Somebody celebrated a birthday last week.

We didn’t do much on the actual birthday as it was a work night.  A few gifts, some wine, a goofy hat and dessert.  Oh, and taco soup.  The husband’s favorite.

As the week wore on we talked about the possibility of doing something celebratory over the weekend.  A hockey game was considered, then discarded.  Then the husband mentioned going to the beach.  Quinault Beach Resort and Casino, to be specific. Remember that he loves the beach.  And, I love overnight trips of any length.  Done and done.

Quinault Beach Resort sits just on the edge of the beach in Ocean Shores, Washington. The views from the ocean view rooms are pretty spectacular.  The photo at the top of this post was taken from our room.

Now, we are not huge fans of Ocean Shores.  Actually, we’re not big fans of the entire Washington coast line from Long Beach to north of Ocean Shores.  First, it’s relatively featureless.  No rocks, no dunes…nothin’.  Second, people are allowed to drive on the beach along this stretch of the coast.

Sigh.

Nothing says “peaceful beach walk” like dodging idiots in their trucks/SUV’s/cars.

To truly experience the beauty of the Washington coast you must venture north.  LaPush.  Ozette.  Neah Bay.  Those are true beaches.  Stunners.

But, in a pinch, and when we’re wanting a quick overnighter in the winter, Ocean Shores will do.

We arrived at the casino mid-afternoon.  We took advantage of the overcast-but-not-rainy skies and headed to the beach for a little walk.  I was hoping to find sand dollars, but there were none in sight.  Just some brown foam and a few of the aformentioned idiots. It wasn’t long before our thirst drove us back to our room where a bottle of wine awaited.

We pulled chairs up to the large window, poured the wine and soaked in the view.  To our great surprise, the sun gave us a bit of a show and dazzled us with a sunset.  Who would have thought?!

Once the sun had dropped and the bottle emptied we headed downstairs to try our hand at some slot machines.  Well, I played a slot machine.  The husband wandered around.  Last of the big spenders, I stopped after 30 minutes of play, down $3.20.  We had a bite to eat and then headed back to the room for a wild night of….Yahtzee…and a bottle of sparkly. Crazy us.

The next morning was lazy and relatively uneventful.  We enjoyed breakfast via room service, I finished a book, the husband stared out the window.  The highlight of the morning were the eagles (eagles!!??).

The husband called me away from my book with one simple question:  “Is that an eagle out there?”  I got up, squinted and said, “Uhhhh…yeah…and look, there are two of them.”  Actually, there were three…a juvenile and two adults, but the juvenile didn’t hang around.

I put the longest lens I own (not long enough) on the camera and headed to the beach, hoping to catch them before they flew away.  I was able to get closer than expected (though not close enough).  It was a pretty amazing sight.  Actually, aren’t eagles always an amazing sight?  Yes.  Yes, they are.

We left the casino under stormy skies, making our way down to the jetty on the south end of town.  Needless to say, we didn’t spend much time on the beach as the wind was cold and the rain started to get a bit more serious.  We agreed that it would be a perfect day to sit inside and watch the stormy weather.  But, alas, it was Sunday and the Monday workday was knocking on our door.

Another time.

Happy Birthday, Birthday Boy.