Once everyone was up and showered, we packed up, loaded up the van and headed out for the next leg of our trip…………..destination, Long Beach, Washington. This is a beach resort town that Tom & I took Tucker and Megan to several years ago for a long weekend and that we had fond memories of. WorldMark, the time share company that we have points with, has a big resort there and we were able to book one night there this week, so we did, in an effort to keep our driving to no more than 3 hours on each leg of the trip.
As much as we all loved Lake Quinault Lodge, it was interesting that when we opened the door to the condo at Long Beach, we all were appreciative of the amount of SPACE there was!! ROOMS that were actually separated from each other, that allowed for some privacy………what a concept!! I came to the realization how spoiled I have become by our time share and the ability to stay in condos versus hotel rooms. Now that the kids are small adults and no longer little children, more space is REALLY NICE when on vacation. The rooms at the Great Wolf Lodge and at Lake Quinault were just that…..big rooms with two beds, a television a desk and chair and one other chair crammed in. Just not enough space for 4 people to spend much time in together, particularly when two of those people are teenagers!!
Anyway, we checked into the condo and the kids went and headed down to the pool. It was much cooler here than at Lake Quinault and the pool here was outdoors, but the kids reported that the water was quite warm, thus making swimming enjoyable despite the chill in the outside air. Tom & I watched some TV, I read some and, of course, got on the computer. One thing that I have to say I find a bit irritating about many of the WorldMark condos is the fact that one has to PAY for internet service in the room. Most of them have a “business center” where one can get on WorldMark’s computer, but usually there is only one or two computers in the business center and, if there are many teenagers around, it can be difficult to find one of these available. So, I bit the bullet and paid for the privilege of getting on the internet.
Once the kids were done swimming, Tom, Megan & I decided to go for a walk on the boardwalk down at the beach। It was REALLY quite chilly by the time we did this because the sun was setting. We took a few pictures, then headed back to the room because I just wasn’t dressed for the cooler weather.
We had arrived a bit before check in time, so we had eaten Thai food while waiting for the call that the condo was ready, so none of us was really hungry, so we settled in for the evening, reading and watching television. The kids headed to the game room area (pool, ping pong, video games) and hung out there for a good part of the evening. Megan came back to the room around 10 or so, while I had to go and order Tucker back to the room at midnight, which he was not very happy about, because he was hanging out with a group of kids who were NOT being ordered back to their room and he wanted to stay, too. I can be SUCH a drag sometimes!!!
Thursday, July 2
Thursday was another travel day, but first we decided to have a little fun in Long Beach. We started the day off playing a little miniature golf on a goofy little mini golf course, whose characters & obstacles appear to have inhabited this place for quite some time and some have not fared well!! 
After golf (Tom whooped all of our butts!!), we divided up and went our separate ways to do a bit of shopping. Megan & I headed to the scrapbook/coffeshop/chocolate shop (all of my favorite things together in one store!!), while Tom went off to check out some of the antique stores in town and Tucker went in search of food (he’s nearly always in search of food!!) Megan & I browsed the scrapbook store, but didn’t really find anything that we couldn’t live without. We did, however, decide that we should each have a piece of fudge. From there we moved on to the elephant ear place and indulged ourselves there (HEY, WE’RE ON VACATION!!!!)
We then all met up again at Marsh’s FREE Museum. Now this is a very strange place. It’s mostly a cheap souvenir store; you know, seashells, magnets, rocks, tiny sand dollars in bottles, that kind of stuff, but scattered throughout are stuffed bears, vintage music machines, those old machines that one dropped a penny into then watched some sort of “show” through things that look like ViewMasters, stuffed animal heads on every wall and the weirdest thing of all, Jake, the mummified skeleton of a half alligator/half human creature. No!! I am not kidding………..I have a picture that proves it!
What the ****….??????? Got me! But this is what makes this place “famous”. Totally weird. The kids didn’t seem too impressed with Jake, but DID think it was necessary to sit in the Emotion Factor Chair, where Tucker came up “Lovable”, while Megan tested “Frigid”. Oh, Megan!! I don’t think you’re frigid, honey!!
We wrapped it up at Marsh’s Free Museum and hopped into the van to head south down the coast to Depoe Bay, our final destination of the vacation before heading home.
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