Greenwood Bay

1 | Fresh From The Heat

Have you ever had a period in life where sure, at the time it was dramatic, with great highs and scary lows and a bloody nightmare to live through to say the least, but as you got older and the years passed, you found yourself one day reminiscing it? As if the colours of its memory had grown vivid and bright and then suddenly everything back then didn't seem so serious? This was gonna be one of those periods in life, Dakota Crawford decided, as her parents red Volvo sped down up the Washington coast to her new home. Yes, she might had had a meltdown when her mother broke the news that they were moving home on a random Sunday morning in her old home in Arizona, but that was just because of the shock, right? I mean, who does that on a Sunday? Did she throw a fit at her father that evening when he got home demanding to know what police job was so essential that they had to uproot their entire life and move to Washington? Who can say? And yes, she could neither confirm nor deny whether or not she refused to help them pack her entire life and soul into cardboard boxes before stuffing it all into a movers van, scrunching her nose and rolling her eyes when the random movers asked if she could lend a hand, but so what? You would do the same, wouldn't you?!

Even despite all the hiccups and theatrics she pulled, coupled with the constant complaining and then bickering with her sister, Megan, all the way up through Nevada, their overnight in Winnemucca, and then Oregon, when the car finally swerved into that coastal road that would take them all the way up to their new home in Greenwood Bay, Dakota was speechless. A small part agreed that it was all worth. Now, a brief history of Greenwood Bay to everyone that isn't in the know. According to this daft leaflet her father had given her to soften the blow of moving, Greenwood Bay was a town of 10,000 situated along the southern Washington coast, less than 30 minute drive to Oregon and a four hour drive to Seattle. That'll be useful for if she ever decides to run away. Now, it was founded as a logging town back in the medieval times/pre-2000's but since then it has expanded into the fishing market and then the business market, thus causing a big economic book for the town. So much so that it had become very rich as evident from the Google Image searches or Google Earth walkthroughs Dakota had done on their old home computer. At some point in the 1800's, they had built some fancy university a little ways south of town that had been shut down during the war which had concurrently been transformed into Greenwood Academy, one of the finest public schools in the state complete with student dorms and impeccable grades - a school which Dakota will soon know very well as she was to attend there this week! Yikes!

The last 2-3 stretch of their drive took them almost exclusively up the coastline, aside from a brief crossing of the Astoria-Megler Bridge, providing them with stunning views of the cascading water and endless blue beyond. Despite it being mid-October, the weather had decided to be kind to them with not a cloud a sight and the sun trying her best to shine as warm as she could. No doubt, the weather and her parents were in cahoots, plotting and scheming to make this transition as perfect as possible. No matter, Dakota had spent this stretch peering out the window and snapping as many photos as she could on her DSLR; photography was somewhat of a passion of Dakota's although she'd blush and say she's not even that good if you asked. With the soft sounds of Down the Way by Angus and Julia Stone playing from her wired headphones, even she couldn't deny the cinematic-ness of the scene. If you ignored the various boxes that had squashed her the entire ride, of course.

At long last, a polite waving of her moustached father and a knowing stare at her from the rearview mirror,  Dakota realised he was signalling that they had arrived. Pulling off her headphones and shoving her sisters head out the way, there it was. Greenwood Bay. In all it's shining glory. Now, Dakota always felt like most American towns seemed jarring against the landscape, like a bug on a bear that needed to be squashed, but this town really looked like it belong. The little boxy houses - that were much bigger that online - sprouted out like flowers on the luscious green valley and then seamlessly blended in with forest around the town. From the road they were driving down which looked to be the highest point in town, Dakota followed the roads spreading out like veins from the heart that was the bustling town centre and then beyond that: the beach! Dark sand spread out as far as the eye could see and the sea beyond glistened and shimmered orange under the burning sun. It was breathtaking. It was beautiful. Rats, that meant her parents had won!