^Oregon

By Jake Van Sickle, 12: Denver, CO 

            I live in Denver, but my place has always been on the beaches of Oregon. Ever since the first time we went to see my aunt and uncle in 2008, I’ve fallen in love with it. We built huge sand castles, complete with dungeons and moats. We went scootering around, and saw Indian dancers with painted faces, and we even had huckleberry shakes listening to a book on tape. The beach was cold, but it was refreshing. The sand got everywhere, but it was fun. We made mustards and special bread, and even got terrified of a rock out at sea that looked like a huge whale jumping out of the water.

            I don’t really know why I adore Oregon so much. Maybe it is because of all of the wonderful and amazing things that we do when we visit there for a week, because of the fact that my aunt is so fun and active or because the beach is so beautiful and so refreshing, but I think that the reason that I have so quickly fallen in love with the Oregon beaches and cities is because I feel carefree and light hearted there. The place has this amazing quality and ability, in that it’s very good at taking away your cares and making you have a good time.

            This summer, my mother, my brother and I flew out to Oregon and went to my aunt’s house in Portland. We then went claming and musseling, and we went out with some birthday money that our grandparents had given us and proceeded to buy some souvenirs from the tiny cramped little gift shops that were strung out along the Oregon coastline. We went to a little beach house on the coast that we rented out for about a week with our grandma, grandpa, uncle and his girlfriend and son. We went out to the beach, where my brother and I played in the low tide, and mom walked along the beach with my aunt and looked at the beautiful setting sun.

 This is why Oregon is my special place.