Intro

So i decided to start one of these things to allow friends and family a chance to check out what's going on out here in the NW. I'll try to update this thing frequently with photos and stories. I'm sure i'll get lazy about it, but when something cool happens, or i take a good photo, i'll be sure to throw it up on here.
So as most of you know i moved out to SW Washington.
I technically live in Long Beach, WA and teach at the southern end of the peninsula in Ilwaco, WA.

To give you an idea as to the whereabouts of said location...

View Larger Map

So yeah,
This past weekend was pretty cool. Saturday i decided to head down to Astoria and then up to Fort Stevens State Park. Before crossing the bridge, i stopped in Chinook to drop off some recyclables and saw a few photo to be had.

Kids don't float.


Looking towards Ilwaco harbor...


Bird dudes hanging out.


I made my way across the bridge and towards Fort Stevens. It's definitely one of the cooler parks i've been to out these ways.

An old shipwreck that's lodged into the beach.


Ship heading out to sea from the Columbia River.


Looking at Astoria, and the bridge from the bay side of Fort Stevens.


View of the ocean off of the North Jetty. I hear it's a pretty solid place to surf, if the wind breaks off the jetty just right. While i was here i saw a kite-boarder launch his kite, and cruise out.



After Fort Stevens, i cruised around Astoria and stopped at a pretty low key coffee shop. From what i hear Astoria has a pretty good art and music scene. I'll have to spend some time to get to know the area better. Don't get me wrong Long Beach is amazing. But as far as meeting lady folk go everyone says the best bet is to "import", ha.

Anyways, picked up some groceries and headed back home. Grilled some tuna, and made a salad after picking lettuce from the garden. Afterwards, went for a drive on the beach, as it was lowtide. Attempted to watch the sunset, but the crazy fog on the beach was in full effect. Perfectly sunny and not a cloud in the sky, in town, but as soon as you cross onto the beach you are engulfed by heavy fog.

My backyard as the moon rises over Willapa Bay at low tide.


Even later at night, still low tide.



Today i woke up to Jules calling me asking if i wanted to go surf. I grabbed a quick bite to eat, and met him and Nick at the shop. We rode our bikes to the beach, suited up, and headed out. I took the longboard out today to mellow it out a little. It helped with paddling out to the "outside" (past where the waves break, where the surf is the best, which takes some work to get out past the bigger waves). Upon reaching the "outside" i saw something out of the corner of my eye. A wave washed over top, then it surfaced again. This seal dude was looking at me like "what are you doing here", and i thought the same back at him. We had our moment, and he disappeared under a wave. I was stoked to catch a legit wave from the "outside" and ride it all the way in. After a few hours we headed in. Good times.

I'll post some photos from weeks past sometime this week.