On January 15, 2003, I sent my first letter to the ocean. I wrote a letter and addressed it to: The Ocean. I added appropriate postage and sent it away. It came back to me with a red stamp which read “Address not known.” Over the next few weeks I continued sending letters, but they were not making it out of my town, so then I fabricated an “address” near the ocean that would appear convincing to the USPS. I thought of one of my favorite spots near the ocean and came up with the following address:

The Ocean
5 miles South Westport
Grayland, WA 98547

The city and zip code are real. The address, in terms of being “directions,” is also real. However, no such definite or distinguishable place exists. Once I sent this letter, it took about a week for the letter to return to me. Not only did the letter make it out of my town, but the USPS markings and length of time indicated it made it to Grayland and back. I was quite excited.