Gone Fishing... Wait I Don't Fish!

Tomorrow morning I’m driving to Redmond for a business meeting. So why is this significant? Well, it really isn’t as I do this on most Tuesdays, but what happens after the meeting is very significant – to me, and my family.

Since September of 2006 we have been to Seaside, OR at least once a year. Usually twice, both spring and fall, and as we have graduated from no kids to little kids to three school age kids we usually pick the fall conference week and Spring Break. So, tomorrow, after that meeting I’m going to pack plenty of stuff in the truck and as it will most likely rain, I will throw everyone’s wellington boots and raingear in the truck as well.  It hasn’t always rained but this week we’re supposed to get several inches a day, but I don’t really care. We will pick up the kiddos from school at noon, and hit the road down to the beach.

Finally, we are heading to a family vacation! Last time was Spring Break. Everything we had planned for the summer got canceled either due to his work, my work, smoke or a combination of things.

There’s nothing fancy about this. There are no hotels, no nice restaurants or grand beach houses. As always, we have rented a small house a block away from the beach, walking distance from town. It’s warm and clean, but that’s about it. Cannon Beach would be way cuter with a rustic kind of charm to it, but for me there is just something about Seaside with the bumper cars, tacky shops and the aquarium that we have been to so many times that there really isn’t anything new to see.

But for several days I get to walk on the beach with Martha and my family. I get to pour a glass of wine and concentrate on a book or maybe a puzzle. We’ll play board games, roast marshmallows and stroll to town. I know every single store by heart, and when something changes I’m secretly a little bit upset as it’s one of those rare places where time tends to stand still. The house has crappy internet that reminds me of the olden days, and a refrigerator that keeps making loud. In the night I can hear the ocean and smell the salty air through the window, and at dawn the sounds of seagulls fishing with the clamdiggers.

Everything is set. I have emailed my clients that I will be away, though reachable via email or phone. I have prepped my client event for the week after we come back, confirmed every speaker and made sure that everything is ready to go. The timing is good, I mean it’s never great as if I was waiting for great we would never go anywhere. But now is a good time, and I’m excited to go. We’re all excited. Rain or no rain.