Trick question! We don't take vacations. We go on adventures!

Well, that's what I prefer. But somehow I'm slowly learning it's not all about me. And in this case, we didn't go to the mountains. We went to the beach.

Don't get me wrong. It's a fine place. And in Washington our beaches aren't exactly what most people think of when they think, "I want to go lie out on the beach." No. Our beaches are cold, windswept strips of sand and rock stuck between the pounding surf and a nearly impenetrable forest. It rains. A lot. And you only go swimming if you've either just been shipwrecked off shore or you have a wetsuit, surfboard, and a case of the crazies. So it's not like we went to lie on a towel and soak up the sun.

We started with a 20 hour drive to the coast. Ok. Actually, it was only five hours. And perhaps an hour was due to a classic "trust the GPS" moment. We eventually pulled into the lot at the Ozette Ranger Station and got literally the last parking spot. Backpacks on our shoulders, we started the short hike through the forest to the beach. Lillian led the way over the Ozette River and onto the boardwalks that make up most of the route.

I know, I know. First it's backpacking on the beach. Now it's walking on boardwalks? Is the tent at Park Place?

Don't worry. These boardwalks are not exactly glamorous. In fact, they're downright dangerous in a couple of areas. It looks like they get maybe three years out of each plank before the constant wet melts it into mush. Some sections were clearly just replaced. Others were clearly in desperate need of being replaced. At least one has a John's foot-shaped hole in it.

Also: Sorry about the Monopoly joke.

We knew we were close to the beach because... mmm... low tide smell. The most frequently hiked part of this trip is called the Ozette Triangle. We had taken the southern side through the forest to the beach. The beach leg stretched north about three miles before the northern trail leads back to the trailhead. The beach leg was completely covered in piles of rotting kelp and seaweed. Not great. Thankfully, we were headed south another couple of miles along the beach and our beach was mostly clear of vegetation.

I can't deny it was easy hiking along the beach. Don't let yourself be fooled into thinking all Washington beach hikes are easy. They aren't, but this one was. We found a great spot in the trees with easy access to the beach and the toilet. (Again, don't get excited. It was barely a toilet and there were no walls.)

The weather was good so we traded trail runners for flip flops and ate dinner on the beach. Clouds did come in to steal our sunset, but we had nothing but smiles before we returned to camp.

In the morning, we packed snacks and headed out for low tide. (Please note: I learned from the last beach trip and had a copy of the tide tables this time!) So many tide pools filled with seastars, anemones, and crabs. All the crabs! Cute little hermit crabs and big scary looking crabs were everywhere. Maps made it look like the next beach would be interesting so we continued south around the point and found rocks. We braved those rocks in our flip flops and found... more rocks. Not worth it. It was back to the beach by camp for our new favorite game: Help the creek carve the beach.

You play like this: Find a spot where the creek is cutting through the sand of the beach. Jump on the bank until it cracks. Stand back and watch it slowly pull away and fall into the creek. Repeat. We literally did little else for hours.

Sunset was far better the second night. A huge cloud formed near the horizon and when it was lit up by the setting sun it looked just like an avenging angel. Not to worry. We'd been good. So good we were graced by the presence of an otter floating in the surf. No, wait. It's a log. No, it's an otter! Maybe. Eventually we did get a picture that was focused enough to conclusively classify it as a brown thing in the water.

The next morning was cloudy, but not raining. We packed up and joined the sparse but steady stream of hikers going north on the firm sand of low tide. There were a surprising number of people hiking in as we hiked out causing us to stand awkwardly on the very edge of the boardwalks while they scootched by. Masks were the rule and we came out of it ok.

Near the trailhead we found bigger and bigger trees. Not as big as in the rainforest proper, but impressive nonetheless.

So I survived a weekend at the beach and Lilly survived a weekend with me. Maybe next year we'll go back to the mountains, but as long as she's carrying a backpack with me I'll follow her anywhere.