Recently, I’ve spent more time than usual at and on the ocean. Living in a land-locked state has its pros and cons but experiencing such vast beauty is unforgettable.

A month ago, I woke up at 3:30 in the morning in Portland, Oregon and drove for a little over an hour and a half to watch sunrise at Cannon Beach. Our sunrise happened to be extremely overcast and a little windy too, but that didn’t matter, it was still beautiful. As we walked onto the beach I set down my backpack and yellow raincoat because I didn’t think it was too cold. We wrapped ourselves up in blankets and got our toes wet in the freezing cold water. Wandering around I collected shells and appreciated the solitude on the beach at five in the morning.

Only a few days following that in Olympic National Park, I hiked to Second Beach with one of my best friends. We trekked through the rainforest in the early evening to catch sunset in the sand. It was low tide so there were many exposed rocks covered in seaweed we could wander further into the ocean without getting wet. I searched between the rocks for more shells and other treasures while one of my best friends took pictures. I also found many little crabs and other creepy crawly ocean creatures. I found a pretty purple starfish hiding beneath a rock in the water and that made me beyond excited. Once one was spotted, I began seeing starfish everywhere. Everything from big, small, orange, purple, and one even had six little legs instead of five. That night we slept on the beach above the high tide line listening to the crashing waves. In the morning we woke up early, before the other campers, to enjoy the beauty of beach by ourselves. One of my favorite memories was watching the seagulls splashing in a little pool of water.

This past week I was lucky enough to go on an Alaskan cruise where I could sit on the deck and just stare at the vastness of the ocean for hours on end. The longer you look the more you see. Between the whales, porpoises, seals, otters, seagulls, puffins, and other astounding wildlife I was in complete awe of how amazing this world truly is. Nature is all around us and it is up to us to appreciate it for what it is.