During one summer week I spent visiting with family friends along the central coast of Oregon, I discovered my first wild agate.

From the house we stayed in, all of us — my parents, my sister and the couple we were visiting — took a walk to the beach.

I distinctly remember refusing to wear shoes. I must have been about 7 or 8 and keen on running along the shore without having to carry a pair of sandals.

This was a blistering hot day, so soon after stepping off the cool grass and the wooden stairs, I alternated between keeping my feet in the ocean and searching for shaded coves to escape the dry sand.

I found myself wandering around some rocks, and in one of the tideland bends spotted a surf-tumbled stone. Just an inch or so long, it had been partially exposed, lying in a small bed of gravel.

The stone was a translucent white with gray rings, an oval shape with an indented angle. I spent the rest of the afternoon and evening studying the rock, keeping it tight in a pocket. My windows are now filled with agates, stones and shells.

These are just some of the discoveries sought out by North Coast beachcombers, with colorful agates and other stones turning up in unexpected places year-round. Beaches with gravel beds and tideland coves are some of the best for agate searchers, and the sites are endless. But do take your shoes.