Heather in Horse Country: Beach Retreat!

Yesterday. Aw, yesterday.

Yesterday I joined a group, as I teased them, "playing hookie-from-church." They called it, "a sabbatical", a short day-sabbatical. I called it a Beach Retreat. A day of rest and relaxation - leaving the Stress behind.

One of the best parts of Oregon is the public free access laws in regards to the coast. Before I made friends in Florida, North Carolina and California, I didn't know how lucky we are that we have public access to the entire coast. I was shocked when I learned there are "private" beaches elsewhere.

(What do you mean, 'you have to pay to walk on famous beaches'??)

Living and exploring Oregon is so much fun, and this adventure took us to Manzanita for the first time. Just a fifteen minute drive south from our favorite Oregon beach town of Cannon Beach, we found a place that just might rival Cannon Beach.

Aw, yes. It is a place called Manzanita, Oregon.

Looking north from the Manzanita beach, we gazed on Mouth Neahkahnie. The first time we hiked Mount Neahkahnie was on my dad's fiftieth birthday. From there we gazed down the coast and over Manzanita. Now we were walking on one of the beaches over which we had only gazed.

Dad taking a photo of Neahkanie Mountain

Starting at the Nehalem Bay State Park, we walked north about an hour until the sand turned to rocks. Then we double backed to the town.

Julie

It seemed that every other person we saw on the beach had at least one dog. Here is Julie, one of those that came right up and greeted me.

It was a beautiful day. Such a beautiful day. As you can see the sky hung brilliant, the sun shone, the waves crashed and I photographed it all. The smell of the ocean, with its saltiness and rich distinct aroma, made us very hungry.