Mom & the Family Come to Brookings
Every so often, we are lucky enough to host some of our family members along our journeys. When we told my mom that we would be spending time in Brookings this summer, it was essentially an open invitation to come down. The Holmes side of the Marcial family is from Oregon, and we currently have several family members scattered throughout the state. It would only be fitting for my mom to come down and have her sisters join her for a long weekend adventure on the Oregon Coast! Time to have a micro family reunion to make sure we all still know how to Live Rad!
Mile: 90,954
Quote of the Blog: “Traveling in the company of those we love, is home in motion,” - Leigh Hunt
Song of the Blog: “Some Say The Ocean” - The Hip Abduction
It is a long drive to get from Whitefish, Montana, to Brookings, Oregon. Sixteen hours, to be exact! We were initially a little nervous about my mom making such a long drive, but then we learned that she was bringing our niece, Cadance, with her. We also learned that she was planning on driving to Portland and then riding down the rest of the way with her sister, Sally. Along with those three, we were also anticipating the Kraft family to come over from Ashland. Traci and Doug informed us that their kids, Kaylyn and Gabe, were joining them. They all set their sights on a resort just north of Brookings called Whaleshead Resort. This is the same place my family stayed at during the family reunion that brought me to Brookings for the first time in 2006. With the drive from Portland being much longer than the drive from Ashland, the Kraft family got into town well before my mom’s crew did. We learned upon their arrival that Doug was under the weather and had to take a pass on this trip. We genuinely missed having him around. Knowing that the other crew still had a long drive ahead of them, we had planned to go on a hike with the Krafts. After meeting them at their condo, we headed over to Indian Sands Trail. Amity and I have done this hike before, but we were stoked to do it again. This hike takes you along some amazing viewpoints that start with a natural arch rock in the ocean, work into some amazing sand dunes on top of some cliffs, before taking you through a maze of natural shrub tunnels where the shrubs have grown over along the hillside. At one point, we were all hiking up to some sand, and the whole crew looked at each other, wondering which way to go. I said, straight up the sand. They looked at me like I was crazy, until I started back-crawling up it. Gabe and Kaylyn joined me in the self-torture and laughter as Traci and Amity took the safer, but longer, route around the sand. It led to some good laughs and got the heart rate going! As we worked our way along the cliffs and navigated the natural tunnels made by the shrubs and the wind, we finally found ourselves back at the car.
With a little more time to kill before the others arrived, we did some exploring around the condo the Krafts were staying at. We walked down to some culverts they knew about that went under Highway 101 down to Whaleshead Beach. When we got down there, the center culvert was dry, so we headed into it. Kaylyn and Gabe were up front and made it all the way down to the end first. They were met with a pool of water from a small pond formed by the beach and the water coming out of the other two culverts. They did their best to make it as far as they could, but eventually had to turn around, which gave us all some good laughs! Doing the splits over water while walking in a tunnel is very funny! We were sad we didn’t make it all the way to the beach, so we hopped in the car and drove over to the parking lot to do some beachcombing. While we were down there, Gabe built a beautiful miniature park jump in the sand. It got me pumped up, so I added a shotgun rail to the side with a side hit for it. Truly like the ones up at Timberline at Mount Hood! By this point, my mom, Aunt Sally, and Cadance had all made it to Brookings. We rallied back to the car and met them downtown for some lunch and to watch a World Cup soccer match at RH Pub & Grill. We couldn’t be happier that they had made it safe and sound! Following lunch, we all separated to make a quick store run and do the things we needed to do before dinner. Cadance came with Amity and me and came up with a recipe for a fruit salad for the night. She killed it! Super fun to have her over. Between the time we got over to my mom’s condo and dinner time, Amity took Cadance down to the beach to welcome her to the ocean properly! Dinner that night was great! I know my mom loves catching up with her sisters, and to have Kaylen, Gabe, and Cadance with us is icing on the cake for her!
The next morning, we met back up at my mom’s condo. The plan was to head down to Lone Ranch Beach and have a beach day with everyone. Lone Ranch is one of our favorite beaches! Once we were all down there, we got our beach towels and chairs all set up. Gabe grabbed his surfboard and wetsuit and hit the water. We loved watching him battle the lack of waves to catch a couple of waves. We couldn’t be more stoked for him! He is getting ready to move to Hawaii, where he will be able to do this in much better conditions and forego the wetsuit! Truly is what Living Rad is all about! At some point, everyone was out doing their own little side quests. Gabe surfed, Amity and Sally went for a short hike, Cadance swam in the ocean, Traci and Kaylyn beachcombed while watching Gabe surf, and my mom and I chatted and caught up. It was a little chilly of a beach day, but we all made the best of it! My mom and Cadance left a little before the rest of us. We eventually met back up with them at their condo. The plan for the night was to go to the Brookings Harbor and have dinner at a spot called Zola’s on the Water. We have been here before, and it is delicious pizza and waterside pub-style meals. While waiting for our food, we were walking around the harbor and noticed some fish schooled up under the docks. The school was MASSIVE! I was guessing there were around 10,000 fish; no joke! Amity later learned, while talking to some people at work, that this was an anchovy migration event, and is the largest the fisherman has seen in the area in nearly 25 years. The most exciting thing ordered at dinner was from Cadance, with the Calamari Ceviche. I think I saw one of the mini squid wiggle, but she loved it! Following dinner, Amity and I took the crew out to Chetco Point to watch the sunset. Our timing could not have been better! We all got out there with the perfect amount of time to find a spot to sit down and watch nature paint the most beautiful sunset we have seen here yet! There was a small marine layer at the horizon, but as the sun dropped down into it, the fog made the shape of the sun appear to shift and change as it set. The crew frequently gave out a yell or whoop in excitement and awe! It was a perfect cap to a great day with the family!
The next morning was the end of their trip to Brookings. Amity had to go to work, so she missed out on the last get-together. We all met up at Mattie’s Pancake House just south of Brookings in Harbor. Amity has been told by more than one of her patients that this is the spot for breakfast in the Brookings area. They had to be right, as the wait to get a table was nearly an hour. Once inside, we were happy to see the food coming out looked amazing! It wasn’t your run-of-the-mill diner, but a solid breakfast spot that had a homey and old-school feel to it. As we were waiting for our order, one of the craziest things happened. A woman sitting on the other side of the room started showing signs that she was choking. She couldn’t say anything and was gasping for air. Kaylyn jumped up and shot over there like a lightning bolt! She helped the woman out and eventually gave her the Heimlich maneuver to help clear her airway. It was 100% scary, but Kaylyn was cool as a cucumber and so helpful! She made the woman feel better and less freaked out. I was 100,000% proud to be related to Kaylyn at this moment! When she came back to the table, I gave her a fist bump and let her know that was radical, and we all just moved on with breakfast like nothing happened. Pretty wild stuff! Breakfast for us was much more uneventful and was delicious. After breakfast, we gave each other hugs and headed our own ways. It is always hard to see my mom leave, but we couldn’t have been happier that she made the 16-hour journey to Brookings and that she brought Cadance with her! Thank you, Sally, Traci, Kaylyn, and Gabe, for joining us! Our micro-family reunion was a blast & we got beautiful weather the whole time! Live Rad, everyone!