Long Beach, Day 1...

North Head Lighthouse in the far, far distance...

Ah yes, this was the feeling I was looking for! I just simply love anything to do with salty ocean water. The Pacific Coast definitely gives you all this and more: tons of wind!!! Man, was it windy or what...  <wink>

Anyway, I shall begin with the beginning.  We had rented a very cheap and oh so cute cottage in Ocean Park, about 20 minutes north of Long Beach. (Washington State) I took us four hours to get there and so our doggy was anxious for a walk. Off she went (with Mr. G.) down the street. 

Within several minutes a lot of yelping reached our ears: she was attacked by another dog!!! (without any provocation from her side may I add) Four puncture wounds in her throat! Olive herself seemed rather stoic under the whole ordeal, but we were pretty upset and worried. We had to find a vet in a totally unknown area for us, plus, no internet!

The good thing with such a small community is that everybody is willing to help and there was only one vet in town so off we went, another 30 minutes in the car. The vet was extremely helpful and saw to her immediately. They cleaned everything, gave her antibiotics and a special cream for us to squirt into those puncture wounds twice a day. (yuk!)  On the way back home we stopped by the people whose dog had attacked ours (Olive was on a leash, the other dog wasn't and so definitely at fault) and they immediately gave us the money for the vet's bill. ($90!) 

It all ended well thank goodness, but that was not a good start to our little vacation. We will have her checked out by our own vet tomorrow...

--  **  --  **  --

So, let me introduce you to our little cottage. It came equipped with a full kitchen (so pots and pans, a coffee maker, a fridge etc) and with bedding. All we needed to bring were our clothes and our food!
The TV and the CD player didn't work and there was no internet so we were completely cut off from the outside world. Just fine... for four days only! I was very happy to be reunited with our computer again... <wink>

Cute right?

Only four rooms in the house (mudroom and bathroom not pictured),
but plenty of space for all of us and the dog was more than welcome as well.

And after all that I will show you some beautiful pics of the beach which was only a ten minute walk from our
 house. Or a less than 5 minute drive from our house. Yes, in Washington State you can drive your car out on the beach! It is the weirdest thing but so handy at the same time. No more schlepping of all your gear through the sand etc.  {smile}

Here we go:

Exhale!

And exhaling some more...

Master C. looking after Olive who was still recovering from the attack... 
(and so was Master C.)

Miss M. getting the kite ready... 

Wind!!!  (and our car on the beach...)

Father handing over the kite controls to daughter...

End of Day 1...

Gorgeous or what?! Our first two days we had beautiful blue skies and it was reasonably warm, the next two days were completely grey and boring (weather wise) so a good thing I took as many pictures as I did during the first half of our stay.

Tomorrow pictures of the Columbia River, Fort Columbia and a short visit to Astoria, Oregon. And of course more beach pictures!  {smile}