On a daily basis, challenges have presented themselves to us that we never could have anticipated. Cooking in 40 MPH winds,  getting lost when the battery of my phone was dead – and figuring out how to get back to our hotel in Monterrey,  flat tires in the middle of nowhere, parenting life lessons and so much more. I think we have done well in overcoming everything that has been thrown at us…but today we had a zinger that I wasn’t sure I was ready for. After a very long drive across the Oregon border, we arrived at our campground for the next 2 nights.

When reserving the site at the Coos Bay Oceanside Beachfront RV Resort,  I had made the mistake of assuming that we could park our car on the “tent site” but quickly was told that it could only accommodate a tent and that this was the only availability that they had. Begrudgingly Cat and I took the site even though a) my Boogieman radar would be on super high alert as we would be losing the safety of our locked 4Runner at night time and b) we had to carry all of our stuff from our car to our site which was 136 (I counted them) steps thru the sand.

I felt like the writers of Saturday Night Live were there preparing for their “Camping with Nicole and Caitlyn” series because yes it was comical.

Firstly, I lost Caitlyn to the beach after the first 5 minutes so I was mostly on my own to get things set up.

I started with the tent and got things all laid out. So I would go to the first corner and put the pin in the pole. As I tried to put the tent pole pin into the other slot, the opposite corner would come out. See random picture below that I found on the internet to help explain what I’m talking about.


I tried again and again and again but I couldn’t get the opposite corner to stay in it’s place and I was literally walking back and forth to the opposite corners trying to make it work. The fifth time I finally got it to stay in and was able to stand the tent up. Woohoo!

Then I remembered that my air mattress was only inflatable electrically. So, I had to get Caitlyn  off of the beach and have her help me inflate the mattress at the car with its outlet, and then carry the mattress the 136 steeps thru the piney little forest separating my car and the campsite.

Then, we struggled to fit the blown mattress thru the tiny door of the tent.

If there is a will there is a way!!! Yes we got it all sorted out – who cares if it took over an hour!

Then, Cat and I made several trips back and forth to the car to get the remainder of our things. These cocky crows swooped in on our stuff while we were at my car and tore into a candy bar, instant mashed potato mix, some wet wipes,  and a 6 pack of eggs. Somehow a mini can of biscuits disappeared but I have no clue how they could have flown away with it. In the picture below they were just watching us, hoping we would leave something else out for them. They decided to leave after I yelled some choice words at them for ruining my breakfast!

Once we got settled in, we realized what a treasure we had in terms of the view. It really was amazing and I honestly don’t think I have ever had a better location for 2 nights sleep.

 

Cat and I went exploring around the beach. It was just gorgeous and there weren’t many people around.

This was our view of the sunset. It was absolutely gorgeous.

We made fire, roasted marshmellows, had hot cocoa and then called it a night.

…and then all of my boogieman fears came out and my imagination went wild. (Thank you for all of my friends who sent encouraging texts of bravery. It definitely made it easier to fall asleep! My favorite text I received was, “I’m pretty sure the boogie man doesn’t go to such cool places!”)

I was armed with a Tazer, a personal alarm and a knife and I had our ice chests, chairs and tub placed at the doors so if someone tried to come in, we would have time to grab the tazer and get them!  🙂

Cat was out like a light the second her head hit the pillow. Once I fell asleep, I was out like a light as well and we slept until 8:30am!

The next morning we had breakfast, found tons of sand crabs in the water and just played on the beach.

After a small siesta we went for a long walk on the beach and found some amazing tidal pools.

Sights like these make you realize how strong and powerful nature can be. It is crazy to think how much the water has eroded these rocks over the years.

 

We played in the sand,

We enjoyed the sunset and called it an early night as we had to leave early in the morning to meet H in Portland! Woohoo the Traveling Trio are back together again!

Also, having survived the first night and overcome a lot of our boogieman fears, the second night was a bit easier to fall asleep. 🙂 Who knows, by the end of this trip, I might just be able conquer all of my fears!