Coasting

The first weekend in August, we had the annual Morris Family coast trip. My family has been going to Brookings, Oregon once every summer for probably 15+ years. We camp at Harris Beach, where the campground is at the top of a bluff / cliff, so we can just walk down the hill to the beach. The trip is mostly the same every year, but that doesn’t make it any less fun. This year, we had a Morris Family tennis tournament Friday morning in Ashland before leaving for the coast. Nate and I made it to the finals in the double-elimination tournament, but after beating Dave and my dad once in the finals, we couldn’t quite pull off the second win to become the champions. We’ll have to practice for next year, especially since the winners were awarded surprise T-shirts (designed by Nate and I).

Some of the highlights from our time at the coast were:

* delicious food (especially considering that we were camping – highlights were tin foil dinners, croissant sandwiches for breakfast, breakfast burritos, and scotcheroos)

* Spending the day at the beach with no real plan / schedule

* getting in the freezing cold water – although it didn’t last long, and I only got wet up to about my waist. Nate was more daring and dove all the way in

* making a big, well-protected sand castle (I didn’t really participate in this one – mostly just watched) with a massive moat to catch the waves

* burying various people in the sand

* watching the grandkids play together

* watching the sunset over the ocean

* sleeping in a yurt for the first time (we got spoiled since we had a baby)

and generally just being with my family and spending time with them. The trip was definitely too short and went by too quickly, but it was so much fun and great to see my family!