Celebrating Everyday Heroes (And a hike!)

This weekend, we had the honor of attending the Oregon State Police Superintendent's Salute, which is an event held every two years to honor the men and women of the organization. The coolest thing about this salute is that your ENTIRE family is invited to join. To me, this meant Ben and Margot could come along for the ride. To everyone else, this meant bring your Mom, Uncle, Cousin twice removed, and anyone else you know who likes free food. A note to self was made for next time, and we headed out to Newport to join the 1,600 other people and the party.

OSP had a huge tent set up with crafts, snacks, and a vehicle display that was open all afternoon. Margot took her chances with a new Dodge Charger patrol car, Ben took about six chances with the ice cream cart and I made a frame to display a photo from the weekend. We all had fun!





The salute was held at the Oregon Coast Aquarium, and we all had free admission. Margot did like the undersea passage, but seemed a bit more interested in going back to the cop cars and food. (That's my girl!) We spent about an hour looking at the fish and sea lions, and then headed over for dinner. We were all served great food and drink. My LT had nominated me for employee of the year for Patrol division, so we hung around for the awards ceremony. It was a really fun night. Margot was an angel the whole time.



The next morning, we got up early and trudged out across the Yaquina bay for our weekly hike:



Getting to the beach from the Yaquina Bay Lighthouse is a series of steep, switchback stairs followed by a bit of light hiking through 1/4 mile of dunes. (Yes, I was puffing when we got there). However, it was worth the hike, because we were the only ones on the ocean shore, and set up a huge play area.

This was Margot's first time in the sand, and she loved it. She ran around, chased the water and destroyed the castles we built. It was so fun to watch her play in the sand!





After a poopy diaper that we were not prepared for and an emergency sand removal procedure from Mom's shirt (don't ask) we headed back up to the car. This is where the requisite cussing about hiking and "why is this fun?" came in. But we made it, got back to the hotel and cleaned up in time for lunch at Mo's.

It was a good weekend indeed.



Hike Stats:

Difficulty (scale of 1-10): 3
Wet sand most of the way, which is easier to walk on.
Toddler Friendly: 6
Beauty: 8
Fun: 10