4/21/17 Surfin USA

Hey y'all! So yesterday morning brought rain showers again, but the State Park we are in has got to be the best one yet. It's Nehalem Bay State Park just outside of Manzanita, OR. We got here the afternoon of the 19th, and it's been great since!

Here are the details:

Every site has power and water, all sites are back-in, paved and have a 10ft x 30+ft grassy area with a picnic table and multiple Manzanita (I'm guessing) trees for good shade coverage/wind blockage. There are 2 bathrooms in the "non-reservation" part of the park and they also have free hot water showers (separated male/female). Now granted you can't see the ocean from any campsite, and there are only 2-3 trails through the huge sand dunes to the ocean, but the view from atop the dunes is amazing! The ocean in front and a completely hidden by the trees State Park behind you. Other than distant houses, you'd think you're miles from civilization.

We forgot the camera, but were able to watch an awesome sunset last night. There are 2 bike trails as well as horse trails and even a horse camp and a small craft landing strip. The only thing it doesn't have is wifi, but cell phones have the 4G LTE service. (Not really sure what that means other than reception is great......)

There are around 250 or so sites in the park, but they aren't crowded like some of the parks we have seen/been in. Half of the sites are reservation only, and the other half is first come - first serve. The crazy part of it all is that you get all this for $29/night. The cheapest we have paid so far is $22/night, but that is no power, water, or showers! We are going to stay here until the 1st, so if you're in the area, we are in E40. The only thing else we need is a surf board and a wetsuit for TJ and a boogie board and wetsuit for Lucas. We are gonna see about doing some bartering for those, we will let you know.

God Bless y'all and have a great day!

P.S. Update: yesterday we rode our bike about 2 miles into town and found a surf shop that  rents boards by the day, but won't sell any of his old rental boards until he gets his shipment of new boards in a month or so. What a bummer.... but maybe I can convince him to trade us a board for this set of Leupold Binos we never use. It might sweet'n the idea of being a board short for a few weeks.....BUT, he does sell boogie boards so we "took the plunge" and picked up two for the boys. Surprisingly the "my legs hurt" complaining didn't happen once on the 2 mile ride back to the park! We had some lunch and put on some dirty clothes (no sense soaking clean ones) and went to the beach.

So if you've never swam in the Pacific Ocean, it is not warm like the Atlantic Ocean. Not at all! It hovers at somewhere around the mid 50's. So, ya.....it was cold. The boys however LOVED IT and weren't cold at all. They didn't want to get out of the water! Both boys caught multiple waves and they both even got rolled a few times, but loved that too. I'm positive they will be begging to go again today, maybe after a double school day, so I can soak up as much sun as possible before freezing again!

I can't wait to get them to Cocoa Beach, Fl for some warm surfing, and maybe a few lessons for them from my cousin Cheyne whom they look up to as "my cool surfer cousin", this cold water stuff isn't gonna be fun for long.....well, probably for them it will be, but not for "dear 'ol dad"! I must say that I like this State Park even better now because it didn't cost me $10 in quarters to warm back up in the hot shower!!! I have a song that comes to mind, here's part of the chorus.... "Nobody else was surfin..... surfin Or-e-gon".... after the Beach Boys' song : Surfin USA.

Have a great day y'all! God Bless, and remember, if your in the Manzanita, OR area, stop by! We are in Nehalem Bay State Park site D40.... big green bus, you can't miss it!