And I (briefly) got to a beach. Spur-of-the-moment, but it makes it more likely that next time I'm on a beach, I'll be there with
It was spur-of-the-moment because I was driving. Saturday midday I'd run an errand that was easier to do in a car, which is how I mentally justified driving only about 20 blocks to where the Belmont Goats live in Lents. After visiting with the goats, one of the herd's owners and a couple of volunteers, I returned to the car and thought OK, where else do I want to drive? And a beach! seemed like a good answer.
I wasn't in the mood to drive 90-some minutes to a beach on the Coast, but there are beaches much closer. I stopped for lunch, then some shopping at a WinCo on my way, before getting up to Marine Drive. Excuse me, braving Marine Drive. That road's kind of scary: lots of accidents happen there, accidents that lead to cars being pulled out of the Columbia. So I drove carefully. Always good to practice that.
I hung out for a bit at Broughton Beach, a little east of Salty's (a well-liked brunch place on the water; Salty's did Portland brunch before Portland brunch was cool!) and near where Portland's Marine Patrol is based. It meant I was close to a location Chelsea Cain used in her Portland-based crime novel Heartsick, which I read and enjoyed recently. And I was there with no serial killer shenanigans happening near me, either. I HOPE.
So: some sun, some breeze off of a giant natural air conditioner called the Columbia River, some walking, some sitting, some reading. I call that a win. It will be more of a win when I get to a beach again with swim trunks.
