the stairs and out onto the beach. Then, the two bridesmaids--in hot pink, fuschia-colored dresses--appeared, followed by the groomsmen in black tuxes, with--you guessed it!--hot pink vests and bow ties. Are you kidding me? This girl really wanted her wedding pictures captured for eternity with dudes wearing hot pink? Wow.

The silliness doesn't end there. This couple went on to pose for some of the most ridiculous wedding pictures and videos I've ever witnessed. She sat on a log, and he laid on the log with his head in her lap. Okay, that's not so bad. But then they started running down the shore, at the videographer's request. After getting "running away" and "running toward" shots, they started at opposite ends and ran toward each other. As they met, he swooped her up and spun her around; a couple times (yes, they repeated this several times--have to get the perfect shot!) her dress's skirt just about flew over her head as it got picked up by the wind. Marc and I could only joke that they were going to appear completely winded and pink-faced in their pictures after all that running around. I'm sure the pictures will turn out great. Best of luck to that couple!