For the last 4 years, LCNW members have scheduled our annual Oregon Beach Romp. The tradition was started by coastal resident Gary Kirkwood. On what we always hope will be a sunny first Saturday in June, we travel to laid back Pacific City and visit a lightly traveled beach called Straub Wayside, named after former Oregon Governor Robert Straub.

Owners and dogs spend a couple of hours catching up while taking many pictures and letting the dogs romp in the Pacific Ocean. We then head out for lunch at one of the many excellent small restaurants in the area and, if the weather is conducive, back we go for another hour or so before it’s time to head home.

How a Leo can carry that much sand from the Beach to your car is one of life’s great mysteries. Many of us have started throwing a tarp over the floor in the back seat of our cars to catch all that sand as the dogs begin to dry out. It’s a very small price to pay for the fun we have at the coast each year.

This year, we welcomed Farryn, Jade, Sophie, ‘Mesia, Kafka, Drago, Denali, Jake and Destry as our coastal Leo delegation. The dogs are off leash the entire time. They have a marvelous time chasing each other in and out of the surf while their human counterparts snap hundreds of pictures of very wet dogs. We were pretty sure the weather this year was going to be abysmal as it rained almost the entire 2-hour trip from Portland. What a surprise when we arrived and found broken clouds, no wind and no rain. A truly wonderful day for us all.

I can promise anyone who chooses to attend next year’s romp a great time watching your dogs and mingling with your LCNW club friends.