There’s a saying in theater that a bad dress rehearsal makes for a great show. That pretty much sums up my first trip to Seaside. Before I lived here, I was spending my second summer as a camp counselor at Camp Namanu outside of Sandy, Oregon. We worked six days a week and had 24 hours off from Saturday afternoon to Sunday afternoon. It was a beautiful, warm Saturday afternoon and my friends and I decided to spend the day in Seaside.
I’d grown up in Gresham and had spent a few summers at Lincoln City, where my grandparents had a house, but this was my first trip to Seaside. We had a fun group of girls and guys who were excited to see the ocean and stick our feet in the surf.
I filled my car with friends and followed my friend Jennifer along Highway 26. Taking the scenic drive for the first time was amazing! It was such a gorgeous sunny day and we talked about camp and kids along the way. We drove into Seaside and parked as close to the beach as we could. First thing we did was race down the shore, throwing sandals along the way, and dipped our toes into the cold water.
We splashed around and my friend Jennifer was tossed into the ocean (purse and all) and we ended up soaking wet-eating ice creams cones and people watching. Once we were dry (or a little dryer in Jennifer’s case) we decided to go to dinner. We were sitting down, eating and laughing when my side started to hurt. Every time I laughed my ribs throbbed! I was with a hilarious group of people so I was laughing with tears from pain rolling down my face.
Pretty soon I had to beg for everyone to stop because I was miserable. Our waitress told us where the emergency room was and we headed over there to see what was going on. It was a busy Saturday night in the Emergency Room so it took a little while for us to be seen. So there I was, miserable and crying from pain as my friends couldn’t help but tell funny stories to make me laugh more. Thankfully, the very kind doctors and nurses took me under their wings and figured out what was going on.
Turns out that the tissue around my lowest rib was swollen. We played a game at camp where a cabin of kids would rush up and hug a counselor tight until they were told to release. I was given pain meds and put on bed rest (or bunk rest since I was at camp) for a week. We drove back a sad and more subdued bunch but had a great story to share with everyone back at camp.
So that was my first trip to Seaside. One that started as a fun adventure, but ended in the Seaside ER. I’ve had many more wonderful adventures in Seaside since then, but that first was definitely the most memorable.
