As summer rapidly fades into fall, I’m thankful for the opportunity to get out and adventure as a family. With so much up in the air this year because of COVID, I’m grateful for every moment we have together to just play outside, do stuff together, and enjoy the time we have left here in the PNW. I won’t lie. Last week sucked. A couple weeks ago, the kids’ school district announced they were going to begin hybrid learning with two days of school in person each week and three days at home. We’ve been so excited for this. Spencer’s been so ready. Well, in true 2020 form, CPSD announced on Friday afternoon at the very last second that we wouldn’t be moving to a hybrid model after all. Instead, virtual learning will continue until at least December. Needless to say, we were all pretty upset, so we made a point of getting out this weekend, and that’s how we found ourselves exploring around the Nisqually Shipwreck on Saturday.
We’ve been to the shipwreck once before – right before quarantine began, in fact. The last time we went, we were woefully unprepared. We hadn’t really started to embrace hiking, I was wearing jeans and flats, the boys were in sneakers, and it was both cold and windy. We enjoyed it last time, but we were sure we would’ve enjoyed it more if A) we knew what we were headed into and B) we were prepared. So, we decided to put that theory to the test.
Our good friend, Maribel, joined us this time with her two daughters, Esvaidy and Olivia. Maribel has been one of my best friends at JBLM for almost 18 months now (we met at gymnastics right after Mieke was born). Maribel and her family totally embrace the adventure lifestyle, and they went with us to Moulton Falls, as well as the Melmont ghost town hike. Basically, I can pretty much always count on her to be up for an adventure, so when I told her we planned to spend an afternoon exploring around the Nisqually shipwreck, I was certain she’d be in. Our kids get along so well, too, so it was the perfect setup.
Perhaps it’s because Mieke’s older and walking now, or perhaps it’s because we were prepared with proper hiking shoes to climb down the hills to reach the sound, but our experience this time was so much better as a whole. It was a perfectly misty PNW day, the temp was in the low 60s, and the kids were more than ready to run, splash, play, and explore the area together. Now, I checked the tide chart before we went, and it said that low tide was at 1:12 PM. We overshot a little bit this time. The tide was definitely coming back in by the time we made it to the shore. We weren’t able to walk all the way out to the shipwreck, but it was pretty cool watching the tide creep in slowly, overtaking the sand the longer the kids played.
They found a natural seesaw made of old logs, Mieke and Spencer traded seagull feathers, and we all took turns climbing across the trunk of a giant felled tree. With the trains coming and going above the shore, the mist obscuring much of the view, and the water lapping at our feet and pushing us closer to shore each minute, it was an adventure we all loved, and I’m so glad we were able to go back and do it again.
It’s funny because, the closer we get to moving, the more I appreciate all the little experiences we’ve been able to have here. And, with the kids getting older, it’s fun to see them recognize and remember these little adventures and actually enjoy the challenge of them more than before. The kids had a blast, and it was the perfect way to spend a misty day in the PNW. If you want to check out the stats on this walk/hike, you can find them here from our last time visiting.
Tell me – did you do anything fun this weekend?
