"Mom, the sun's going down! You want to come with us to the look-out and watch?"
The next sound you'll hear is a crash as I drop whatever cooking pot I'm scrubbing or wash pan I'm toting around the camp, quickly wipe my forever-damp hands, and rush off to see.
^ Scooters are my daughters' favorite mode of transport at camp. Every evening after dinner,
they zoom around and bring me back stories of the interesting sights they have seen.
Ranger always prefers to walk.
The campground at Kalaloch perches on a windy bluff high atop the wide sandy beach. Though most of the camp is sheltered by low, gnarled, and windswept evergreens, there are three open areas where one can hike down a steep path to the beach or linger up top to take in the vista.
And the viewpoint at the southern end of the campground, the one that we think of as ours, is a lovely place to catch the setting sun.
It's also a perfect place for star-gazing but that's a story for another day.
Of all the dozens of Kalaloch sunset photos I've taken in my life, this one is my favorite.
The camera technology leaves plenty to be desires, but the composition and color are spot on.
If the breezes are not too cold, and we don't mind getting our feet sandy one more time, we might slip off our shoes and tiptoe down the path to walk at the edge of the water and watch the sunset from ground level.
Up or down, either vantage point is lovely.
True confessions. I am a borderline pyromaniac and I love to build irrationally large fires.
This baby is just getting started.
Some nights, we plan ahead for a beach fire. Temperatures drop quickly as the sun sinks low, and even our tempered Pacific Northwest blood runs cold on the best of summer days. The sensation of the over-heated warmth from a roaring fire against my slightly sunburned and significantly sandblasted skin takes me to my happy place real fast.
Lazy shadows play against the sand, but the beach logs capture and reflect the sun's setting rays.
As the sunset's colors fade against the pale white beach logs, we kick sand into our waning fire and break down the burning embers, signalling the end of another lovely day at the beach.
"Please tell me it's bedtime."
And good ol' Ranger knows that it's time to head up to camp where our cozy tent and warm sleeping bags await us all.
* * * * *
My family and I go to Kalaloch a lot. Here are stories from our trips over the years:
2019
Wide Open Spaces
Whale Bones
Ways To Play
The World Of Packet Dinners
Windows
2018
Walking On Rialto Beach
2017
Gracie Goes To Kalaloch
2015
The Last Day Of My Summer Vacation
2014
With Joy And Wild Abandon
With Hope And Desperate Longing
With Peace And New Beginnings
2012
It's All About The Food
It's All About Playing On The Beach
It's All About The Sunsets
It's All About The Artistic Inspiration
It's All About The Memories
2011
Discovering Tide Pools
Discovering Sunsets
2010
Balanced Rocks
sometime before 2010
Golden Pup
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