General Info

Dates

Thursday, November 7th to Sunday, November 10th, 2024.
Attendees may choose to stay three nights or two nights.

Where

Ocean Park Camp and Retreat Center, 28511 Vernon Ave, Ocean Park, WA 98640. Approximately a 2.5 to 3 hour drive from the Portland, Oregon, metro area.
See Directions & Carpooling section, below, for more details.

Who

First 25 fellow travelers to register
Please be active in the program and plan to attend ACA meetings during the event

How to Sign Up

Fill out the registration form.
Your registration is not considered complete until you send the deposit via Venmo as noted on the registration form.
If you need technical help with Venmo contact Pat N: 503-201-3026
A link to the form is also available on the Oregon ACA website.
Registration closes on October 21, 2024.
If registration fills up before October 21st you will be placed on a waitlist and notified if any spots open up.

Communications

One to three weeks before the event the Getaway Planning Committee will email you a link to the carpool spreadsheet (see the Directions & Carpooling section, below) and invite you to join the event’s WhatsApp group.
All tech-based communications during and shortly prior to the event will occur via the event’s WhatsApp group.
If you don’t already have WhatsApp please download it. For technical issues with WhatsApp please contact Peter at 503-974-9704.
There may also be a whiteboard announcing daily activities and service sign-ups at the event itself.

Directions & Carpooling

Carpooling:

If you would like to carpool with others you will need to fill out the spreadsheet and contact other attendees to coordinate carpooling.
It is your responsibility to coordinate your own carpooling, the spreadsheet is simply a place for attendees to connect with one another about carpooling details.

Directions:

Ocean Park Camp and Retreat Center, 28511 Vernon Ave, Ocean Park, WA 98640.
Approximately a 2.5 to 3 hour drive from the Portland, Oregon, metro area
Do not follow the last few turns on Google Maps directions. If you are coming from Portland, once you are on Vernon Ave, look for a sign that says “Ocean Park Retreat Center.” Turn left onto a paved road and follow this road straight through a stop sign; the road will curve to the right; go straight through the second stop sign and up a hill to the Seabreeze Lodge parking lot. Hooray! You’re here! Come in any door and find your fellow travelers.

Departure & Arrival

You may arrive at the facility as early as 2pm on Thursday, and depart as late as 2pm on Sunday.
Feel free to arrive and depart at any point within this timeframe.

Lodging & Accommodations

Bring your own bedding and towels! Pillows, sheets, blankets and towels are NOT provided by the facility.
See the Ocean Park website for detailed information about the facilities; we stay in the Seabreeze lodge.
This is a large camp venue with a dining hall, meeting spaces and common areas (one with a fireplace!), and separate men’s and women’s bathrooms and showers.
Dorm-style housing with twin-sized beds (each room has a stand-alone bed and a bunk bed)
Accommodations are two people per room, unless the total number of attendees allows for single occupancy.
You're encouraged to find a friend to share a room with.
If you need a single room or a special accommodation please email acaoregongetaway@gmail.com when you register.
The facility has good WiFi

Food

This event is fully catered from Friday dinner through Sunday breakfast.
The food is prepared by on-site staff who operate a “scratch kitchen” - everything is as local and organic as possible.
Dietary Restrictions/Needs:

Nearly any dietary restriction can be accommodated, including uncommon things like no red dye no. 5 or nightshades. Note that these are restrictions not preferences. Restrictions are based on allergies or other medical issues. Diets like the South Beach Diet fall under the category of preferences. However, if you absolutely will not eat something, mushrooms for instance, please note this on the registration form.
The most important thing is that you share your dietary needs on the registration form. It is common to not let the organizers know because one doesn’t want to be a bother or thinks there are multiple options every meal and then find out at the meal that the main course contains an allergen. It causes the caterers to scramble to come up with a last-minute alternative. It is always better for you to let us know up front about your dietary needs.

The meals are tasty and nutritious. Typically meat is served for only one of the meals per day (breakfast, lunch or dinner). There will be an entree, a vegetable and often a carb of some kind. A typical meal would be mushroom risotto, sweet and spicy brussels sprouts, green salad and fresh-baked bread. There is always fruit at every breakfast, a salad at every lunch and dinner and dessert at every dinner. All meals are buffet style.
Please note that Thursday dinner, Friday breakfast, Friday lunch, and Sunday lunch are NOT provided; please bring your own food or coordinate with other attendees for pizza delivery or some other creative option. See limitations on food storage in the bullet below. There is at least one restaurant and two stores with groceries in the town of Ocean Park, 10 minutes drive back the way we come in.
A regular-sized refrigerator, toaster, microwave, and coffee maker are available for use in the dining hall. There will be NO access to the full commercial kitchen (i.e. range, oven, large refrigerator).
If you want to bring sweets, treats, or any other snacks that require preparation please prepare them ahead of time, as there will be NO access to the ovens or range or kitchen supplies.

Meal times:

Saturday & Sunday Breakfast - 8:30 am
Saturday Lunch - 12:30 pm
Friday & Saturday Dinner - 5:30 pm

Activities

There are very few structured activities for this event and everything is optional.
This is a go-at-your-own-pace experience!
Attendees are welcome to offer/lead group activities, and there will be a way to reserve space/time and advertise your activity once you arrive at the event.
Some activities that have occurred in the past include: yoga, Reiki, Tarot, Qigong, walks on the beach and nearby trails, birdwatching, music jam sessions, dancing, sing-alongs, movie night, meditation, games, puzzles, arts & crafts, and campfires.
At least one daily ACA meeting
There will be much opportunity for fellowship with your fellow travelers!
It is only a ¼ mile walk to the beach!
Free time
Bring your own creativity and ideas, games, have something you’d like to share?

Service Opportunities

This event is entirely run by us – the lucky fellow travelers who come on the trip!
Your help will be needed
Please think about how you could help with cleaning up, leading the meetings, doing the set-up and break down and leading the events.
Like all ACA service, do what feels good to you and step up when you want.
There will be a fellow traveler at the event coordinating service opportunity sign-ups.

Packing List

The weather can vary at the coast and be very windy on the beach! Generally it is a good idea to bring comfortable clothes for lounging and easy exploring. Here is a suggested packing list:

Bedding for a twin-sized mattress (pillows, sheets, blankets, stuffies)
Towel & flip-flops for showering
Warm and waterproof clothing for outdoors (rain jacket, rain pants, hat, gloves, etc)
Lounging clothing for indoors (sweatpants, sweatshirt, etc)
Undergarments
Warm socks, slippers, crocs or other comfy shoes for indoors
Waterproof shoes/boots
Rain gear
Toiletries (including body soap, shampoo and conditioner for showering)
Flashlight or headlamp
Sun hat and sunglasses
ACA books
Activity supplies: yoga mat, art supplies, games, musical instruments, journal, puzzles, a good book, kite, binoculars
Special food items: pre-made or packaged snacks, goodies, your favorite tea
Your inner child!

Questions?

Have any questions that have not been answered in this document? Please post them on WhatsApp, send an email to ACAOregonGetaway@gmail.com, or contact Ruth at 503-890-3896.