I wasn't super happy about Father's Day this year. I was in a weird mood and I kind of wanted to just skip it, but I also wanted to do something that Jon would have liked. I decided we needed to go on a hike somewhere and then have rootbeer floats. That seemed appropriate. The kids and I talked about a couple places we could go and decided on Guillemot Cove. I woke up pretty cranky and the kids weren't helping. They typically come into my room every morning and we snuggle for a while before starting the day. Well, this morning they came in and declared they didn't want to go for a hike. It put me in a worse mood so I told them I needed to sleep longer and they left. When I woke up the second time, I felt more able to face the day. I packed a lunch and water. With one child loudly protesting he didn't want to go, we were off.
To get to the trail, we drive through Seabeck and it was so beautiful that day. I thought about how Jon loved riding his motorcycle out there because of all the curvy roads. There is a particular spot, Big Beef Harbor, where there is an incredible view of the water and the Olympic Mountains. The water was a chalky pastel teal color (I had read in the news it was due to a plankton bloom) and there were several people there taking pictures.
We got to the trail and headed down. It's only a little over a mile trail through the woods. There were a lot of families out, which was nice to see, but it also stung seeing complete families together. At the bottom of the trail, it splits to the left and right. We first went left to find the Stump House. Along that little path, Matthew found a spot he wanted to explore.
After a bit of climbing and swinging from the branches, they were ready to continue.
Here's the Stump House in all its glory.
Just across the trail is another huge stump that the boys were way more interested in exploring than the House.
Now we were ready to head to my favorite part of this hike: The water and mountain views.
Freaking gorgeous!
I totally staged this. They wouldn't spontaneously hold each other like this!
There was an eagle and a heron at the water being all majestic and beautiful. We walked all over an oyster patch for a while. Sean sliced his leg a bit. We all sank in some mud. The boys each "rescued" a seastar.
Who cares about soggy shoes? Evidently not these fellas.
I tried asking each of the kids what they would like to do for Father's Day in the future to remember their dad. They didn't really have any ideas. I said I would like to be outside because he loved to be out in nature. Matthew actually expressed some deep feelings he had about Jon. It was interesting hearing him open up, and I'm so glad he did. We were able to have a good discussion and see ways that he and Jon are very similar. It's been very interesting (I need a different word, but I don't know what it would be) listening and observing my children in how they carry on after Jon's death. They are so resilient and I'm in awe of them often.
I mentioned that the hike isn't long, only 1.1 miles. However, there's a pretty good incline. We gain about 380 feet in that mile! We stopped to rest a couple times, but we made it!
I really wanted to stop at Big Beef Harbor if it wasn't crowded, and we lucked out! We saw why so many people were there taking pictures! Besides the beautiful color of the water, there were so many eagles feeding. We counted 15 bald eagles and we're pretty sure one golden eagle. We sat and watched them for about 10 minutes. The boys said "this is epic!" several times.
They are hard to see, but I promise the eagles were out there.
As promised, we cooled down with root beer floats.
The day started off with me saying to myself over and over, "Today can kiss my ass." I'm glad the day improved significantly. I'm still not happy about doing this parenting gig alone. However, I am glad I get to watch my boys grow into pretty amazing people. I'm grateful for them every day. Even the hard days.
