Travelling as an Introvert

The search for the perfect beach day. A quick stab of the gas and I downshift to make it up the hill. The Miata’s engine buzzes as I accelerate. The wind rushing through our hair and the warmth of the sun beating down on us. It should be cooling off now, I think to myself. We are getting close to the coast but the temperature still seems high. Granted it’s better than it is back in Portland, which has been unbearably warm and humid. We had to escape to the coast to enjoy some milder temperatures, but neither of us looked forward to the crowds we knew would be waiting for us.
Let’s try Long Beach, we thought; maybe it won’t be as bad. Although it’s 20 minutes farther than that more popular Seaside, we were promised a quiet town, a beautiful beach, and most importantly, no crowds.

We pull off the main road; pass a run-down go kart track, a small, but cute hotel, and the World Kite Museum. The parking lot is what you would expect at any beach, mostly full. Pulling in my heart sinks, oh well, it can’t be any worse than the rest of the coast. We gather our things and start walking out onto the beach and I notice something. The people, where are they?

The 20 miles of beach swallowed the crowds, everyone spread out enough to make it feel private, to make it feel like ours. The air is warm for the Washington Coast, no doubt a symptom of the current heat wave, and as we walk out onto the sand, the sun’s warmth irradiates up from the ground. The sand had been baking all day, and combined with the already warm weather it made it feel like we were on a tropical beach, where the temperature always hovers around 80 degrees, in other words, perfect.

Long Beach’s unique location means that the water just off shore can be 5-10 degrees warmer than most of the coast. As we approach the ever advancing and receding water, we brace for the cold, expecting to only dip our feet before retreating back to our towels warming in the sun. To our surprise, there is no jolt of cold, only cool water that ran over our feet. Long Beach’s location, plus the sun above had warmed the water to SoCal temperatures. We keep walking into the water until we are waist deep, falling into the crashing waves. Can this be real? It was the best beach day we could ask for.